Angkor Wat Wall + Moat Trail

This trail follows a path on a swath of land between the moat and the outer wall of Angkor Wat. This trail sees few people with the exception of monks and locals who use it to get to the north and east gates. The trail is about 2 miles and meanders through trees and grass with the imposing wall accompanying you the entire way. During your hike you will pass Ta Loek (north gate), Ta Kou (east gate) and Ta Pech (south gate). These are the other lesser known entrances to Angkor Wat.

To start the hike from the road entrance, walk over the moat causeway to the west gate. Before entering the west gate, look left and you will see an obvious social trail. Hiking in a clockwise direction, the first gate you come to is Ta Loek, the north gate, which is in relatively good condition.

Passing the north gate and rounding the corner of the outer wall, the next gate would be Ta Kou, the east gate. This gate does see more traffic than the north and south gates, but it is still very quiet. This entrance is bigger than the north and south entrances. While you can walk through all three entrances, the Ta Kou is the only one that has a dirt road through a break in the perimeter wall. In addition, this entrance also has access from a land bridge that crosses over the moat. It is possible to park a car or tuk tuk on the east side of the moat and walk across the land bridge.

Continuing on the trail, the last gate you will encounter is Ta Pech, the south gate. This is probably the least visited of all the gates to Angkor Wat. As with the other gates, you can access Ta Pech from the interior section of Angkor Wat or from this outer wall trail. It is in relatively good shape. There are some alter items inside, more than other areas around Angkor Wat. It seems the monks perform rituals and prayer sessions here because it is away from the main tourist area at the temple.

Past the south gate, the trail goes into a heavily wooded area and eventually emerges back at the west gate. Avoid hiking this trail in late afternoon. Because of the heat and high humidity, thunderstorms are known to develop, and you would not want to be on the trail in the rain or during a lighting storm.