Your guide sounds great but that�s a Budget Buster for me. Thanks for the info on the hot air balloon. Bummer that it�s tethered�I�ve completely lost interest now I know that�s the case.

What about doing a trike flight over the place? Trikes can�t be tethered. :-)

I went there in 2011, and I remember seeing the balloon. Yeah, it was tethered. We didn't do it. Don't know if it has changed, or if there are other options.

There's a confusion in your posts between Angkor Wat and Angkor as a generic name. Angkor Wat is one temple within the Angkor area. It doesn't take 3 days to explore Angkor Wat, but it does take several days to explore the Angkor temples. 5 days is a minimum to me if you want to have some rest moments at the pool of your hotel, especially in April when it's very hot.

I got a guide from Cambodia Tourist Guide Association. They provided a very good English speaking and Knowledgable Tour Guide and a Van.

I spent 3 days total, which seemed about right to me. This included time visiting the Angkor National Museum, which is not in the complex per se but gives good historical context. I also visited the landmine museum in the complex area. I just used a tuk tuk driver, which was $20-25 or so per day. I got info from the internet and had a book. The Angkor complex is massive. I enjoyed some of the remote sites not only for historical value, but as places for hikes far away from the crowds. If you're an archeologist or something like that, then you can spend weeks there.

Please try to visit the Tonle Sap too. It is worth it especially now.

I was there about 30 years ago. I hired a little school girl to be my guide on the way into the complex. She was informative and spoke decent English. Although, she was losing steam when we got to where much of the complex was still mined. She attended a school where part of the curriculum was for teaching future guides. She was definitely one of the better guides I have had in Asia.

We spent two days and nights in Siem Reap last week. It was brutally hot. We arrived in the morning and airport pickup was arranged by our Angkor Wat guide. We walked around town and visited some local craft markets. Same driver took us in for sunset (which you can do the night before on a one day ticket). That night we went to a nice restaurant, Cuisine Wat Damrak. Next morning, we opted out of sunrise and just toured from 8-12 hitting the three main temples. While it�s an amazing place, that was enough. I didn�t need to see every nook and cranny of the place. In the heat of the afternoons we enjoyed the pool and AC. The last night we did a fun food tour around Siem Reap by tuktuk. We were very happy with our guide. Feel free to PM if you want his info. It was $150 including airport pickup and the tour. We left for Phnom Penh via car on the last morning (booked with a different company).

First of all, I wanted to thank @pjs for sharing his experience with me. I contacted his driver but the quote was too high for me traveling solo. I ended up using Siem Reap Shuttle for their Angor Sunrise and Koh Ker tour. I thought they were fine. They have a ticketing office in downtown Siem Reap just across from the Park Hyatt and a main office a bit further out.

For the Angor sunrise I was picked up in a small van and we only had 6 of us so everything was done quickly. The tour was fine, The driver and guide were very polite and provided iced water and towel. It was disappointing that we didn't see the sunrise because of cloudy sky, apparently it can be cloudy during summer for both Sunrise and Sunset.

For the Koh Ker tour, I was picked up from hotel and then transferred to their main office which is also a coffee shop. This is also their collecting point for other travelers for the same tour. I waited for may be half an hour before we went on our tour. It was a very small group with just 4 of us - 2 Japanese women and a Korean guy. Again, the driver and guide were very polite and the flow was fine,

They told me they have 14 guides and also do private tours and airport pickup.