Travel news forum

AP reportsthat Cambodia is considering opening the Angkor Wat temples at night. Cambodia already has installed some lights at the network of centuries-old temples, said Bun Narith, who leads the agency responsible for managing the Angkor park.

Visitors are now ushered out of Angkor at sunset, but authorities are considering extending visiting hours to as late as 8.30pm.

"We want tourists to see all views of the temple, even in the dark places where they may have not have seen some of the sculptures and statues," Bun Narith said.

But conservationists have long expressed concerns about tourism's impact on Angkor. They say the uncontrolled pumping of underground water to meet the rising demand of hotels and residents in the nearby town of Siem Reap may be destabilising the earth beneath the temples.

Perhaps leaving the temples open a little longer will reduce the crowds a little rather than draw more in, but either way, we wonder what UNESCO thinks... and how their plans for the site are coming along.