The Temples of Angkor have become a major tourist attraction in SE Asia. They are apart of the UNESCO World Heritage sites, and have also been in movies with the most recent movie being Tomb Raider with Angelina Jolie. The Temples of Angkor are the most impressive collections of temples around the world! The extreme detail and enormous size of the temples will keep you amazed the entire time you travel through them. They were built in the early 12th centurty for King Suryavarman II 
as his sstate temple and capital city. Then in the 14th or 15th century the temple was converted to Theravada Bddhist use, which is still the case today. Angkor Wat, which is the main feature of The Temples of Angkor, has become the national symbol for Cambodia that is recognized around the world.
There are two popular ways to travel around the Temples of Angkor. The first way is to rent a tuk tuk driver for the entire day which is around $12-15 US Dollars depending on how much bargaining you have done. The driver, who is basically your guide for the day, drives you from downtown Siem Reap to all of the different temples. The best part of the day is at sunrise and sunset!
The second way is to rent a bike from a local tour company for the entire day. This is a great way to take your time, and explore places that you would probably not go with the tuk tuk driver. This option 
only costs you about $4 US Dollars for the whole day. This is the most popular options for backpackers.
The Temples of Angkor are located in Siem Reap, Cambodia. Siem Reap is accessible by air or by land with most tourist coming from Bangkok, Thailand or the capital of Cambodia, Phnom Phen. From Phnom Phen you can take a bus that is about 3-5 hours in a comfortable bus. It is a very easy and inexpensive bus ride. It costs about $5 US Dollars for the one way trip. This bus leaves from the middle of Phnom Phen every morning. You can buy tickets at any hostel or tour agency in town.
If you are traveling on bus from Bangkok, Thailand to Siem Reap then the ride could be very tough. You will have an easy ride for about 2-3 hours from Bangkok to Aranyaprathet (the boarder). You will then cross the boarder on foot into Poipet, Cambodia. Once you get on the bus in Cambodia you will soon 
realize the part of the trip has changed dramastically. The road is not paved and has hundreds of pot holes! I personally took hundreds of hours of bus trips on my world tour. I would ahve to say that this is the worst 6 hour bus ride in the world! You will constantly be thrown from side to side and up and down. Rumors have it that the government has not paved this road due to the revenue that is coming in from the airline that flies from Bangkok to Siem Reap (Siem Reap Airways). This ticket costs $15 US dollars, and even though it is a long bus trip it is worth it because of how cheap it is.
If you have the money to fly then this is the best option to get into Siem Reap. This is definitely not the most econmic option for a backpacker. A one way flight usually costs about $160 US Dollars compared to the $15 US Dollar bus ticket. There are a lot of different flight options coming into Siem Reap that are domestic and international that are provided by Siem Reap Airways.
