Adventures in Cambodia: Siem Reap
Next stop on our trip: Cambodia. This was a quick visit for us: In late the first night, all day the second day, and back to Thailand early the next morning. We definitely made the most of our day in Siem Reap!
Arriving in Siem Reap
Our flight landed around 8 or 9pm. The airport was one of the smallest I’ve ever seen, which would’ve made it incredibly quick to get through, but we hadn’t done our visas online ahead of time so we instead had to wait in line to get those taken care of. Something I’d seen on a bunch of different sites was to bring a passport sized photo for your visa, otherwise you’d have to pay for them to take one. This wasn’t the experience that I had. No photo needed and no payment for one to be taken! They didn’t actually take a photo at all for the actual visa.
Once we were actually through, we had to find our way to our hostel. We knew there were affordable tuk tuks outside of the airport, but they weren’t anywhere we could see. Luckily there was a guy who seemed to work with them who helped us by going and finding a guy who would take us. One thing we noticed immediately was how insanely friendly everyone was. They were all so helpful, in a great mood, and just in general a lot of fun. The airport tuk tuk drivers especially!
As it was so late, there was next to no traffic on the way into town. There was a long, divided, almost highway like road that held these absolutely massive, fancy looking hotels along either side. As we got closer to town, they turned into massive, fancy looking restaurants along the river. We chose to stay close enough to pub street to easily walk over, but in a more quiet area so it wasn’t escape-less.
This was actually one of my favourite places we stayed during the trip, because Unity hostel had above and beyond service which really made a huge difference. This was another private room in the hostel, but this time we were in bunk beds. There was a private bathroom which was basically a small triangle and included the shower head nearly over top of the toilet.
Sunrise at Angkor Wat
When Jessie had originally texted me about the idea of a trip to Asia and we were choosing countries, I knew I had to go to Cambodia to see Angkor Wat. It’s been on my bucket list for as long as I can remember!
We chose to go for sunrise since we only had one day. It meant less heat, slightly less people (although you’ll see below there were a ton throughout the grounds), and the second half of the day to explore the town. We chose to use the same tuk tuk driver that took us to our hostel from the airport.
He dropped us off in the parking area and we made our way towards the main temple. Honestly, we had no idea where we were going but we just followed the flow of people. There was one large group waiting at the water to see the reflection of the sunrise, but we chose to cross the floating bridge (super weird sensation in the dark) to a few smaller temples before the main one. We found a spot to sit and wait for the sun to come up, which took about 30-45 minutes.
The sunrise itself was surprisingly slow, and pretty tame, so rather than waiting longer, we chose to head into the temple to climb up to the top before the line got too long.
We absolutely lucked out. As we climbed up the many, many steps to the top, a bright red sun rose beautifully behind us. It was breathtaking!
We took our time exploring the massive temple and grounds. We opted to not get a tour guide, but if I were to go back i’d probably get a tour guide here as the architecture and figures in the other temples were very similar so the knowledge would likely carry over for the most part.
Exploring the Temples
Next, we went to Bayon, known for the bridge of Buddha heads that you cross to get there, as well as the many Buddha faces carved into the temple itself. We were so excited that this was where we got to see our first monkeys! There were a few young ones playing together and plenty of adults in the background keeping watch.
Right after we entered, a man told us that there was a mother monkey nursing her baby around the corner, so we of course had to go take a peek! The baby wasn’t nursing when we got there, but you can see it below clinging to the mother as she drinks a bottle of water stolen from a tourist. Another baby, across the way, tried to suckle the carving in the stone wall.
If you look closely, below me you can see two monkeys playing!
Inside the temple, I was told by a local to hold these posts with this Buddha face while he took these photos.
Across the road was a smaller temple, with much fewer people.
We climbed to the top for a lovely, albeit sweaty, view of the surrounding area.
Last on the list was Ta Prohm, known as the Tomb Raider temple because it was used as a filming location. This was the one I really wanted to visit, as most of it had yet to have been restored so it still has lots of trees growing out of the stones. It was a true “ruin” feel. It was surprisingly quiet when we went, which lent to the forgotten feeling.
Siem Reap Town
After the temples, we freshened up with a shower and a nap before heading into town to explore. We grabbed lunch, tried a fish pedicure, and enjoyed a foot massage. Everything is incredibly cheap. Beers for 50 cents cheap.
We went for dinner to try the local food - after all, we only had one night! I wish I could remember which restaurant we went to, because they had such a good variety and everything we tried was delicious. This was some of my favourite food of the whole trip!
We had to see the infamous pub street after, of course. I was surprised at how quiet it was, and how early everything closed (11pm). Compared to Koh San Road, the street was practically asleep!
We walked through the night market near our hostel before calling it a night!
All in all, this ended up being my #1 highlight of the two week trip. The temples just seemed too good to be real, the people were the friendliest I’ve ever met, the food was great, and everything was unbelievably cheap.
Tips for Traveling to Angkor Wat
If you want to get a tour guide for one or all of the temples, there are plenty of guys who wait outside of the temple - you can pay one of them to teach you the temple’s history at your own pace, one on one.
You’ll want lots of water. You can either arrange with your tuk tuk driver to have a cooler of water for you, or you can buy them cheaply outside of some of the main temples.
Beauty services area incredibly affordable here, so if you have the time for a quick pamper, it’s worth it to get a manicure or even have your hair washed with a scalp massage!
Tuk tuks from the airport to the town are already cheap, but ask your hotel/hostel if there’s an option to book through them for your arrival time - they might have an agreement for a cheaper booking (our hostel did).
Break your cash into smaller bills before you get there. You’ll get cash back in the local currency, but it’s of such small value that it’s virtually worthless! However, cash is king so bring enough to get by and factor in that if you’re traveling from the states you’ll need a pin to take money out of an ATM - so bring a debit card!