Siem Reap, Cambodia

First Stop Siem Reap

This was our first time visiting Cambodia and Siem Reap was our first ‘port of call’.  As we were on a limited timeframe to visit the highlights of Cambodia, we decided to fly from Bangkok, rather than take the bus.

Our flights cost us $280nz for the two of us and took around 50 minutes.

Accommodation

When we started to do our research on accommodation, we discovered that in general, it seemed to be more expensive than what our lodgings were in Vietnam.  As with any of our bookings, we take into account the location, which usually means that we end up paying more but it is offset by being in a much more desirable area.

When looking for places to stay in Siem Reap, it is a good idea to chose somewhere close to the ‘Old French Quarter’.  Here you will find French and Chinese style architecture.  Also if markets are you thing, then the Old Markets are open every evening.  

Pub Street and markets light up at night

Pub Street is the hub of the town, featuring rows of bars and international restaurants.  You can find traditional Cambodian cuisine along with a whole host of other choices.  Prices vary according to budgets.  Pub Street stays open throughout the day and well into the night – sometimes until 4.00am.  It is best known for its $0.50US draft beers.  We enjoyed wandering down the small alleyways which host elegant cocktail bars, quaint cafes, art galleries and souvenir shops.  Best of all, it is blocked to motorised vehicles from 5.00pm onwards making it safe to explore on foot.

Always keen to try the local dishes and of course 50c beers!

We booked 4 nights at Siem Reap Boutique Villa which cost us $27US/$37NZ per day including breakfast and airport pick up.  This was very conveniently located without it being too close to the centre noisy hub.  Our room was clean with good facilities so no complaints from us.  They had a lovely swimming pool which came in very handy after a hot day temple watching.

Our swimming pool at night

Driver and Guide

Now with so little time and so much to see, we opted to use the services of a driver/guide to show us around Siem Reap.  Temples are very spread out and you can do as little or as many of them as you wish.  We thought that we are only going to be here once, so let’s go the ‘whole hog’ and cover as many off as possible.

After doing some research, we settled on a small company called Tuk Tuk Family –Facebook  Co-Owners and our drivers were Soda and Kim Trip Advisor .

Our guides, Kim in the Car and Soda on the Tuk Tuk

They had great reviews, were very trustworthy and there was great communication prior to our arrival (which goes a long way in our book).  It cost us $30US/$41NZ a day for four days.

Now there are other options to choose from which would work out cheaper.  The itinerary we chose included sites that were really too far to go via Tuk Tuk so they use a combination of both car and Tuk Tuk.  This enabled us to go further afield and visit some of the more remote sights.  Another bonus is that our guide explained some of the history behind the sites.  He also would drop us of at one end and meet us at the other which saved us having to back track to the starting point.  Believe me, this is an added bonus when the temperatures are soaring into the high 30’s.  They also had an endless supply of ice cold water and cold towelettes….yay!!

If you are not interested in visiting the sites further afield then you could barter with any of the many Tuk Tuk drivers that line the streets and get them to take you to where you want to visit.

Temple Pass

You will need to obtain a pass in order to enter the temple sites.  These are only available from a central ticket office which didn’t appear to be very close to any of the major temple sites.  This has caught some tourists out as they used to be close to Angkor Wat. 

This was our first stop that we made.  Our guide took us into a rather large building and showed us where to line up.  We were there quite early in the morning so the queues weren’t too long and there were a lot of windows to chose from.

Our 3 Day Temple Passes

You need to chose either a 1 Day, 3 Day or 7 Day pass.  You have 1 week (regardless of what it says on the front) in which to use the 3 Day or 1 month to use the 7 Day pass so you do not need to visit the temples in consecutive days.  We chose the 3 Day pass which cost us $62US/$85NZ each (not a cheap tourist attraction!).

They will take your photo which is then printed on your ticket.  Keep it in a safe place as you will be checked regularly – even driving along the road a checkpoint will all of a sudden appear.

The Temples of Angkor

Now everyone has heard of Angkor Wat right?  Well there is so much more to it than that.

Most of the temple sites are within area called the Angkor Archaeological Park (approximately 1000km square).  Angkor had been the largest pre-industrial city in the world.  The temples represent the ruins of the capital cities of the Khmer Empire – the most famous being Angkor Wat and Bayon Temple.

So many temples!!

The temples of the Angkor area number over 1,000, ranging in scale from piles of block rubble scattered through fields to Angkor Wat, said to be the world’s largest single religious monument.

Many of the temples have been restored but there are also just as many that are still showing the ravages of time and war.

Sunrise over Angkor Wat and the rest of our friends

Visitor numbers to Angkor top over 2 million annually.  This statistic was never so apparent than at sunrise over Angkor Wat.  We were surrounded by no less than 1,500 other visitors.  We’re all waiting to see the first glimpse of the sun hitting the majestic Angkor Wat.  Although the ambience was less than ideal, we are still glad we made the effort.

We spent the 4 days with our driver/guide travelling to the far reaches of the Angkor Archaeological Park by car.  We then covered off all the other well known temple sites by Tuk Tuk.

More Than Just Temples

Although some may think that it’s a little too ‘temple heavy’, the sites were interspersed with other fascinating places of interest such as Prasat Neak Pean (an artificial island with a Buddhist temple), Sras Srang (a massive royal bath which looks like a lake, dug in the 10th century), War Museum (an array of vehicles, artillery, weaponry and equipment from the Civil War – Khmer Rouge) and Killing Fields Wat Thmei and Prison (formerly a site of killing fields in Siem Reap during the Khmer Rouge era).

Temple on the Lake, the Royal Bath, Civil War Museum and 8,000 skulls at the Buddhist Temple

We thoroughly enjoyed our time wandering around all of these historical sites.  The weather was hot and yes, in places there were a lot of fellow visitors.  I think what we liked was that we were really not on any timeframe.  Our guide let us wander around the different sites at our leisure.  He never really specified a set time to back.  He was always there waiting for us to wander out (sometimes asleep on his strung up hammock).  Some places interested us more than others.  It was great not to be hurried along or held up at any particular site waiting for others to return.

Nature taking over and our blessing by a bald toothless monk

There were numerous temple sights that we visited.  Too many to list and at the end of day won’t really hold any interest to anyone reading this.  I have included a links on the highlighted text which you can click on.  This way you can read more on anything that interests you and for more background information. 

Highlights of our stay in Siem Reap are divided into 3 videos below.  Make sure you give us a Thumbs Up on our YouTube Channel.