Visit. Siem. Reap. Like, now. Whatever you are doing, just stop, and get yourself to Cambodia.
<Insert eye roll here.>
Alright, so getting to Cambodia may involve a bit of planning, but I would seriously highly encourage you to start at least considering it.
Visiting Angkor Wat was an unbelievable, other worldly experience, and then the town of Siem Reap takes laid back to the next level. It totally exceeded our expectations with about a million cool coffee shops and cafes that all seem to be giving back to some worthwhile cause.
Day 76: Travel from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap
Buses run from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap multiple times a day, and despite the ride taking six hours, we had WiFi and the trip was pretty straightforward. We were picked up at our hotel at about 8:30 AM. We arrived in Siem Reap in the middle of the afternoon.
As I shared in our post on Phnom Penh, while we were there we ate at this incredible little hip place called Backyard Cafe. Well, Backyard Cafe has a sister restaurant, Vibe, in Siem Reap that was just as fabulous, so natch we went straight there to detox a bit from the long ride.
We both got veggie burgers (my meat-loving husband wanted a veggie burger!) which were divine. We went back to our great little AirBNB and watched Angelina Jolie’s film First They Killed My Father about the Cambodian genocide. It was understandably tough to watch but definitely instructive for our time in Cambodia.
Day 77: Enjoying Siem Reap
We had originally planned to go to Angkor Wat our first full day in Cambodia, but our AirBNB host gave us good advice to take a day to settle in to enjoy Siem Reap first. Our AirBNB was in an incredible location in the Kandal Village neighborhood, so we walked around the corner to Common Grounds, another adorable coffee shop to work for the day.
Common Grounds for Breakfast…And Lunch
We had muffins and coffee for breakfast, and then worked right through to lunch where Rich enjoyed A PHILLY CHEESESTEAK. Rich, Southwest Philadelphia born and raised, offered the following assessment: “It’s not as good as Philly, obviously, but it is done better than some places in the United States.” High praise.
Siem Reap has a major ex-pat culture, most notably ex-pats from Australia. While we were in the cafe, we witnessed a nonprofit meeting taking place at one table while a mom worked on her laptop and her son did what looked like homeschool math homework beside her. It was cool.
Dinner at Miss Wong Cocktail Bar
Siem Reap has a total party themed area known as Pub Street because, well, there are about a million bars and pubs where beers cost about a quarter each. Seriously.
While walking down pub street, a ten year old boy asked Rich if he wanted to pay roughly $1 to eat a tarantula. As most of us would have, Rich quickly declined. The boy said, “Come on. Be a man.” Hilarious.
That scene was a bit rowdy for us, so we ducked down an ally to grab dinner and a drink at Miss Wong Cocktail Bar, named for the famous painting by Vladimir Tretchikoff. The decor was super posh. The drinks were sophisticated. Rich and I felt a little more like the professionals we once were and a little less like the backpackers we have become. We had a great time.
Day 78: Angkor Wat
Visiting Angkor Wat was the type of experience that affirms that for every long travel day, every time we have gotten really lost, and every wrinkled outfit pulled out of the same dirty backpack taking this trip was one of the best decisions we have ever made.
About Angkor
Angkor was the capital city of the Khmer empire. Between the 9th to 15th centuries, historians believe that Angkor was a megacity, housing nearly 1 million people. At the time, that would have been 0.1% of the global population.
Today, in the Angkor complex, over 1,000 temples remain. Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom are the most famous temples, but there are many small and beautiful lesser known temples as well.
All of Angkor stands as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. These temples are incredibly well-preserved; there are hardly any areas that you cannot enter today. It is like a giant, historical playground.
Sunrise at AngKOR Wat
Our AirBNB contracts with a team of tuk tuk drivers, and they are pros at planning out the day. We received a printed menu of prices and locations, picked what we wanted to see, and arranged everything through our AirBNB.
We knew we wanted to see Angkor Wat at sunrise so our tuk tuk driver arrived to pick us up at 4:30 AM (!!!). He drove us about 30 minutes outside of town to be at the front of the line to buy tickets, and then we drove another 15 minutes or so to Angkor Wat. Using our iPhone flashlight, we followed the crowds– yes, crowds at 5:15 AM– to a prime view of the sunrise over Angkor Wat.
What is impossible to capture in words is the sheer scope and magnitude of Angkor Wat. How something so old can still tower so magnificently over the landscape is unreal. Watching the sun come up over Angkor Wat was amazing.
Sun’s Up– Let’s Explore
So once the sun is up, the couple of thousand people who had stood back to watch it come over the water head towards the entrance of the structure. The thing is, Angkor Wat is so large with so many halls and turns and stairs, that you can take a turn away from the crowd and find yourself alone in the temple. This has not been a common experience at most major tourist locations for us.
We wandered around, said whoa every other word, took pictures, and tried to take it all in.
We then got in line to climb to the top of the temple. After being in line for about 20 minutes, the worker informed me that having my scarf covering my shoulders was not sufficient coverage to enter the highest part of the temple because my straps under the scarf were small. I told Rich to go up anyway and got out of line.
Immediately, a t-shirt vendor arrived. We negotiated him down to paying about $3 for a cool Cambodia t-shirt, I put the t-shirt on over my dress, and we were back in business.
The climb to the top was terrifying. You climb the uneven stone steps straight up the equivalent of 4-5 stories. Rich was okay; I got to the top and was ready to kiss the ground and cry! In Europe and America, there would have been about a million warnings and signs removing all liability. Here, they figure you have enough sense to know if you can make it up or not.
The views of course were stunning. We were on top of an ancient world.
To Angkor Thom and Beyond
You hire the skilled tuk tuk drivers for the day so when we finished at Angkor Wat, our driver was waiting for us. He took us to Angkor Thom, we explored, then we got back in the tuk tuk to travel to the next temple.
By the end of the tour, we had seen five of the largest temples. It was about 11:30 AM (remember, our day started at 4:30 AM). Rich and I were so sweaty, so dirty, so wiped, and so content. It had been an amazing day. Nap time!
Day 79: Rainy Season in Cambodia
The next day it rained. We slept in and then wandered to a late breakfast at New Leaf Eatery, another amazing cafe that donates a large chunk of its proceeds to local education.
We spent the rest of the rainy day inside, working on blogging and planning and just generally getting caught up.
For dinner, we walked three doors down– did we mention our location was amazing– to Crane, one more bar/cafe, this time focused on supporting local artists, where we enjoyed delicious curry for dinner. Siem Reap was the hippest.
If you want to have your mind blown by a wonder of the world, and then you want to eat lots of delicious, healthy food at places that support the community, Siem Reap is your spot. We could not have been more impressed by this laid back and lovely little Cambodian town.
