Cambodia, or precisely, Angkor Wat area, was a last-minute decision. I have been fascinated by the history and story behind Angkor Wat for a long time but never had the chance to see it myself.
Cambodia hasn’t made the history of the world in the best of lights. Genocide, war, land mines, and drug trafficking dominated the list of topics in Cambodia. Yet Angkor Wat and many of the historical structures shed a different light on a different time period. A time when the Khmer Empire was the economic and political center of the region with architecture that the gods might even envy.
I concentrated all 3 days of my time in Siem Reap on the temples(visited 15 total!) out of personal interest. I have talked to travelers who were not as into the history and culture. If you are one of them, I recommend just visiting some of the main sites such as Angkor Wat, Ta Prohm, and Banyon Temple. There are tours that can take you around. Alternatively, you can just hire a Tuktuk to drive you around. I visited during the beginning of the rainy season, a small tour van was a better idea for the heat, humidity, and rain.
Angkor Wat and surrounding temples
Angkor Wat is just one of the main temples among the hundreds of temples in the Siem Reap area; it is the temple complex you see on postcards. Even with the high crowd, I would still recommend visiting this architectural marvel that signified the peak of the Khmer Empire. The carvings on the walls alone were well worth the visit.
Many visitors come early in the morning not only to avoid the heat but also to capture the sunrise over Angkor Wat. There were two pools in front of the Angkor Wat outer gate. Try to pick a pool that can reflect Angkor Wat without the crowd. When I was there, the left pool facing Angkor Wat was less crowded by one could not see the reflections due to the growth on the pool. Depending on where the tour buses drop off, sometimes the right pool may be less crowded. Either way, get there early and check both out.
Some parts of Angkor Wat may be very crowded when there are too many people due to the narrow pathways. Keep that in mind when you are taking pictures; you may find many opportunities while you wait for the crowd to move.
Another face sight that often gets featured on postcards is the big stone faces on Banyon Temple. To this day, there is no agreed-upon answer to who these faces are supposed to represent.
An add-on program to Bayon temple would be the city gates of Angkor Thom, surrounding Bayon and other temples. The Southern Gate has well-restored carvings of mythical creatures, monsters, and other religious creatures. Well worth a quick photo stop.
Now if you are short on time, another temple I would recommend visiting is called Ta Prohm famous for tree roots wrapped temples. If you are a fan of the Tomb Raider franchise or simply loves to see the rare and dramatic sights of intervening jungle and temples.
A few other temples I visited in the Siem Reap areas are the water temple, Neak Poan, the pink temple with monkeys, Bandey Srei, another tree temple, Prasat Preah Khan, the hindu temple, Pre Rup temple. Below are some of the pictures to help you decide if you would like to visit them or not.
Beng Meala and Koh Ker (Hidden gems!)
My favorite part of visiting the Siem Reap area was going off the beaten path a bit to the Beng Meala and many temples in Koh Ker, two and half hours drive outside of Siem Reap.
Because of the lower crowd, you can actually get up and close to nature and the temples and inspect them in great detail.
Koh Ker is just like Angkor Wat, a name for a temple and a city with many other temples. Jayavarman IV moved the capital from Angkor Wat to Koh Ker briefly(928AD-944AD). Many of the temples were built during the time period. You will see some similarities between Koh Ker and Angkor Wat.
However, many of the temples are different and well worth quick spot-bys.
I recommend hiring a car or joining a tour for the Koh Ker trip. Many of the temples were quite small so you can see it right from the car if you don’t wish to stop every minute (yes, they are that closely located to each other).
Cambodian Land Mine Museum
The last few centuries of Cambodia were largely marked by armed conflicts and suffering. Some of the products of the war still linger and haunt the locals to this day. The landmines from the Khmer Rouge era have become a serious hazard for the local villages. In fact, till this day there are still millions of landmines all around Cambodia unmapped and in unknown locations.
One of the NGOs in charge of removing the land mines opened a museum outside of Siem Reap that is worth a visit. One of the founders of the museum and NGO, Aki Ra, was just on site. He provided an excellent tour of the museum with information you won’t hear on the audio tour at all.
Aki Ra was actually in Khmer Rouge and was in charge of placing the mines during his 20 years fighting in various armies. During the tour, Aki Ra described how he was conscripted into the various different war factions, how he learned to place mines, and even how he got his name.
Nowadays, Aki Ra fights to make his country safer. Since he placed the mines, he is also the best person to demine. Over the last two decades, Aki Ra decommissioned more than 50,000 explosive devices or ammunition. There is even a documentary about him called “The Perfect Soldier.”
Cambodian Food
Due to the decades of wars and conflicts post-colonization, Cambodian food has adjusted to the needs of the time. Avoiding starvation and the need to cook quickly had become the main goal for many of the families.
(Scary picture warning!!!)
However due to the foreign tourism in the Siem Reap area, many Cambodian foods experienced a revitalization. Jump on a food tour or try some of the street food.
We also tried a Cambodian hot pot-BBQ combo which is certainly worth sitting down and enjoying with some good beers.
Transportation, tickets, and money
Siem Reap is not as cheap as one assumes. The convenient thing is that the country accepts USD, especially for larger amounts (greater than 5-10 dollars). You can still use your dollar bills and quarters if you happen to bring them. For bills over 20 USD, be sure these bills are of 2013 and older as many vendors or exchanges won’t accept anything older or with blemishes. Alternatively, you can also exchange for some Cambodian riels. Sometimes you are able to get better rates in Riel than in USD.
To visit the Angkor Wat area, you can get a one-day ticket or 3-day ticket like I did. The 3-day ticket at the time cost 62 USD for a foreign tourist. The tickets are made of paper and you are required to carry them at all times. Just be careful not to get it wet or lose it. Some guides will say that picture versions of the ticket also work. Unfortunately, I did see the picture version getting rejected at two of the temples.
Transportation is pretty easy around Siem Reap area as you can hire a van or tuktuk for the day for relatively cheap prices. In fact, you will see many tuktuks racing towards the airport in the morning carrying passengers with suitcases. For sightseeing, you can jump on a tour which usually provides an air-conditioned ride with cold water and cold towels; a godsend if you are not used to the climate.
