Angkor Wat and Siem Reap: A Whole New World

Want to enter a different world? A world where only your imagination stops you from entering a world that is 1000 years old and vibrating from the life once lived here? Explore breathtaking ruins of ancient, forgotten kingdoms. Angkor was the capital city of the Khmer Empire and this city was flourishing from the 9th to 15th century. After this, it slowly fell out of peoples minds and into oblivion. In many years its only guest were the monkeys and the jungle that slowly but steady hid and devoured the city and made it one with nature. The hidden city of Angkor Wat is again discovered - join me for a visit.

Bayon Temple

Siem Reap and how to get here

One of Cambodia’s major attraction is visiting the Angkor Wat! To do so, one must go to Siem Reap. The easiest way from Phnom Penh is jumping on a bus. It takes around 8 hours (Cost 6 $). A more expensive option is the boat, which takes around 7hrs (cost is 35 $). The boat ride is nice because there is no traffic. If coming by boat, pre-book the tuk-tuk in Phnom Penh because the harbor is located 13 km outside Siem Reap, and it is half price.

Cycling around the surrounding area to find a spot for sunset

Where to go in the city

Siem Reap is quite a touristic city. It is small and easy to get around either by walking or by renting a bicycle for 1-3 $ a day. Traffic is fairly slow and tourist-friendly. The main attractions in the city are the 2-night markets where you can buy all your souvenirs and t-shirt for a couple of dollars if you bargain a little. Persistence is a virtue here. If you press your claim that a t-shirt should be 2 $ with a smile, in the end, you will get it. Food is cheap. If you buy on the street a meal can be attained for 1 $ and two if you eat in a restaurant a bit away from Pub-street. If you cross the river from the main touristy area you will find better local food for a better price.
Pub-street, the party street, is where everyone who wants a little action turn up after sunset. There are plenty of options to enjoy loud western music and beer for half a dollar.

Angkor Wat

The main reason for visiting is, of course, Angkor Wat.
A lot of us have a childhood longing for an Indiana Jones adventure and to maybe fall upon a hidden treasure. This is where to outlive them. Explore this ancient and magnificent city of wonders. Fall in love with the greatness of a bygone era. The ruins have been lost and forgotten for so many years they are still in close to perfect condition. The jungle has slowly but steadily crept into the world and covered Angkor Wat and the surrounding temples with trees and ensured it to be one of the best-kept secrets from greedy men.

Small temple explored on our first day. We were the only ones.

There are different means of transportation to get there and around, depending on your needs and sense of adventure.
You can take a tuk-tuk for the day. They have fixed day-rates and you either do the big or small circuit trip. The small trip includes Angkor Wat, Bayon and 4 other temples, including the Tombraider temple. Meanwhile, the big trip takes you to a lot of smaller temples that are less crowded. You can also rent a bicycle and enjoy the trip at your own pace. It might be a good idea to get a tour guide if you wanna do a bit of off-road since there are still land-mines in the countryside around Angkor tomb. Be sure to make the guide take you through the gate of the death into Angkor Thom. It is a beautiful ride and quite empty of people. The Khmer do not go here because it is only for the death, and tourists do not know about it. It is a bit out of the way but amazing.

Small temple in the middle of the jungle, empty

Personally, I enjoyed my little Lara Croft adventure while cycling through the countryside and exploring the temples at sunset with no tourists on the temple ground. Walking into dark and half-collapsed corridors and trying to find secret doors to another world. Going through the hidden gates and the unspoiled nature was a very different experience from the trip with the tuk-tuk to the main temples. We did 3 days on the temple grounds. One day of tuk-tuk to the main temples and two days of cycling around the ground to see the “authentic” empty temples and get the feeling of what it was like before the tourist invasion. I would recommend a combination for those who have the time.

Angkor Wat at sunrise

Surrounding area

Extra days in Siem Reap can be spent by visiting Kulen Mountain. Nature is amazing with rain-forest and a waterfall. Here you can hang with the locals, as no tourist goes there. To reach your destination, make sure you rent a bike that can go off-road because the roads are dirt roads and quite rough.

Still hungry for temples? Prasat Beng Mealea is worth a visit. It is 75 km from Siem Reap but hardly any tourists go there so you will have it almost to yourself. This is nice, for a change, when you have done the big temples in Angkor Wat and want pictures with less than 20 other people in them.

Prasat Beng Mealea ruins

Accommodation

We stayed at Sweet Dreams guesthouse. We spent a week with Phon Phoeun and he was an amazing host. The price was fair and the facilities were great. The staff was polite and helpful.
If you want a more social atmosphere, the area opposite side of the river (from the main tourist area) hosts many hostels and guesthouses with different level of party and action. And the area is just a 10-minute walk from the party street.

Insider party tips

The Club Mezze has Sunday Latin Night with salsa and other Latin-American tunes.
Yolo has glowing paint to paint yourself with while partying like there’s no tomorrow.

Sex-tourism

A thing that will not take much space but should be mentioned here is that Cambodia has a reputation for sex-tourism. When you visit Cambodia, you will soon realize that there is a lot of sex-for-sale. As a male, if you use Tinder you will match with a lot of beautiful ladies and after a little small-talk, they will suggest meeting up. The standard price for sex in Cambodia is $50. The price is regardless of whether or not the ladies are standing on the street, picked up in the famous lady-bars or matched with on social dating sites such as tinder. One big problem is that the average salary for “blue collar”-work per month is $100. This is what the tuk-tuk-man on the street makes, the people in the food-stalls and most of the other hard-working Khmers. This means that if a lady works two nights a month and earns $50 she has already doubled a family’s income. A lot of women that don't work in the sex-industry still moon-lights on dating-sites and ask for money for certain favors. It is hard to watch and not easy to solve because of the way Cambodia is working. But traveling around in Cambodia is it an important thing to be aware of.