I had dreamt of visiting Siem Reap for many years. The pictures I repeatedly found on Pinterest only solidified my resolve to eventually come here. I am so glad to say that it surpassed my expectations, but the famous Angkor Wat is not the only attraction the city has to offer. There is so much to see and do and make the most of!
Getting there…
Arriving bright and early from Sihanoukville in an overnight sleeper bus, Char and I felt surprisingly well rested. Unplugging in Koh Rong had really given us time to relax! If you are going on an overnight journey in Cambodia then I would highly recommend travelling with Giant Ibis. Their sleeper buses are insanely comfortable.
Where to Stay?
We chose to stay in a hostel close to Pub Street. This was a perfect location. Close to cheap and tasty street food, restaurants and other attractions in the town. The atmosphere in the evenings is also fantastic here. We were lucky enough to be visiting on Halloween and the town was full of incredible decorations!
Temple Hopping
So the big attraction here – the temples! Now there are a lot of blogs out there suggesting multiple ways to see them. I am here to tell you that we tried three different methods of transport and each have their merits and pitfalls. So let’s start with the first one.
Cycling
I had read a lot online about cycling around the temples. Every post I read made it sound easy. Not to mention how cheap it would be. So we headed to Wat Po Bo street and walked along until we found bikes to rent for $1 USD per day. Don’t get me wrong, these were not the most comfortable bikes on the planet, but that price you can’t really complain!
Armed with a map we headed out towards the ticket office. This is not actually that close to the temples! Bear it in mind as if you choose cycling as your first day method of transport you will have to factor in the time to go there. It is just off of Street 60 and pretty well signposted. Once you get there you will have the option between a 1-day, 3-day or 7-day pass. We opted for the 3-day pass, which allows you entrance into the Angkor Wat National Park for three days within a seven-day period. They don’t even have to be consecutive days! Good news for those who feel easily templed out. Make sure you keep your ticket safe as there is a fine for losing it!
Angkor Wat National Park
So you have your ticket. Time to head towards the temples! There are two different circuits within the National Park. The Small Tour and the Grand Tour. We chose to do the Small Tour on our first day as we were already exhausted by the time we got to the park entrance. Both Char and I are quite fit, yet we found the heat unbearable! And we’d been in Asia for over a month already acclimatising. Whichever route you chose, I would recommend going anticlockwise to avoid the larger crowds.
So all in all, cycling, although an incredible experience, absolutely killed us. I have never felt more exhausted or dehydrated in my life. The freedom it gave us was fantastic but the headache it gave me was something else entirely. Luckily, one of the park rangers had already arranged to take us around a the Grand Tour the next day in a tuk tuk! Bliss! You can find out more about that later!
Small Tour
We visited every temple along this route but the ones I would highly recommend are:
⦁ Banteay Kdei and Srah Srang
⦁ Ta Phrom
⦁ Chau Say Tevoda
⦁ Elephant Terrace
⦁ Leper King Terrace
⦁ Baphuon
⦁ Bayon
You can read more about these why I particularly enjoyed visiting specific temples in my next post – Temple Hopping in Angkor Wat.
In total, we cycled around 43km doing the Small Tour. This included trying to be smart and following Google maps to get home. As it had done many times already during this trip, it got it spectacularly wrong! The “road” it sent us down was less of a road and more like a dirt path that took us right through some very rural Cambodian villages. Cycling over potholes in cheap $1 city bikes was a killer, not going to lie. But it was a great little adventure and incredible to see some of the real Cambodia. Every child in the area ran out to greet us and say hello as we cycled past. We must have made their day when we smiled and waved hello back at them!
Tuk Tuk
For $25 USD a nice park ranger we had met on the Small Tour (mentioned above) was going to take us on the Grand Tour in his tuk tuk. This was to also include sunrise at Angkor Wat itself and a side trip to Banteay Srei. Better value than our hostel was offering it at!
I must admit that although more expensive than cycling, doing the Grand Tour in a tuk tuk was far easier. I would recommend this should be your chosen method of temple hopping if your budget allows for it. I can’t tell you enough how much better and brighter we felt at the end of our second day than at the end of the first.
Grand Tour
The highlights of the Grand Tour for me included:
⦁ Angkor Wat
⦁ Pre Rup
⦁ Banteay Srei
⦁ East Mebon
⦁ Ta Som
⦁ Neak Pean
I will have the full low-down on all of these temples in my next post, but I will tell you now about seeing in the new day at Angkor Wat.
Sunrise over Angkor Wat
I have to admit that waking up at 4.30am was not the easiest thing, but I promise you that the view is worth it. We headed into the very large, iconic temple and went straight towards the left-hand pool as advised by our driver. As the sun came up and illuminated the sky in the most gorgeous of colours the silhouette of the five towers was reflected almost perfectly in the pool. We had seen some pretty impressive sunrises on our trip but this one was unreal. The pictures speak for themselves.
Following on from the best of the sunrise we were able to explore the temple. As most people were still milling around the pools we found that we had it pretty much to ourselves. This temple is so large it is worth taking the time to explore properly. Every inch is as unique and grand and impressive as the last!
Horse Riding
The third and final way Char and I managed to experience the temples was on horse back! Not all of the temples are within the boundaries of the National Park. I believe visiting one of them with the Happy Horse Ranch was the best way to see them!
Happy Horse Ranch
Happy Horse Ranch is another great way to spend the day. We booked our ride online a few days before arriving in Siem Reap after reading great reviews, specifically relating to the welfare of the horses. You can instantly tell that these horses are really well cared for! They are in great condition and are just generally happy. I was impressed to see that they have regular turnout and are rotated as much as possible between trail rides so that they almost always have the following day off to relax.
You can choose the length of ride you wish to go on and the time that would best suit you. The horses you are given will be chosen for you according to what ability of rider you are so be honest! Char and I are very confident riders and were given horses that reflected that.
Riding through the Cambodian countryside on our trusty new friends Ohio and California was quite the experience. Keep your temple pass for this as you will be able to go into one of them on your journey. Our guide took us through lotus fields and rice paddies and past more rural villages giving us information on farming practices and housing styles along the way. There was one hairy moment where a water buffalo came out of a lotus field and stared out the horses but Ohio and California handled it like absolute pros! Looking back it was quite funny having a buffalo square up to horse. All in all we had a fantastic time!
Siem Reap Town
So what else is there to do in Siem Reap besides temple hopping? There are actually a number of activities on offer! Pub Street has a fabulous array of bars and night clubs if you want some night time entertainment.
During the day time there are multiple markets nearby that you can peruse. Walking along the riverside toward the Royal Independence Park and Gardens is a lovely way to pass the time. The park itself is home to over 1,000 bats that you can find nesting in the trees! If you arrive at the right time you could even join in a Zumba class. Or just sit and watch it take place. Hundreds of people descend on the park to join these classes or do their own form of exercise. It gets quite busy!
Angkor Artisans
If you’re still looking for more to do then I must recommend that you go and visit Angkor Artisans. For free you can get a tour of the workshop in Siem Reap where you see how they carve such intricate detail into temple restorations and other artwork. You will also be able to take a shuttle bus out to their own silk farm where you will be able to witness first hand how silk scarves are fashioned from beginning to end. It’s surprising how much detail goes into hand making a silk scarf! The best part is that all of this is completely free. Another fantastic thing to see here.
Siem Reap was the perfect culmination of a spectacular trip. I feel so incredibly blessed to have been able to undertake this journey. The experiences we had and the memories we made will stay with us for a lifetime. Remember that Siem Reap is more than just Angkor Wat. It has such character and atmosphere that it really is destination for everyone!
