Angkor temples and life over the water – Siem Reap, Cambodia
We arrived in Siem Reap after a long bus ride from Bangkok. The border crossing had been a lot less perilous than we’d heard and we got here without being scammed and excited to start our Cambodian adventure!
First on our list was, of course, the world-famous Angkor Wat. This enormous temple complex is about a half hour drive from Siem Reap’s main town area. We hired a tuk tuk for the day to take us around the temples for US$18. It was an extra $3 than normal because we were opting to go super early so we could watch the sunrise. This was definitely $3 well spent! It was a little cloudy so we didn’t get a clear sunrise but it was still mesmerising watching the main Angkor Wat temple take form in front of us across the lily pad-covered pond.
It was super busy, so don’t go expecting a tranquil experience! But it was a lot quieter than it was when we left the temple a couple of hours later. They only allow a certain number of people inside the main temple at a time, but as we were there just before it opened we only had to queue for about 15 minutes to get inside the temple. The queue was much bigger when we came out, so even if you’ve got a cloudy day I’d still recommend getting here as early as you can!
The next few hours were spent wandering around other temples within the Angkor Thom complex. These are less famous but just as impressive! They were also a lot quieter so you could really enjoy them. I really liked the big faces carved into the towers and one temple several levels high reminded me of the latest Jungle Book movie. There was even the odd monkey around!
The last temple we visited was Ta Promh, which was used in the Tomb Raider movie and it was heaving by the time we got there! It was so cool though! The jungle has really had enough of this temple and has taken it back – there are enormous trees growing around it, through it and on top of it. A lot of it is crumbling but most of it is still standing. You can tell that some of these trees are really, really old, so it just shows how old this temple complex is.
At $37 per person for entry, it isn’t a cheap day out, especially for this part of the world. But it was a fantastic day and such an awe-inspiring place is just unmissable if you’re in South East Asia!
Another big sight-seeing draw in Siem Reap is the floating village. This is out in the middle of the Tonle Sap lake and you can take a boat trip.
However, I’ve heard that there are a lot of scams around these trips and the people living in the village are extremely poor and don’t benefit from your visit. It’s always hard to tell what is what, but we decided to give it a miss and just have a cycle around the Siem Reap area instead. We rode down to the lake, which took about an hour and took us through the town and out into a large wetland area. It was a beautiful place with the red earth, water buffalo and little bamboo huts amongst the reeds.
As we got further closer to the lake we saw more and more buildings that were either on stilts in the water or just anchored down and floating on it. Everything from a motorbike workshop to people’s homes to the primary school were all built over or on the water! It was really interesting to see, but also tough at times as you could see that most people here don’t have much at all. But that does make it all the more amazing when you see how friendly and lovely the Cambodian people are. We had endless smiles and waves as we cycled around – two laughing kids even tried to climb on the back of our bikes for a ride!
We got soaked in the rain on the way back and got caught up in a religious procession that was plodding down the main road with a very dodgy speaker. It was a really interesting day out and I highly recommend taking the time out to explore some of the surrounding countryside in Siem Reap. All the terrain is flat and easy and it was only $2 to hire a bike!
Word of warning:
Keep your phone out of sight, preferably zipped away, in Siem Reap town if you’re on any kind of bike. George nearly had his taken out of his pocket while cycling and we’ve heard stories of people having them snatched from their hand by moto riding bandits! Phnom Penh is supposedly the worst for this sort of crime.
