Travel Editor Lydia Don outlines her unexpected trip to Siem Reap, suggesting it is a must-visit destination in South East Asia
Back at the start of September, a couple of friends and I went on a VERY spontaneous trip to Siem Reap. Well, when I say VERY spontaneous, I mean I booked everything 2 weeks in advance. And as somebody who likes to know about things in advance, I booked this unusually quickly. I guess that’s exchanger life for you! Plus, I didn’t really know anything about Cambodia apart from Angkor Wat and the genocide. Fair to say my knowledge was limited, but little did I know that I would be leaving Siem Reap wanting more of what Cambodia has to offer.
Day One
4:00am. An ungodly hour. But my mix of excitement and trepidation got me up out of bed. As I got ready, all I could think about was whether my £350 flight to Siem Reap would be worth the money. This was my first time flying out of Changi since moving to Singapore, and the word we all used to sum it up was civilised. It was certainly a far cry from the chaos and disorganisation that is Birmingham Airport! I seamlessly journeyed through the airport and jumped on the 2 hour flight to Siem Reap.
When we arrived, and obtained our visas, we headed out of Siem Reap’s tiny airport to meet our driver. He was instantly so welcoming and informative about his country. After an hour-long journey, we arrived at our beautiful hotel just on the outskirts of central Siem Reap. Accommodation here is incredibly cheap – our hotel cost us £25 for 3 nights! The hotel staff were incredibly friendly too, all greeting us with a smile and a much-appreciated drink. However, we did not have long to relax until we were off on our first tour to the Kampong Phluk floating village.
Kampong Phluk is a fishing village set on Tonle Sap, Cambodia’s largest lake situated on the outskirts of Siem Reap. Our brilliant guide first led us through a local food market, where we were invited to try fruits such as lychee and plantain. As we wandered the dirt streets in between the stalls, the sight of snakes being killed for eating were particularly surprising and, as a pescetarian myself, rather harrowing. But it really showed us real life for Cambodians living in rural areas such as these. We were then guided onto a large boat on which we journeyed amongst the colourful houses and boats which lined the edges of the river. As we sat on the back of the boat, with the sun beaming down on us and the wind in our hair, we relaxed and watched the world go by, periodically waving to kids playing on the riverbanks. We eventually jumped off the boat and onto smaller kayak and took a relaxing trip through the mangroves. This made for majestic photographs of the sunlight peeking through the trees and reflecting off the swampy, mysterious water. We all jumped back on the boat to watch sunset over the lake, concluding what was a relaxing start to our trip!
As we sat on the back of the boat, with the sun beaming down on us and the wind in our hair, we relaxed and watched the world go by
As evening rolled around, we explored the centre of Siem Reap, heading to Pub Street for dinner and drinks. If you are looking for a lively night out, with music blaring from all corners and drinks flowing into the early hours, Pub Street will be for you! It is a great way to socialise with travellers, usually those backpacking through Asia! However, since we had to be awake for 3am the next morning to watch sunrise over Angkor Wat, we decided to head to our hotel whilst the night was still young.
Day Two
3:00am. An even more ungodly hour. But I had no doubts this would be worth it. We were visiting Angkor Wat, the picture-postcard temple of Cambodia famous for its mesmerising sunrise. Accredited as the eighth wonder of the world, this is the part of the trip I was most looking forward to. After arriving at 3:30am and walking to the Temple entrance, we entered Angkor Wat and assembled our place by the water to watch sunrise. Unfortunately, it was overcast so we could not clearly see the sun rising. Despite this, however, I found it very emotional to watch a pitch-black sky gradually turn more and more blue as the sun subtly illuminated the background to Angkor Wat. I was very powerful to see the temple emerge from the murky darkness of the night sky. So all in all, it was absolutely worth seeing – just be aware that seeing the sun rise in all its glory is not always a guarantee. After this, we explored Angkor Wat with yet another fantastic guide. The temple was huge, and apart from being periodically scared by deadly black wasps flying round us (which our guide casually shared could kill us), it was a very relaxing and somewhat methodical walk. This was not the only temple we would visit today – 5 more beautiful, but largely similar, temples later, we headed back to our hotel to refresh.
This evening, we were shattered, but wanted to make the most of our evening knowing we didn’t need to wake up as early the next morning! My friend had heard about the Cambodia Phare Circus group which put on regular shows demonstrating their unparalleled acrobatic, dance and acting skills. I am not big on this sort of thing, but sceptically I booked my ticket. And I am so glad that I did. After sitting in a courtyard watching an introductory dance performance, eating local Cambodian food and marvelling at the beautiful flowers illuminated subtly by the fairy lights twinkling above us, we sat in a circular tiered-seating area with the stage being situated in the middle. The performance was fantastic – the skill of every performer didn’t go unnoticed. I absolutely loved their ability to story tell. Despite the language barrier, we could all see the emotive story of love and family they were telling. The dancers, paired with the fantastic live music (a special mention for the drummer whose performance I was completely mesmerised by), really made us feel part of the performance. Despite there being an unscripted power cut mid-performance, the actors persevered and improvised with jokes and audience participation which was highly entertaining! We had a wonderful evening, something I think we communicated fairly well when we met the actors after the performance! We were all so glad we took a chance on the circus show, and it remains one of my favourite experiences since moving to Asia.
Despite there being an unscripted power cut mid-performance, the actors persevered and improvised with jokes and audience participation which was highly entertaining!
Day Three
This was our last full day in Siem Reap, and yet another day of temple exploring. Whilst this was, again, very interesting, we were a bit ‘templed out’ as we put it! We stayed for the majority of the tour, but used the lunch stop as an opportunity to cut our time at the temples short and move on to something a bit different. We had heard about a charity close by called Apopo, an organisation which trains rats to smell out landmines. Originally set up in Tanzania, Apopo now operates in eight countries worldwide heling communities feel safe in their homes and when working on their land. This is a particularly important cause to Cambodia given they have the highest number of amputees per capita in the world, all caused by unidentified landmines exploding in rural areas, particularly impacting farmworkers. We learned about the history of the charity, how they train the rats, and how this work is impacting individuals globally. We even got to meet and hold one of the rats who were all very friendly! The rats were huge – nothing like the tiny ones scurrying around the streets of Birmingham sniffing out food from bins, these rats were about the size of a small cat! We thoroughly enjoyed our time at the charity, and it really inspired me to look more into working with them in the future.
We thoroughly enjoyed our time at the charity, and it really inspired me to look more into working with them in the future
After this, we jumped in a Tuk Tuk – the predominant mode of transport we took whilst in Cambodia – and headed to the Made in Cambodia Market. This secluded shopping area, hidden away behind a frontage of flowers and overgrown bushes, showcased the best of Cambodia’s creatives. You could find anything from jewellery to clothes to accessories, and even paintings. Right at the back of the market I found a watercolour painter selling some of his works which captured many of Siem Reap’s landscapes. I purchased one of Kampong Phluk since this was one of my favourite experiences on this trip. This relaxed evening of shopping concluded what was a jam-packed but brilliantly unexpected trip to Siem Reap.
So, is Siem Reap worth it?
Absolutely. I cannot recommend Siem Reap enough. I went to Cambodia having little to no prior knowledge of the country, so I was really going there completely unaware that I would be leaving having completely fallen in love with the city. If you ever find yourself in Southeast Asia, or are planning on making a trip there, you mustn’t miss out on Siem Reap. Knowing what I know now about the city, I wouldn’t want to miss it for the world.
Top Tips
We purchased our Temple Pass in advance to allow us into all of the temples without having to pay every time we enter one with cash. It just made life easier, especially since we were unsure of how much money to bring and what currency to bring – turns out US Dollars were preferred pretty much everywhere!
We booked our guided tours through Get Your Guide, and kept our tickets on the corresponding app. Saying this, I would recommend printing off every pass, ticket and payment confirmation in case the temple guards ask for a copy!
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