Jump Ahead:
Day 1 | Manila Airport, Arrival at Siem Reap, Hotel Check-in
Day 2 | Angkor Wat, Ta Phrom, Victory Gate, Terrace of Elephants, Leper King, Ba Phuon, Bayon, Phnom Bakheng, local market
Day 3 | Angkor Wat sunrise, Preah Khan, Neak Poun, Ta Som, Eastern Mebon, Banteay Srei, Banteay Samre, Pre Rup, Banteay Kdei, night markets
Day 1 - Arrival
Time for my long anticipated trip to Cambodia! This was really about a 5 day trip, and the main attraction for me was Siem Reap. I had also looked into trying to make a quick stop at Phnom Penh but I felt like given the distance between the two cities and the type of activities available there it was better to just spend more quality time near Siem Reap. To do both felt like I would’ve had to really rush everything and lately I just prefer not to do that.
Flying from Japan, there weren’t really many good routes available into Siem Reap so I ended up having to book multiple flights on budget airlines. Flying through Manila on the way to Siem Reap and through Hong Kong back to Japan. Budget airlines really are budget airlines… they charge for everything and even ask for donations. It also seemed like everyone’s etiquette went out the door as soon it was time to board the plane. Manila airport was fairly irritating, with lots of metal detectors even though people just walk through anyway, even if they’re going off. I did have to go in and out of immigration/customs… then check-in again. In the second check-in line, everyone kept letting their “group” cut and the security guard allowed it too. The only positive might’ve been the food court which had a fair amount of choices and it was cheap. Credit cards weren’t working where I ate but they took cash. They tried to just make a conversion rate up to rip me off so I had to show them the actual exchange rate ($11 dinner). As for my water bottle, the first guard said it was ok to take through security, then at the detector they said I had to drink it there (even though I probably could’ve just continued walking away). They did check my contact solution and small blunt scissors too but those were ok. Security seemed very lazy… didn’t have to unpack my other liquids for some reason. Departure was late with my boarding at 2045…. just really didn’t like this airport at all.
I arrived at Siem Reap by 2320, and was out of the airport by 2345. Having done the E-Visa made things much faster since I didn’t have to wait in line with all the others who didn’t have one in advance. It was a relatively small airport, deplaning by stairs on the tarmac. Immigration was just a little slow but overall not so bad. My driver was already waiting for me since the plane was late but he had misspelled my name “Brain Abe”. According to him, they renovated the airport about 5 years prior which is why it still looked pretty new and clean. By the way, Google Fi is awesome… it really works everywhere. We passed by a flashy new mall near the cultural center, which he said no tourists go to yet as they had just opened a week prior… maybe this will become another tourist destination later?
Finally made it to the hotel a little after midnight… first impressions were nice. I couldn’t tell by Google street view prior to the trip so it was a pleasant surprise hehe. Staff was very welcoming, even so late at night (the mosquitos were very welcoming too, ggrrr). The hotel and room was a little better than the one in Vietnam though I was paying more… I felt it would be a little more safe and comfortable this way since I couldn’t get much a feel for the city environment before arriving.
Day 2
The hotel had a really nice breakfast buffet each morning which was a great way to start the trip.
To make things easier on this trip, I had booked a three day itinerary with a company called Happy Angkor Tours. I ended up paying $231, not including the cost of temples pass ($62), floating village cruise boat ($30), and the Apsara dinner show ($18)… this was kind of pricey because I was essentially reserving a group car for myself. There are many other options out there, with varying ranges of comfort, but at the time this group seemed to have good reviews and was relatively safe to take a chance on.
The tour guide was late but the hotel was nice enough to call the company and check. The company said they thought I called to change the meeting time to 0830… (not true). Good of the hotel to help me even though I didn’t book any tours through them. The driver showed up on time but the tour guide showed up at 0816 saying he confused me with another group. Pextra was the driver and Bomuay the guide. So many mosquitoes were waiting around with me but this trip I made sure to wear a ton of repellent.
We first had to stop at the ticket office to purchase my temple pass. At the ticket place, there are different lines depending on the duration of the ticket you want. It’s the only place to buy tickets so it can be crowded. My pass was $62. There were no traffic lights on the road. I also noticed all the tour guides wear same or similar uniforms but still represent different companies. My guide for the trip said he had 10 years of experience and according to him the National Park is a square 20 km x 20 km on government owned land. This means no cutting down trees and no new buildings but old homes/people already there are allowed stay.
All right! No building up to the main event because this is the main event! The itinerary said we’d do Angkor Wat in the afternoon but we started the tour with it instead, entering from the East side. This is probably the most popular stop on everyone’s itinerary here and it was as good as can be expected. Spent a lot of time here (relatively) just wandering around and trying to take it all in. There was a line going up to the 3rd level but it was too long (1 hour wait) so we decided to save it for the next day. Otherwise, it wasn’t as crowded as I expected (even though this was the busy season).
One of the perks of going by car was that the driver always had a iced towel, water, and umbrella for me anytime I wanted one… much more comfortable than tuk tuks or going with a big group. After Angkor Wat, we went to Ta Phrom, the Tomb Raider temple. Here, the temple is older than the trees which is why it looks the way it does. There were also a lot of conservation projects going on while I was there.
Then lunch nearby and the Palmboo Restaurant. I ate Amok which is supposed to be a popular local type of dish. The fish, a fruit salad, and one Angkor beer totaled $12. All were very good.
Next they took me to Victory Gate, Angkor Thom, Terrace of Elephants and the Leper King, Baphuon, and then Bayon. The guide knew all the typical picture poses at Bayon so he convinced me to take a bunch of corny pictures hehe. Really enjoyed the stone faces at Bayon though… maybe the highlight of the day for me, more so than Angkor Wat.
Towards the end of the day we stopped at Phnom Bakheng which is supposedly known for its nice views and sunset. There is a short hike up the hill here and my guide was too tired to go up with me. He also tried to convince me it wasn’t worth waiting 2-1/2 more hours for the sunset. In the end, after seeing the view from the top I agreed to not wait for the sunset. It was too hot and I was tired anyway so I just walked back down after taking a few pictures.
On the way back to the hotel, the guide recommended a $18 Apsara dinner show as he said the $12 and $36 options were too crowded. $18 was supposedly a good balance between the two other options so I told him to reserve me a spot and he requested I pay in advance for this one. From showing up late to not walking with me all the time, I think it was all just him being hungover which I caught him saying once but he also said he had an accident with his leg recently. Overall, I was still satisfied with the day, even though I was paying the same price as 3 people would have paid. The car with A/C, water, and cold lemongrass scented towels every time were very nice touches.
After getting dropped off at the hotel, I walked over to the nearby local market (Phsar Leu) just east of the hotel. It was really local, local.. stink, dirty, crowded, and flies everywhere… I didn’t want to eat anything near there so I went back to the hotel after stopping at the gas station mart and evading the pushy tuk tuk drivers.
After resting and washing some clothes in the room, I just went downstairs to the hotel restaurant for dinner. Dinner downstairs was a bit pricey but good ($22). Bread, beer, and beef lock lack, finished with a papaya/mango sorbet.
Later that night, I realized some of the things the guide said wasn’t consistent with other info I read earlier and the itinerary from my online booking was not being followed 100%… I was keeping track the whole time since the guide seemed kind of lazy from the start but since we still saw the important places I was fine with it. The next day would be a long day and the guide recommended getting a breakfast box from the hotel so I didn’t have to go back after the sunrise at Angkor Wat. Hotel said it was no problem and there was no extra fee so that’s a good tip to remember. Overheard another couple saying their guide switched out the vehicle on them the second day (to something junker) so we’ll see what I get tomorrow. Seems like it’s hit or miss with all these tour guides and sometimes shortcuts are taken.
Day 3
This day went more as planned. The hotel breakfast box was ready for me as requested and had a decent amount of food… I actually didn’t finish it so I ended up giving the rest to the guide… I think he skipped breakfast judging by the way he ate it.
Got an early start to the day by catching the sunrise at Angkor Wat. Got to the viewing spot at about 0520 and had a good angle next to all the tripod people (they usually know best where to set up). It was still pitch black outside but if I had gotten there even 10 minutes later then it would’ve been hard to get a good spot already. Sunrise was supposed to be at 0630 but unfortunately it wasn’t as photogenic this morning. The sky didn’t have much color and it was a bit cloudy overall. Of course it was very crowded and eventually people start wrapping around the pond, ultimately getting in a lot of the pictures.
After getting some morning pictures, we walked back into Angkor Wat to try to get to the top level since the line was too long the day before. Today the line was much shorter in the morning so that was a good call by the guide. I was in the first group of one hundred allowed to go up…. they only let one hundred up there at a single time. The guide stayed at the bottom of course eheh… still doesn’t like stairs I guess.
I had the same car and service today at least… Everywhere we stopped, the guide seemed to know some random person on the side. At one point he was even sharing with me the relationship advice he was giving to one of the people he visited. He did say he lives in the National Park area, so I guess it’s natural to know many people at the places we went. Overall it was very hot everywhere we went but at least there was a breeze… A/C and cold lemongrass scented towels are nice to have again as some of the drives were far today.
After Angkor Wat we made quick stops at some of the smaller temples, Preah Khan, Neak Poun, Ta Som, and Eastern Mebon.
Went to Banteay Srei (nice carvings) before lunch… it was a bit of a drive to get there. Just a lot of old temples everywhere, many being 1000+ years old. King “J7” seemed like a very important and respected figure and was responsible for most of the main temples we saw. We also passed through a sugar palm village but didn’t feel like stopping there. Saw lots of cows in the fields/country side but they were all so skinny…
We stopped for lunch at Rom Chang Angkor Restaurant. Had Cambodia beer and some beef Khymer soup? $11 total for lunch. It was still fairly early in the day (1114) so the restaurant was empty (but also big). The soup was kind of sour with lots of veggies… overall good. Cambodia beer was good too. Mango smoothie for dessert.
After lunch we managed to finish the last three temples on the itinerary by 1400. These were Banteay Samre, Pre Rup, and Banteay Kdei. Some commonalities between temples included stray dogs, shops near temples, mine survivor musicians, little kid carvers… by the end of the day it was already starting to feel like too many temples and they were kind of blending together in my mind… it was definitely too hot. Went back to the hotel to take a nap/wash clothes/shower.
Tuk tuk to the new art center night market from hotel was $3. The art center night market was not so big, mostly typical market things for sale. One lady wanted $5 for a large cotton scarf but it was the same price for “silk” and “pashmina”… not possible. Krama seem to be a popular gift item. Oh, and apparently they charge 50 cents to take a picture of the fried bug carts (most of them) in the streets now heh. Thought about trying a bug but they really didn’t look fresh enough… it would have to be really really deep fried, crispy, and not so gushy haha
After the new art center night market, I decided to walk over to the Angkor night market (ANM) through the old (Siem Reap) night market. Bought more bug spray from the pharmacy ($3.50, bigger bottles were $8)… not cheap anyway. Also, some aggressive massage lady (man?) near the old night market grabbed my arm,wanting to give me a massage. Almost got physical trying to get her to let go, what a bitch. As far as items for sale, there’s not much to the old (Siem Reap) night market or the Angkor night market (ANM) for my tastes… I swear there’s one company making all this for the entire world and just putting different country names on the products. Lots of fruit carts and ice cream roll carts around though.
The Bell Restaurant across the street from the Angkor night market (ANM) looked like a safe place to eat. Ordered fresh pork spring rolls, pork fried rice, and big bottle of Angkor beer. Spring rolls felt like were wrapped with oil instead of water. Fried rice was just ok. At least there was live music by the mine survivor musicians next to the restaurant. Service was pretty slow and junk for me. $8 total for the dinner. Got a “fried” ice cream roll, mango pineapple with cereal topping, from a nearby cart after… not bad for $2 but don’t need to try it again.
Side note: I was told by my guide that the reason why vendors use USD currency is because they couldn’t keep up with the exchange rate changing all the time and tourists would complain of unfair charges so they think it’s easier to just use USD. I was also thinking that the tourists around here seemed to be much more of the international variety, not just from the USA so they’d still have to convert something to USD.
Tuk tuk from the old night market back to the hotel was still just $3 but the driver was going the wrong way for a little bit on Highway 6. Have to pay attention to these kinds of things! They all like to ask about hiring them for the next day too which I didn’t actually need. Showered and in bed by 2300.
To be continued…