Siem Reap, Cambodia is where most people stay when visiting the Angkor temple complex. The Angkor site is over 400 square kilometers and has over 100 different temples. The park passes come in multi-day varieties and the 3-day pass is probably the one that you will want. One day is definitely not enough time and after 3 days, you've probably seen all of the best temples and will be ready for a break. A 5-day pass might be good for taking breaks between temple visits.
I arrived in Cambodia by bus from Pakse. I had been stuck in Pakse for a few extra days after finishing the Bolaven Loop. Getting across the border was pretty simple. Cambodia issues visas on arrival so it was just a matter of filling out some paperwork and paying a fee.
I loved Cambodia as soon as I set foot in it. The photo above is from the border and I instantly fell in love with the architectural style and cool decorations that often featured nagas.
After crossing the border we had a few hours of driving through the country to get to Siem Reap. Something cool was going on with the sky and I got a photo of it. The country and houses on stilts were intriguing.
In Siem Reap, I found a hotel and dropped off my bag. In town I found a Hard Rock Cafe and enjoyed having some American comfort food. The city itself was a nice change of pace from Laos. The bars and restaurants actually had friendly customer service! I consider Cambodia to be a nice middle-ground between the aggressive and frequently annoying and pushy touts of Thailand and the hands-off "if I ignore him he will go away" style of Laos. Cambodia was not too hot, not too cold, but just right. It was perfect for my temperament. The locals also seemed friendly and warm.
My guess is that Cambodia is kind of like how Thailand was before Thailand started seeing millions of tourists every year. The Cambodians seemed happy to earn tourist dollars, but they hadn't yet soured to the experience of millions of tourists trampling through the country. Laos, on the other hand, seemed to have not had enough tourists to understand that a fake smile and a little attention will earn more money than ignoring the tourists.
The tuktuk driver who helped me find a hotel when I first arrived in Siem Reap talked me into using him as a guide through Angkor. He was a nice enough guy and he was my guide for the first 2 days in the park. But he kept raising his price so I went with another driver on the 3rd day. I'm probably overly defensive when it comes to scams and it rubbed me the wrong way when the driver gave one price on the first day, then kept raising the price. I would have been fine with a higher price if he had given that price from the beginning. But giving one price and demanding a higher price later was a turn-off for me.
The photo above is of a common Cambodian gas station. People set up stands next to the road with reused soda bottles full of gasoline. The tuktuks in Cambodia were a huge improvement over the tuktuks in Thailand and Laos. Instead of the Indian style tuktuks that are built as tuktutks, the Cambodian style is a regular scooter with passenger trailer attached to it. These trailers were more comfortable than normal tuktuks and they were much quieter. They were also more practical for the drivers because after work they could take the trailer off and ride their scooter like normal.
In the park, our first stop was Angkor Wat. This is the most famous temple, and arguably the most beautiful. I found others that I liked more, but it was hard to deny how impressive and beautiful Angkor Wat was. Unfortunately all of my photos are super hazy and I don't have a good haze removal tool.
This post is going to be difficult because I have hundreds of temple photos, but not a lot to say about them. You've probably already seen a million photos of these temples so I'm going to try to select my favorite and most unique photos.
This photo isn't particularly unique, but it does a decent job of showing some of the scale of the temple. Angkor Wat is huge and beautifully decorated.
As with Rome, my favorite thing to get lost in are the details and flourishes that decorate these impressive buildings. The style and subjects carved into the Khmer buildings seem like they were influenced by extra terrestrial lifeforms.
These kinds of murals are my favorite. They're like ancient Where's Waldo? books.
This mural of the lizard man and all of the people holding a snake is so mysterious to me. It just raises so many questions.
After Angkor Wat we went to a bunch of other temples. I don't remember any of their names. The following are some of my favorite photos from the three days that I spent at the temples.
Some of my favorite temples are the ones where the trees are growing over the stone. There's just something cool looking about it.
Some of the temples were full of tourists, others were completely empty. It all depends on timing. If you have your own driver, they usually know the schedules of the tour busses and can avoid the majority of the crowds.
This photo is hazy, but I like that there are people in it to provide scale. Some of these temples are huge.
The temples were built at different times, commissioned by different rulers, and have different styles. This one is famous for the big faces carved into the buildings.
I loved this bridge that is lined by people holding giant snakes.
Here's another bridge with the same theme.
This is a modern version of that theme in town. It gives an idea of what the ancient ones might have looked like.
If you zoom into this photo, you can get a better idea of what the Cambodian style tuktuks are like.
I don't know why, but I love this shot with a guy in a cowboy hat in it.
This engraving makes my mind race, wondering what it means or signifies.
I loved the details at Banteay Srei Temple.
The whole temple was covered with incredible art.
I'm going to end my temples tour here. I've got a ton of photos, but I don't want to overdo it. The Angkor temples are hands-down the coolest tourist attraction in all of Asia. Nothing compares to it. It is 100% worth whatever it takes to visit it. Rome was another must-see for me because I grew up on so much of that history. Even though Khmer history is foreign to me, this site is one of the most important historical sites in the world. It's absolutely a must-see for everyone. I will warn you though, after coming here, all other temples will seem boring and not worth visiting. Angkor will most likely ruin all future temple visits for you.
After a 3-day tour of the temples, I spent a few more days in Siem Reap. I didn't take many photos of the city which is a shame. It's a fun city that I really enjoyed and planned on returning to. While I was there, I ran into the people that I shared a boat with in this post in Laos. We had a few drinks together and it was fun to chat with them.
At this point in my trip, I still wasn't sure if I'd go to Vietnam. I wanted to go to Vietnam, but they required a Visa before you arrived. I wasn't sure how to do that. In Siem Reap, there were stands that offered visa services. It seemed a little sketchy to give my passport to a street vendor, but I researched it online and decided to do it. I paid a fee and gave my passport to a stranger on the street.
A few days later I got my passport back and I had a new country on my agenda! Now I knew where I was going to next. I still had more than 20 days to kill before I could enter Vietnam. A day or two later, I got on a bus and went to Battambang. I hope you'll join me for my next post! My posting schedule will be a little inconsistent in the next few days. My mom is coming to town and I might be too busy to keep to my regular posting schedule.
