Cambodia: Siem Riep & Angkor Wat 13-16 May

ANGKOR! One of the most iconic places in South East Asia, the seat of the old Khmer Empire. Over a thousand temples once adorned this great city, the biggest and best restored being Angkor Wat. And little ol' me was going to see it with my very own eyes, excitement abound! We set off bright and early on the day bus from Sihanoukville to Siem Riep. I thought that I’d lost my headphones so I had no music for the 14 hour trip which believe me is tragic when you’re in it. We had a little more difficulty getting ready than usual as the night before Emily and I had stayed out a wee bit late and things got chaotic when we had our night swim in our clothes and got back to the bungalow dorms in the pitch black and decided to hang out all our clothes on the balcony. I definitely left my favourite new purchase behind there, a shirt by Rogue MusicCambodia. We were also feeling rougher than a gorillas elbow and so a long bumpy ride wasn't filling us with a feeling of wellbeing. And that, kids, is why you should have a good night sleep before a big day of travel.

The bus left at 7.30am from Sihanoukville and can be easily booked at any hostel - $12 for a '12 hour trip with a change of bus at Phnom Pen around 1pm.

The bus to Phnom Pen was great, comfy with lots of room with beautiful scenery along the way. We passed by the same street food stalls as on the way there but decided against once again getting the fire grilled banana sticky rice wrapped in banana leaves ... although this is an excellent Cambodian street food option if you need some serious carbohydrate loading. Say, for instance if you need to run for six days across the Serengeti Desert with some San bushmen on a hunt. But there was the favourite sliced sweet juicy pineapple and crunchy not quite ripe mango. Once in Phnom Pen we jumped on the next bus to Siem Riep, but this one was packed and so we had some pretty uncomfortable moments. Emily and I were right at the back (playing bumper cars with our skulls) and squished in with an interesting array of travellers. Some middle aged Russian men, a monk or two and some Cambodian teenagers. The air con unit was on the back wall and so was blasting a consistent cold stream of recycled air right down our necks so that we had to wrap both of us in her shawl with our noses sticking out. Stu was having a real tough time too as a small monk lady had bought some Durian fruit, the smell of which makes some people feel so sickly that they have a gag reflex when they smell it. She occasionally opened the bag and the smell would waft through the bus being generously distributed by the air con right into everyone’s nostrils, until poor Stu’s face started alternating between green and white. The bus ride went on and on and on, the roads were really bad in some places, with whole parts of it missing with some form of road works going on. It became dark and hour after hour passed, me with no music for me and freezing air con up my neck and a big Russian man trying not to spread out next to me, and the sickly smell and the bumping, ah the bus rides of SE Asia how we love and hate you!  Huge drops of rain and darkness fell, and we stopped for some more crouching toilet action and snack buying at a stall somewhere when the loudest (okay sometimes I tend to exaggerate, but this time I swear I’m not) most electrifying crashing smashing lighting and thunder clap ripped all our nerves apart. The hairs on the back of the neck stood up, it was as if the lightning bolt had hit the tin roof we were standing under. Just when everyone was opening their eyes and de-clutching themselves from strangers they’d grabbed in fright, another came as loud and bright. BOOOOOOM CLAP CRACKLE CRASH. Lighting striking within 20m of us I’m certain. Awesome.

Eventually after around 15 hours we reached Siem Riep, green from Durian smell gagging, with blue icicle noses from aircon. We were all pretty knackered and a tad grumpy. We found a city map and were going to do the usual; find the cheap backpacker hub and the cheapest-without-being-hideous accommodation. I felt pretty bleary eyed and had no will to argue with the tuk-tuk ‘where you staying’ touts waiting outside the bus, so we were led docilely by one of them into the arms of Walter. Walter was going to take us into town and help us look for a hostel for around $3. He was so lovely and friendly, getting us through the muddy car park through all the motorbikes and busses and helping us into his little tuk-tuk.As soon as we were all in he turned to us from his driver’s seat and said words to this affect in the most earnest and likeable way possible... ‘I’m Walter, and I really want to be your tuk-tuk driver while you’re in Siem Riep. I can speak good English, and I know Angkor Wat really well’. He gave such a great little opening speech and was such a genuinely sweet man that I was sold instantly; he would take us around Angkor Wat all day until after sunset for $15, $5 each for a whole day’s work. 

Walter

Stu in Walter's tuk-tuk

I began to convince the other two to go for it, and it turned out great as you really need some kind of transport around Angkor. It’s much too big to do on foot, and if you want to do the whole day there then bicycles are an option, but you’ll probably really struggle from heat fatigue. After his introduction and pitch, he as promised took us on a mission to find a place to stay, whizzing past a street with some fancy looking boutique hotels with colourful and quirky restaurants that we gazed at longingly as he sped us to the budget areas. One had dorms beds for $8 (really expensive for Cambodia) and another had dorm beds for $2 each but it turned out they were mattresses on the floor in the hot, leaky roof of a six story building (no elevator, seriously poky stairs). In the same building they had a hotel quality triple room for $10, so $3.33 each and the difference we had with that extra $1 each was quite unbelievable. It’s called The Backpacker Hostel Siem Riep. There is internet with computers downstairs and decent wifi, also cheap breakfasts and beer available in their mini restaurant, and a five minute walk to the centre.

Chilling at The Backpacker Hostel Siem Riep

Siem Riep is actually quite a quirky, small and cute town which I wasn’t expecting for some reason. There is a small river running through it, some good markets selling cheap clothes and anything else and some decent cheap places to eat. Obviously it’s really touristic, with a big street just full of Western bars and restaurants, but go down some side streets you can eat well for $1.50. I really liked the atmosphere too; Cambodians are so friendly and just great to be around in general. They actually seem to like tourists and care about what experience they are having, instead of seeing them as a nuisance to bear. They’ve been through so much historically as a people but are still so open, jovial and hard working. From other accounts I’d heard of Cambodia I really wasn’t expecting to love the country and people so much, but the more time I spent there the more I did. Walter was a perfect example. He was there at 9am sharp to pick us up the next day. He spoke lovingly of his wife and daughter, brought some ice water for our day and stopped and explained things whenever we needed him too. We drove to Angkor Wat through the pretty parts of town, passing the blind masseuse house (where the blind are taught to give massages, and apparently these are some of the best massages you can come by) and other landmarks of the town, down the small highway to Angkor Wat. There was a highly organised ticket gate where there was a friendly worker for every step. A photo pass card was issued and we were told they were our passports for the next three days. One day for $20, and three days for $40. Walter then took us through and there we were, in the giant grounds of Angkor.

Walter drove us in his tuk-tuk down wide avenues lined with tall ancient trees, to the sparkling water of the moat and then up to the first temple. I didn’t expect it to be so luscious, green and forest-like, and this was almost one of the best things about it. It was like being in the past, no plastic rubbish anywhere, no coffee shops or any permanent structures other than the small food shacks, no brand names, just ancient, natural beauty. 

The roads into Angkor

The roads of Angkor - this girl must have been around 4 years old 

The first temple we went to had a great big pond, almost a lake, which was said to be one of the king’s swimming pools. We did see some children splashing around in it, but they looked so tiny and lost in such a huge expanse of water, and so funny that this was made to be a swimming pool. I could name all the temples we went to but it’s meaningless unless you’re there. But what I can say is that they are utterly awesome, majestic, ancient masterpieces. It feels like you’re on a film set, that it can’t be real. Everything you imagine about Angkor is exactly there but intensified. The scale is staggering, when you look at the size of each stone and imagine the weight of each and every one and the manpower it must have taken to even complete one wall, let alone gigantic expansive temples, pillars, walls, carvings, stairs. The temples are spread out around an area of 1000 square kilometres, so you have to drive to each one. At its peak, Angkor had a million citizens, none of which lived in the temples but on the surrounding land. 

My first gate at Angkor

Bayon temple in Angkor Thom - my favourite

Bayon Temple Angkor Thom

Monks in Angkor Thom

View from Angkor Thom

Bayon Temple Angkor Thom

Carvings

We walked around in awe, jumping over and under the enormous worn stones and just being generally gobsmacked by it all. And I the stunning trees! Towering and ancient with fat long roots draped and wrapped around the very tops of walls or higher parts of the temples, and it made you really wander how on earth they started growing there. They were like gnarled, robed, wooden monks draping themselves over the ruins. To me it felt like if you stood long enough near one a tendril would slowly come out and hook around you and hold onto you until you had changed and grown into a mystic tree too. Walter took us to the main eating square to his friend’s stall where he ate with us but ordered something that wasn’t on the tourist menu, which Stu had and it was delicious and spicy. I asked Walter his advice on something that I’d really wanted to do, which was stay in Angkor Wat after dark and sleep there in one of the temples. He said that police check the whole area after dark, but it is such a massive place I was convinced that they couldn’t check everywhere, and just the experience of sleeping in such a powerful and mystical place was enough to tut away any objections. All the police would do anyway is march you out. I was determined to try it, but one thing did put a damper on those plans and that was the enormous monsoon like downpours that happened every evening around 6pm, which would have drowned anyone sleeping in the temples and made for a very chilly, wet evening. So, I didn’t end up doing it in the end but I regret it because it’s nothing a good poncho wouldn’t solve, and what is being wet and cold compared to sleeping in Angkor Wat?

Angkor trees

Angkor trees

Angkor trees

We got seriously hot and sticky exploring all of Angkor Thom that afternoon, and after climbing right to the top of a temple we found some monks who wanted to have us in their photos, and Stu got a hug from one of them. I think they were travelling to Angkor from somewhere quite far. In the evening Walter took us to a Wat on a hill where we could watch the sunset. It was a little bit of a climb, but a lot of other people had the same idea. There were kids selling beer at the bottom of the hill ‘enjoy cold beer at sunset!’ There were also elephant rides up the hill for $20 and the elephants did look very sweet, but I can’t stand those seating wracks they tie onto their backs. 

Stu's pic - getting a hug from a monk :)

The Wat was very beautiful, looking out over the luscious green trees sprawling out around us, with a peak of Angkor Thom poking out from the trees. Unfortunately it was rainy season and so massive grey clouds covered the horizon, but it was great to sit up there anyway. They started kicking people out before 6.30pm though which was just as the sun started to make a peak out the clouds and give us a cascade of colours. They obviously didn't want anyone walking down the hill in the dark.We saw it from our tuk-tuk though as we were whizzing home, a beautiful orange and pink sunset through the trees. We also saw a huge purple storm rolling over the opposite horizon towards us, the wind picked up and the heavy smell of rain made us zoom towards the town even faster. Sure enough, as every day in the rainy season there was a downpour of big, fat tropical droplets. Siem Riep doesn’t seem that prepared for rain which is weird since the monsoon comes every year. The roads flood with no drains visible, and motorbikes and people start disappearing up to their waists as they wade down the street. 

Waiting for sunset

We had a day off the next day for market browsing, general layabout-ing and then in the evening a posh buffet and a traditional Aspara dance that we had booked for $12. It was in a hall with a roof and no sides, and a pretty stage in the centre where Aspara dancers and musicians entertained us while we tucked into a pan-Asian buffet. I had two full plates and desert, and we had a jolly night in the hall packed full of a strange variety of tourists, mostly big tour groups which were hilarious to watch. Please, please don’t ever make me travel in a big tour group. During the show the heavens opened and the hardest monsoon downpour I had yet to see came down, and was so loud on the roof that we couldn’t hear any music at all. Sheets of water started coming through the sides of the hall, and everyone had that ‘whoa’ look on their faces. But the dancers went on stoically, and at the end they let people go up on stage to have a picture. It was a zipped down with plastic tuk-tuk ride back into town where we went to Pub Street, an aptly named street full of Western pubs, where all the Westerners in Siem Riep hang out. 

Aspara banqueting hall 

Our third day was for sunrise at AngkorWat. We still hadn’t seen this biggest and most famous of temples yet, and it was great to wake up at 4.30am and wait outside in the dark, the excitement was like being a child again. Many people did the same thing, which made me more regretful that I hadn’t tried to sleep there, but the rain at night really would have made it gruelling. We came to Angkor Wat in the dark, and found a perch on one of the smaller temples. It was really exciting to see this huge, ominous structure emerge out of the dark and mist to reveal itself to us. Unfortunately again, because of the clouds we didn’t see the actual orange orb of the sun rising up over the temple, but the silvery morning light highlighting the temple’s details was magical. Once we were certain the sun was actually up, we made our way inside and went separate ways to ogle at things at our leisure. Inside the temple was actually really quiet, and I spent a happy hour just gazing at the carvings and structures and wandering around. At one point I went into a big square with some steps going down into a pit, and I asked the old mad standing there to take a picture of me. He then quite gruffly made me stand in an alcove in the wall, but I had no idea what he was doing or why he was manoeuvring me there. It turned out he wanted to show me that when I banged my chest in this alcove it made the strangest of echoes. It also turned out he wanted some Riels for his time which I was happy to give him, the old beggar who tramped Angkor Wat.

Stu's pic - Emily and I waiting for sunrise at Angkor Wat

Angkor Wat, early morning

Angkor Wat

Angkor Wat, early morning

Angkor Wat

We stayed four nights and three full days in Siem Riep, two at Angkor Wat and one pottering around the town. I recommend getting the three day pass which would cost the same as two days, trying to rush around Angkor Wat in one day just isn’t the same. The pass cost $40, the accommodation was $10 in a basic but good room (shared between three) and you can get good cheap food in Siem Riep. I love the people of Cambodia and there was none of the pushy, aggressive begging I had heard about, maybe because it was low season but I can’t imagine it being so different in high season. There is a mad club there for Cambodians mostly, which was rocking on a Tuesday night and had lazers and a DJ and for some reason we weren’t allowed to take pictures inside, maybe the decor was top secret. All in all, I really enjoyed Siem Riep and of course Angkor Wat is an otherworldly experience that you cannot miss if you are in that part of the world.

One of Stu's cool pics - Emily and I overcoming the rain on the streets of Siem Riep

Stu and I booked a bus out of there on the fourth morning, for 6am to Ban Lung in Ratanakiri province. Emily was heading back to Phnom Pen for her flight home, and oh what fun we all had so it was sad to see her go.  The bus was $16 and was supposed to take 10 hours, but that is another story altogether. Be careful that you get picked up by the right bus operator from your hostel, we got into some other pick up and almost missed the correct one for our bus. They had to whizz us back to the hostel and we made it just in time.


Here are all the Cambodia pics.