Siem Reap, Cambodia

We spent over two weeks in Siem Reap, taking a much-needed break from frequently changing hotels and adopting a slower pace. We arrived in the city around 5:00 am after our longest sleeper bus journey yet, lasting 9 hours, and took a quick cab to the hotel. Our room wasn't ready, so we took a short nap on the lounge chairs by the pool before heading to the nearest coffee shop.

During the initial four or five days, we relaxed at the hotel and utilized the spacious gym located across the street. I quietly celebrated my 29th birthday, spending the day by the pool enjoying Mexican food, followed by an evening stroll into town to explore the markets and dining at a delightful Greek restaurant. We also took this time to organize the remaining days of our 10-day stay in Siem Reap, and here's what we did.

Life-Saving Rats & Romantic Dinner

It had only been a few days of lounging around, but we were eager to get back on the motorbike and have the freedom to explore and sightsee without constantly needing to call taxis. I was worried because Siem Reap is known for bringing in tourists that the roads would be too crazy for us to drive in, but they were dare I say standard.

We rented a bike for a week and set off to visit the life-saving rats at the APOPO Visitor Center. Due to Cambodia's turbulent history with civil war and its proximity to Vietnam during the Vietnam War, it's estimated that there are 4 to 6 million unexploded landmines in the country. These rats are trained to detect TNT, assisting teams in safely detonating the bombs so villagers don't accidentally trigger them. We heard stories about many animals setting them off and children playing with them because they resemble toys, and extreme poverty means they have few toys.

After watching the rats in action, we enjoyed a very romantic dinner at a tavern Jamie discovered. It was adorned with twinkle lights and surrounded by lily pads. The atmosphere was beautiful, but the food was distinctly Khmer, requiring us to step a bit out of our comfort zone. I opted for steak frites (so perhaps not all of us ventured out of our comfort zone), while Jamie chose a chicken salad with red ants. I wasn't brave enough to try his dish, but he mentioned that you could feel the ants in your mouth, and the crunch had a very distinctive sensation when you knew what you were eating.

Sunrise at Angkor Wat

Due to the vast size of Angkor Archaeological Park, we opted for a two-day tour to learn about the history of the temples and have transportation between sites. Our first tour guide was not very good, and the tour started at sunrise, requiring us to wake up at 4:00 am to visit Angkor Wat. I wasn't sure what to expect from the temple, but my initial impressions were lackluster. There were so many people, and we moved through the site way too fast. Jamie and I almost lost the tour group a few times because we wanted to take pictures and spend more time looking at various areas of the structure. As an aside, our tour group sure had a lot of interesting characters. There was a mother-son combo that took photos like they were going to prom and would walk around holding hands and a guy from Nothern Ireland who clung to Jamie's side throughout the tour.

After visiting Angkor Wat, we headed to the temple I was most eager to see, Angkor Thom. This temple is famous for its appearance in Tomb Raider, with trees growing out of the stones. Once again, we didn't have much time to explore, but it was fascinating to learn about how the trees became part of the temple as the site became abandoned, and seeds dropped by birds flying overhead took root and grew into trees.

The final temple on our tour was the Bayon temple, where people once paid taxes to the king. It was believed that lying was impossible in front of this temple because it features the Buddha's head facing in four directions, so you were always in front of the Buddha. This made me imagine what life might have been like back then, with people residing there. Historians estimate that between 700,000 and 900,000 people lived in the surrounding area during its peak in the 13th century.

Sunset in the Archaeological Park

On the second day of our tour, we got to sleep in and were picked up at 10 am. The difference between the two tour guides was noticeable from the second we stepped on the bus. The second guide was exceptionally knowledgeable. We started our day at Preah Khan, the largest temple on the itinerary for day two, built by King Bayon for his father. We learned about the statues representing good and evil leading to the temple, symbolizing the idea of having a good and bad angel on your shoulder. It was amusing to hear the tour guide say, "yesterday you learned XYZ," trying to build on the knowledge we should have had from guide one when it was the first time we heard about what he mentioned.

Anyway, the rest of the day passed in a bit of a blur as there weren't many standout temples. The second temple we visited was Neak Pean Island temple, which was surrounded by water and used for bathing during the Angkor period. The third was Ta Som, which features a distinctive large tree over the east gate and is adorned with numerous sculptures of dancers with long hair built for the king's sister. There were a few more, but I don't feel the need to elaborate on them because they weren't particularly exciting.

My favorite part of the day was visiting Pre-Rup, a temple built by the king for himself. It's often mistaken for a crematorium due to a stone structure at the front that looks like a coffin. I was creeped out by the fact that people had burned bodies in the site in front of me, but luckily I didn't have to be there long because Jamie had spotted some benches around the temple's perimeter. We ended up sitting there and enjoying the site basking in the beautiful golden hour light, I couldn't believe we had this stunning view to ourselves while everyone else was at the top of the temple, looking down instead of taking in the entire scene from our perspective.

At the end of the day, we took a 20-minute hike to Phnom Bakheang, a temple on top of a hill with 33 towers symbolizing the heavens. The scene at the summit was extremely crowded, and despite the stunning view of Angkor Wat, we weren't big fans of crowds, so we decided to walk back down to another viewpoint marking the end of a lackluster two-day tour.

Angor Wat Archaeological Park On Our Own

Since Jamie and I purchased the three-day Angkor Wat Archaeological Park pass, we had another day to explore any temples we wished within the complex. Our tour had rushed through Angkor Wat, so we decided to begin there to capture more photos. We arrived around 9 or 10 am, and the place was fairly empty, I guess everyone arrives for sunrise and then moves on. We took wonderful photos with hardly anyone in them and discovered many areas within the temple grounds that we had missed the first time. So happy we returned and gave the site another chance.

After spending over two hours at Angkor Wat, we were nearly templed out and getting heat stroke from the sun, so we stuck to the bike and rode around the sites in the complex. We passed through Ta Kav Gate (West Gate of Angkor Thom), which featured some interesting carvings of the Buddha, and then Jamie visited a few more natural spots to try some bird watching before we headed to get some Mexican food and called it a day.

Shadow Puppets

One of the most popular nighttime activities in Siem Reap is Phare, the Cambodian circus. However, after experiencing the Bamboo Circus in Hoi An, we opted not to go and see them as we didn't want to compare it to the past performance (which was SO good and had set the bar high). While researching alternative shows, I discovered the Cambodian tradition of shadow puppets. It was a bit, I couldn't find any information about performances online, but they were all over the souvenir markets. Big pieces of leather depicting scenes from Brahmanism and Buddhism or tourist sites from Siem Reap, the shadow puppets are placed between a light and a screen and create the illusion of moving images on the screen.

After days of research, the only provider I could find was not performing because their lead performer had been in a car accident. I was quite disappointed, but in a stroke of serendipity, while we were heading home from working at a coffee shop, Jamie suggested we take a dander and I spotted a sign for shadow puppets. We came across the Sbek Thom Ty Chean's Troupe, who informed us they would be performing as part of the pagoda festivals at Wat Pren a few days later.

We arrived at their performance expecting a small theatre, only to find it was their version of a state fair at a Buddhist temple, complete with carnival rides, monks leading meditations, and food vendors. The actual performance of the puppets was done in Khmer so we couldn't understand the storyline, but seeing how the puppets move and being able to peek backstage was very cool. For the full-size puppets, the troupe used a bonfire to provide the light for the performance which was unlike anything we had ever seen. The entire experience made us feel like we were locals and part of the culture (I think we were the only tourists in attendance) and could be in the top 10 for most memorable moments of our Asia trip.

Heading Back to Thailand

We planned to head to Battambang next, but our motorbike rental contact informed us that the roads were in poor condition and the city was undergoing significant construction. We wanted to avoid another situation like Cat Ba, where we ended up in the middle of a construction zone, so we extended our stay in Siem Reap by 4 more nights to plan our change of course. After considering other options, we decided to take the six-hour bus to Bangkok to reposition ourselves as we journeyed towards Southern Thailand to explore the beautiful islands in the Andaman Sea.

See you next time in Krabi!