Global Wanderer

2/2/2023 – 5/2/2023

My bus to Siem Reap left from the same place I was dropped off at several days earlier, which meant that at the very least, I wasn’t fumbling around trying to find a bus stop that morning! Whilst my time in Cambodia’s capital had focussed on the country’s more recent (and disturbing) history, I was headed to Siem Reap to visit the Angkor complex, a nearly 900 year old Khmer city that represents the height of Khmer ancient civilisation.

By the time I arrived in the town, it was getting late, and so after dumping my backpack at my accommodation (Uncle Sam Villa – great value at around $25AUD a night!), I headed out for beer, some noodles, and Cambodian rice pudding at a nearby restaurant. Its certainly strange how tiring sitting on a bus all day can be!

Given the scale of the Angkor complex, I’d decided to use the services of Journey Cambodia, a local tour company who run small-group trips. I chose the 2 day trip, which included on the second morning, a sunrise view of the famous Angkor Wat temple.

I would certainly recommend Journey Cambodia for visiting Angkor, if you find yourself in Siem Reap. It’s a ridiculously large complex, and would be nigh on impossible to fully explore on your own whilst also understanding the history of everything you’re seeing – I think it is certainly worth the money – and Journey Cambodia were fantastic and well-organised.

I was picked up from my accommodation at 7:45 in the morning, and we headed out in a minivan with a few other tourists in tow, including two Israeli women who had just finished their national service, two English university students, and a flight attendant on his few days off (6 of us in total). Day One was spent outside Angkor Thom, visiting Pre Rup, Neak Pean, Preah Khan, and my favourite, Banteay Srei, which has apparently only been accessible since the late 1990s, as the Khmer Rouge continued to occupy the area (they were only finally defeated in the northern province of Anlong Veng in 1998).

Pre Rup, pictured above, was built as a Hindu temple in the mid-10th century. Note the bullet holes in the structure on the left, from various skirmishes between the North Vietnamese and the Khmer Rouge.

Banteay Srei, also known as the Women’s Temple, is another 10th century structure – built of a light-pink sandstone, and smaller in stature than some of the other, colossal Angkor sites, Banteay Srei is famous for its intricate artwork and impressive preservation.

Neak Pean, a temple built on an artificial island. Whilst its not the most visually impressive temple, I think its pretty incredible that they built an artificial island over a thousand years ago!

Preah Khan was built comparatively recently compared to some of the other temples we’d seen that day – in the 12th century – by King Jayavarman VII. Amazingly, this complex apparently, at its peak, held up to 100,000 people!

By late afternoon, we were wrapping up, and heading back to Siem Reap town – it had been a long day, and I knew I’d be up early in the morning to see the sunrise at Angkor Wat! I did, however, walk over to the town’s famous ‘Pub Street’ for something to eat!

The next morning, we headed out of town at around 4am, with plenty of time til sunrise. Angkor Wat was predictably filling up with visitors, but getting there so early had its perks – we were able to wander around the site in almost complete darkness, listening to the bats shifting overhead – very eerie! We were also in a great spot for sunrise!

Incredible to watch as the sky changed colour from purple, to orange, and finally to blue daylight!

We spent the morning exploring Angkor Wat, a Hindu-come-Buddhist temple which has become Cambodia’s most visited tourist attraction. It certainly is impressive.

Following our visit to Angkor Wat, we headed to the gates of the former Khmer capital of Angkor Thom – once believed to have been home to upwards of 150,000 inhabitants! The road going up to Angkor Thom is lined with an impressive series of statues depicting various gods and demons, and leads to the fortified southern gate.

We visited a number of other temples that day, including The Bayon, the Terrace of the Leper King, the Terrace of Elephants, and the famous Ta Prohm, a temple complex which nature has well and truly taken back – trees even growing over buildings – well-known due to its appearance in Angelina Jolie’s 2001 film, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider.

In the Angelina Jolie spirit, when we returned to Siem Reap that afternoon, I headed to the Red Piano, an old pub/restaurant located on the corner of Pub Street, which was apparently the actress’s favourite local eatery when she was in the town filming Tomb Raider!

View from the Red Piano balcony.

I spent the evening – my last in the country – walking through Siem Reap’s busy nighttime markets, drinking fresh juice, and taking in the atmosphere – a world apart from the 800+ year old temples I had been walking through mere hours earlier!

The next morning, I packed my bags, and took a tuktuk to Siem Reap’s airport (which I’ve learned has been replaced by a new one quite recently!). My time in Cambodia had been fascinating, and I’d learnt so much, from the horrors of the Khmer Rouge and the Cambodian genocide, to the incredible history of the Khmer people and their ancient civilisations at Angkor – this is a wonderful country and one that I am glad to have had the chance to visit!

Until next time, Cambodia!