Visiting Siem Reap...A starter's guide!

AngKor Wat has been consistently making its way to number 1 charts across the world for the best tourist destination. More so, it has been labelled as a World UNESCO heritage site and was also once, the wonder of the world.

Angkor Wat at Sunrise!

Did You Know? You may choose to buy a Day Pass, 3 Day Pass, 7 Day pass or even a monthly pass to enter the Angkor Wat premises. Mostly the archaeology or history students find these passes useful for their research. They stay in Siem Reap for months to research on a particular subject and visit the Angkor complex everyday embracing the history and culture of the place. Cambodia primarily carries the culture and tradition of the Khmer dynasty.

But little do people know that Ang Kor Wat is located in the historic city of Siem Reap in Cambodia. Capital of Cambodia is Phnom Penh. Flights from Singapore to Siem Reap are quite expensive and it is always advisable to look for deals before planning a holiday. Flights are also not scheduled everyday. Cambodia as a country lies along the Mekong River and the country is not as rich as its surrounding neighbours. Living conditions are poor for most natives.

We were in luck to book Jet Star Asia to Siem Reap for a 3days 2nights holiday. My goal was clear - to see the AngKor Wat which has been consistently making headlines. As for the other parts of Siem Reap, I wasn't genuinely that keen. One can do other touristy things like checking out the floating market, museums, etc but I had seen similar things in Thailand.

We arrived at Siem Reap airport after a 3 hrs flight from Singapore. There were massive boards and posters asking tourists to be aware of scams around. Usually, a country greets the tourists showcasing the cultural and tourist side of things. Here was my 1st experience of being greeted by a "Beware" poster. We were immediately alter and waited for what would strike us and when.

We checked into out resort Suorkear Boutique Resort & Spa. The resort is a small place with a few spacious rooms, common pool, spa services and a restaurant of its own. The hotel also offers private car and "tuk tuk" services for sightseeing at a nominal fee. The drop off to the nearby pub street and pick up is free of cost. Lunch menu was quite decent at the resort. They serve the local "Angkor" beer and it is extremely affordable. Once our tummies were happy, we decided to plan the AngKor visit the following day. After all the planning, we hit the swimming pool and the spa to begin our holiday with some relaxation.

Suorkear Boutique Resort

Once the bookings were made with the hotel itself, we headed to Pub Street - the most happening place of Siem Reap. This is where the nightlife of Siem Reap begins and ends. The place offers multi cuisine restaurants, clubs, bars, night market, massages and what not. We saw hawker bars that are literally on hawkers, play loud music, offer seats to guests and actually have many cocktails on their menu. We were intrigued and decided to buy a bucket of mojito for just 5USD. The hawker next to ours, offered exotic snacks such as fried scorpions / snakes / etc. I almost threw up looking at the sight in front and barely managed to capture a picture for my records. we headed back after an early dinner to catch some sleep. We had a very early morning awaiting us.

Hawker Bar - Bucket of Mojito right there!

Snacks sold on Pub Street

Once at the resort, I was admiring the decorations and the paintings while a wooden lizard (huge) caught my eye. It had batik print on it and I thought that looked quite artistic until the reptile actually moved - yes it wasn't a piece of art - it was a Gecko! I screamed and ran to my hotel room and did not exit until early next morning for the AngKor adventure. Remember everyone - South east Asia is on Equator and is very tropical. Reptiles are commonly found everywhere including hotel rooms.

Plan was to take a tuk-tuk to AngKor Thom complex. The driver would serve as a guide too taking around the complex to show major temples. Hotel would be kind enough to pack bento breakfast for us to carry and eat at the lakeside awaiting sunrise.Sunrise photography is famous in Angkor Wat and people wake up at 3am to secure a good spot for photography by 5am. I really thought this was an exaggeration.

So we were ready to hit the Tuk-Tuk by 4:15am and reached the Angkor complex a little before 5am. There was a huge crowd waiting to purchase passes. Shocked to see the crowd at such a time of the day. I have never been a vivid fan of history. I like to hear stories briefly but I dont really cherish understanding the era in which certain monuments were built and examining the architecture. We decided to buy just a day pass.

Angkor Wat complex was extremely crowded and the parking area outside the temple was full. We walked to the pond but couldn't even find a place to sit at the left side of the temple - left side is supposed to be a better direction for sunrise photography. It was just 5:15am! We waited for a while and moved to the right side of the pond. We ate our bento sets and sat their in peace waiting for sunrise.

Sunrise at Angkor Wat

Out came the sun and it was definitely a good sunrise to witness. The complex is the oldest Vishnu temple of the world. Now, just ruins. There are no idols, just ruins. It was originally built as a Hindu temple but eventually transformed to a Buddhist temple. Once the sun was out, people entered the temple to take more photographs. We had a coffee at a nearby stall and decided to head to other temples in the complex.

Angkor Thom has a circumference of approx 12km and there are many temples inside. It was built for the Khmer dynasty sometime around the 12th century. The 3 famous temples inside are the: Angkor Wat, Bayon temple and Ta Phrom. Ta Phrom temple is famous for its appearance in Lara croft's Tomb Raider movie.

Tourists had crowded the place and it was really difficult to find a lonely spot for good photography. We moved next to Bayon temple which has good Buddha architecture. We spent some time there before moving on to Ta Phrom. Massive restoration works are being carried out in the complex to save the ruins. Influx of tourists doesn't help either.

We completed the 3 complex by lunch time and proceeded back to our hotel for lunch and rest. It was a hot and humid day. Around evening, we decided to go back to Pub Street and this time for visiting the night market and enjoying a massage. Massages are offered even at 1USD.

While roaming the streets, we were approached by a poor looking lady and her toddler. She wanted us to buy milk powder for her - which costs a lot of money. Remember the scam alert at the airport? So the way it works is; these people have a deal with the shops to find customers. Customers like us would feel pity on the poor and buy a jar of milk powder thinking we have helped the needy. The poor person would go back to the shop after some time and return the milk powder to the shelf claiming the commission from the shopkeeper. The purchase price of the milk powder would be kept by the shopkeeper with a small commission that goes to the poop people for getting customer. the same milk powder is rotated until someone is actually caught. Being alerted at the airport itself, we decided not to fall for tactics and offered to buy bread instead. The lady did not accept and insisted on milk powder only. We walked away feeling a little remorseful that people have to go through such circumstances to ensure survival.

Snake Wine - A local delicacy

Day 3 was light and easy for us. We woke up a little late and enjoyed the buffet breakfast at the resort. We packed up and decided to check out after a short trip to the Pub Street. Pub Street is lively even during the day as tourists swarm the street. We had lunch at a Mexican restaurant and headed back to hotel for checking out for our onward journey to Singapore.

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Tummy_Full_Travel

Visited: November 2015