Our round-the-world couple Matt and Sharon Ward have spent the next stage of their journey exploring the delights of Siem Reap in Cambodia. Here’s what they had to say about the world-famous Angkor region from a his and hers perspective…
A very early flight took us to Siem Reap in Cambodia, where we were surprised at how nice the small, modern airport was with its beautifully-landscaped grounds. You need $20 each and a passport photo to purchase your travel visa – ours were processed via a handful of officials who sat in a line, stamping and passing them onto the next official: a seamless and efficient process. A quick taxi journey took us to the Bun Nath Guesthouse, which was our first accommodation away from friends and the big city lifestyle.
Matt’s ‘His Guide’
After a quick power nap due to our 3am start, we ventured out to take in our new surroundings. Siem Reap has a long main street and many side streets off it with shops, bars and restaurants. I wasn’t too sure what to make of it at first, but as before I was prepared to give it a chance. We arranged our tuk-tuk driver through our guesthouse rather than going with the pushy airport driver. Mr Dano was polite and happy to drive us around for our stay and at a very good price ($15 per day).
First off we headed towards Tonle Sap Lake, which involved a relaxing but occasionally bumpy 40-minute ride. Here we purchased tickets for a one-hour boat trip, which saw us take in the Floating Village & Crocodile Farm. This was a real eye opener for me with the sight of children begging with snakes wrapped around their necks, infants in tin bowls sailing the filthy river and people asking for help at every turn. There were hardly any adults to be seen – our guide mentioned that a lot of parents never returned alive from fishing trips. The tuk-tuk ride back to the guesthouse was a quiet one as I tried to make sense of what we had just witnessed. I felt very humbled and fortunate with the childhood I had.
That night we took a walk down to Pub Street, which is the main hub for food and drinks. We experienced our first power cut as we sat patiently in the dark awaiting our meal at Tigre De Papier – unfortunately, my chicken in basil with rice wasn’t worth the wait. From here we stopped off at a rooftop bar called Purple Mangosteen, a great place to take a few night-time pictures of the busy streets, before finishing off our first day at the Night Market.
The following morning we had a 5:30am pickup taking us to Angkor Wat for sunrise. For $20 each we made our way in darkness towards the temple. A massive crowd had started to form, which felt a bit like a rock concert with fans eagerly awaiting the headline act to enter the stage. As the sun began to rise the temples looked stunning as they took on many different forms. This is something I would definitely recommend seeing. We spent about three hours walking around the temple before jumping back into our tuk-tuk and making the short trip to Angkor Thom. By late morning we were hungry, tired and a bit ‘templed out’, so decided to head back and grab some food and rest.
That night we popped into the Cambodian Soup Restaurant to try the Khmer Curry. With poor service, dirty tables and miserable staff, we quickly moved next door to the Khmer Family Restaurant for a curry and a few Angkor Beers with the bill coming to a whopping $9!
For our final day we decided to have a lie in before venturing out to the Red Piano for breakfast and coffees (our guesthouse didn’t provide meals). We popped into a bookstore and picked up a few books on the Khmer Rouge Regime and Cambodia’s struggles as neither of us remembered being taught this at school. From here we took in the Royal Residence and National Museum, which for me was slightly overpriced at $12, as was the café inside.
As a whole, I felt that Siem Reap really came to life at night with the overhead neon street lights, busy night markets and a packed Pub Street. Our informative day tours also contributed towards a thoroughly enjoyable trip and one that I’d recommend to anyone.
Sharon’s ‘Her Guide’
From outside the terminal building we easily picked up a taxi. Our driver was very friendly but tried desperately to get us to book him for tours. Matt was having none of it, but I eventually gave in, as I was feeling both tired and a little vulnerable. We agreed with him to pick us up at 3.30pm for our first tour. When we arrived at our guesthouse, we realised its tuk-tuk driver was in fact $2 cheaper ($8), so we arranged for him to pick us up at 3pm, avoiding the airport taxi driver. When we got to our room I immediately noticed a rancid smell; Matt having no sense of smell was oblivious to it. I made my way out to the balcony and below our room appeared to be an open sewer. We had already been told that we were moving to another room in the morning, so I just put up with it.
Our tuk-tuk driver called Mr Dano picked us up for our Floating Village tour. This is when we got to experience the real Cambodia. There were huts at the side of a dirt track road built up on sticks, children running around in the middle of the road and although they appeared to be living in real poverty, they all looked very happy. The Floating Village tour cost $20 each and we are taken by boat along the river, with houses, schools, shops and even a basketball court floating around us. From there, we were then taken to a Crocodile Farm, where we witnessed some of the children selling photos of themselves with snakes round their necks for a dollar. The journey back to the guesthouse was subdued as we both sat reflecting on what we had seen, and for me I realised how lucky I actually am.
That evening we made our way to Pub Street and noticed how the city had suddenly come to life. The streets were lit with neon lights and the night markets were a hive of activity. We ate in Tigre De Papier, which seemed a little grubby with mosquitoes buzzing around us. We then tried our hand at some haggling at the night market. I wasn’t quite sure if I came away with a bargain or not, but I did leave with two very nice sarongs for $10.
The next day we got picked up by Mr Dano at 5:30am to see the sunrise over Angkor Wat, which cost us $20 each for the full day. We stood patiently with the rest of the gathering crowds and watched the silhouette of Angkor Wat gradually paint itself out as the dawn broke behind it. We spent several hours walking around trying to find Angkor Thom from the map, when we eventually realised that it’s a lot further away. We made our way back to Mr Dano, who was waving and smiling at us and ready to take us to wherever we want to go next. By 11:30am we are both hungry and exhausted. We decided to head back for lunch at the Blue Pumpkin and then get our heads down for a couple of hours.
That evening we had a refreshing cold shower which was not through choice, unfortunately I had (accidentally) booked our rooms without hot water, which easily explains why the rooms were only £3 each a night. We made our way down to Pub Street for some dinner. The first place we tried was the Cambodia Soup Restaurant. We were rudely pointed towards a table, menus thrown down at us. One glance at the unclean table, flies and mosquitoes buzzing around us, and we walked out. Next door was the Khmer Family Restaurant where we were greeted with a welcoming smile, taken to a clean table and gracefully handed our menus. We both had the Khmer curry and beers. Although lacking a little in chicken it was tasty and I enjoyed it.
On our final day we enjoyed a long lie before heading out for breakfast at the Red Piano. We came across a bookstore where we both bought books on Cambodia. We spent the rest of the morning walking through the Royal Residence and National Museum. At $12 each, I thought it was over priced; though modern, small and easy to get around. It was mainly based around the temples and Buddhism, but there wasn’t much else on the history of Cambodia, nor anything about the Khmer Rouge Regime.
I really enjoyed my time in Siem Reap. I felt safe and loved the idea of Pub Street. The night markets were just fantastic for bargains and there were foot massages available everywhere for something crazy like a dollar. My only regret was not stopping for a foot massage while I had the chance.
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