Visiting Angkor Wat means ticking that item off the bucket list: the largest temple in the world.  It was great to come back to this old city after five years… and yes, the good news is flights to Siem Reap has become relatively affordable for the past few years.

Where to Stay

What you’ll definitely enjoy in Southeast Asia is cheap travel — good food, inexpensive flights, the best massage and yes, luxurious hotels that won’t even empty your pockets.  No wonder tourists flock to Cambodia to indulge.  I was quite lucky to have stumbled upon Grand Elysee La Residence while browsing thru Agoda.

It wasn’t just the modern and stylish vibe of the hotel that caught my heart, it’s having to experience the warm Khmer hospitality from the time that the hotel manager has picked us up at the airport (they provide one way free airport transfer) until our last day when we returned late at the hotel and they had to make extra arrangements going to the airport just so we won’t miss our flight.  They truly go above and beyond to meet all the needs of their guests.

 

What You Need to Know

Transactions are in USD – Five years ago, I remember it’s still common to transact using Cambodian Riel (and of course it’s cheaper)… fast forward to today, all goods and services are priced in USD for tourists.  While it may be more convenient to use the latter currency, it’s just getting too commercialized already and travelling here doesn’t seem to be as cheap as it was before.

It’s easy to converse with Cambodians in English –  If you feel that traveling to some parts of Asia make you feel lost in translation, luckily, for Cambodia, some locals speak good English.

You need to purchase Angkor Pass – The same as how it goes when going to Bagan, an admission pass must be purchased in order to see the temples in Angkor Archaelogical Park (1-day pass: $37, 3-day pass: $62, 7-day pass: $72)

Day 1

We had a laidback day after arriving in Siem Reap — we spent it mainly on food trips and shopping as our second day will be packed with lots of temples to visit.

We went to the Old Market on our first and last day in Siem Reap (ooops, we just can’t help it, but it’s something you won’t regret).  Their markets have the best finds – from Cambodian silks (which I bought to give to my ninangs during my wedding) to affordable souvenirs and handicrafts.  It’s fun to shop in Southeast Asian markets like these because you know that you can haggle especially when you are buying for more than one item.

Day 2

I love seeing sunrise whenever I travel — an effort I try to make since my work does not really entail me to wake up early haha.  Unfortunately, I missed the famous Angkor Wat sunrise on my first visit here so I made sure that this is mandatory for me on this trip.

It’s quite convenient that Klook now has lots of available tours in Siem Reap and we chose the Sunrise Angkor Temples Small Circuit Private Tour by Tuk-Tuk which only costs us S$25 (approximately P970) for 4 persons and this lasts for 12 hours!  At first I had doubts — I only booked online via Klook without any further correspondence and wondered if the tuk-tuk driver would indeed show up before the dawn breaks at the hotel I’ve stated, but I was surprised that the drivers even came earlier than agreed time (04:30 am)!

Angkor Wat

Of course, this is the first stop so as to catch the sunrise (well, technically, the first was actually the ticket center since Angkor pass is required as mentioned above).  It might be a pain to wake up and leave the hotel at 4:30 in the morning, but believe me, it’s quite relief that you would only see the influx of tourists by the time that you’ve already finished exploring this temple.

Bayon Temple

Temple run continues with our second stop, Bayon temple, which is distinct for the smiling stone faces.  After this, we did a quick stop at Terrace of the Elephants.

Our last stop for the Angkor tour was Ta Prohm Temple, which got even more famous when it was used for the film Tomb Raider.  To see gigantic roots dramatically covering those very old temples is just far beyond amazing.

Day 3

Our last day was spent to celebrate our friend Joanne’s birthday, have a rewarding yet cheap massage, indulge on Khmer lunch and, of course, last minute shopping for pasalubong.

Our Siem Reap trip is a realization that you can actually indulge on trip without breaking your budget.  Like some other Southeast Asian cities, tourism plays a big role in Siem Reap, thus, aside from your learning experiences, you are able to help the locals as well.