Temples aren’t really my thing. Or perhaps I should say thaaang.
Don’t get me wrong. I enjoy visiting a beautiful temple, cathedral, mosque, synagogue, etc. I’ll even spend a day to go out of my way and visit one.
But I’m not going to fly to a city just to see the temples. I’m more of a beachy-outdoorsy-jungle-food type guy, and I’ll fly around the world to a place that features incredible beaches/outdoorsy-ness/jungles/food/etc.
If you tell me, “Hey, there’s this city that you can go to and the only reason to go there is to see temples all day, every day,” I’m probably going to smile and nod and let my mind wander off to more interesting things, like training 4 monkeys to play Metallica covers while dressed like the band.
Yes, sometimes my mind goes there while I’m talking to you. It ain’t personal.
Anyway, the aforementioned description perfectly suits Siem Reap, Cambodia. From what we knew about the little town it was apparently dusty but pleasant, but the only reason to visit was to see the Temples of Angkor, particularly Angkor Wat.
So personally I would have skipped Siem Reap. However, since Angkor Wat is commonly described as one of those “must-see”, “wonder of the world”, “way frickin’ awesome” spots, we figured we should probably bow to the wisdom of the crowd and go.
Siem Reap was a quick flight from Da Nang, and we got our bearings right away. To our delight we found the town sported a nice big grocery store, the Angkor Market, where we were able to stock up on eggs, bacon, lunch staples, and snacks for our six-day stay.
The town was indeed a dusty little place – on more than one occasion I found myself referring to it as “The Wild West” – but relatively clean and full of character. Instead of the bicycles upon which we had relied in Hoi An, we zipped around by tuk-tuk, or remork, as they’re known in Cambodia.
[My apologies to the Minister of Tourism in Cambodia, but I’m calling them tuk-tuks. They look like tuk-tuks, so they’re tuk-tuks. I’m a simple fellow.]
A Quick – And Unintentionally Expensive – Visit to the Alps
Our tuk-tuk driver in Siem Reap was Mr. Nok, a friendly, upbeat fellow who spoke excellent English and was quick with a smile. Tuk-tuk travel in the parts of Cambodia where they’re used is easy: call the number of your favorite driver or flag one down on the street, point out on a map where you want to go, and agree on a price.
Most trips in and around Siem Reap were either $1 or $2, and a half-day trip out to the temples, during which your driver takes you to each temple, shows you where to enter and where he’ll meet you, and waits for you at each stop, runs around $15.
So, the tally:
- Cute town – check
- Modern supermarket – check
- Easy transportation – check
Boom. We dug Siem Reap instantly, even before seeing a single temple.
The plan for our six days in Siem Reap was to spend at least two days visiting the Temples of Angkor (there are more than a thousand) and taking days to chill as necessary, and if we wished we could add a third day of Temple Exploration.
We had assumed that two days would be more than enough and we probably wouldn’t need to add a third day. We had also heard from many people that “one day was enough” to see the temples.
Our subsequent experience taught us that – once again – we need to take most of what we hear from other travelers with a grain of salt. Everyone is different, and everyone’s take on a location is going to vary. Invariably.
Outpatient Surgery in Mauritius – Good Times!
We hit three temples with Mr. Nok during our first full day in Siem Reap, and we loved it. The boy had a rough morning at our first temple, Angkor Wat, but to be fair we got a late start, he needed a snack, and it was the dead of winter in Cambodia so the mercury was topping out just short of 100 degrees.
After we ironed out our differences (due to a temper tantrum were forced to scrap a family photo in front of the famous Angkor Wat in favor of a pic of just Juliann and I) we had a fantastic day.
We saw three temples on the first day, Angkor Wat, Bayon, and Ta Prohm (used in the film Tomb Raider, which I haven’t seen. Yet.) Then we took a day off to goof around Siem Reap, and then did another 3-Temple day at Preah Khan, Neak Pean (which we came to think of as “The Water Temple”), and East Mebon.
Then we didn’t even bother to take a day off. We were excited to see more temples so we visited Ta Som, Preah Rup, and Banteay Kdei.
The temples were amazing. Each had their own special qualities and atmosphere, and we loved exploring all of them. The boy was thrilled to run through the ancient galleries and climb the decaying stone steps. We marveled at the resilience of the nearly 1,000-year-old structures and imagined what life was like for the people that built and used them.
We can still remember each of the temples vividly. There was Angkor Wat, of course, which we now wish we had seen last instead of first, simply because it was so much more majestic than any of the other temples.
Bayon was the Place of Faces. Neak Pean we renamed The Water Temple. We loved the elephants and the lions of Preah Rup, and climbing the stairs to the upper terrace of East Mebon. At Preah Khan Juliann and the boy looked for holes in the stone blocks, evidence of the ancients’ building techniques, and at Ta Som we sought out “The Tree”, where we waited patiently with a group of 50+ tourists to snap our picture in front of its iconic roots.
When we weren’t visiting temples, we were either splashing around in the pool or enjoying the easy pleasures of Siem Reap. I got in a workout at Angkor Fight Club. Braeden and Juliann played some Cambodian-style mini golf. We grabbed dinner at places like Jungle Burger and Viva, a Mexican joint. We enjoyed lunch and some cold beers at the Temple Bar on “Pub Street” while watching the world go by, including one bedraggled street performer who looked like he had woken up 15 minutes earlier with a needle in his arm.
Our six days in Siem Reap went by too fast, and before we knew it we were packing to fly to our next destination, Sihanoukville. We had a fantastic time and we would have loved to spend another week in that dusty little town.
I’m hoping to get back there someday to explore more temples and see some old favorites. Development in Cambodia is proceeding quickly, though, so I’m sure the next time we visit we may not even recognize the town.
Such is life. Next up: Sihanoukville!
Thank you, enjoying your travels!