Cambodia: Siem Reap and the Ancient City of Angkor

The Ancient City of Angkor and its impressive temples are testimony to the monumental efforts of an exceptional civilization. We had planned our whole trip with a big map stuck to the wall at home, and no prizes for guessing the very first place to get marked on the map was Angkor Wat. In an entire region of must-see’s, this was the number one. The whole site is spread over 400km², with more than 45 temples and is nothing short of astounding. It simply blew our socks off. Angkor was once upon a time the center of the Khmer Kingdom, combining cultural, religious, and architectural wonders in one huge archeological complex. 

Many of the sites, contains remains of different capitals of the Khmer Empire, from the 9th to the 15th century. 

Angkor Wat is the largest temple of the Angkor group and the best-preserved of them all, an incredible architectural masterpiece. The whole site is loaded with symbolic significance, the attention to detail is staggering with huge stone carvings reliefs, giant columns, towers, and skillful sculptures. It is one of the finest monuments in the world. Considered one of the 8 wonders of the world, it is also the largest religious monument in the world. 

Even though we have seen many pictures of Angkor Wat from all different angles, we have also watched films and documentaries about it, nothing approaches the actual experience of visiting it in person, and being able to explore it up close. Certainly, for us, it has been one of the most impressive ancient sites we have ever visited. No traveler to this region should miss out on exploring it.

We visited in February 2020, when the Coronavirus Pandemic was already gaining strength and notoriety. Tourist numbers were in decline, which made our experience in this usually crowded destination quite different from what we had expected. 

Getting to the Ancient City of Angkor

Siem Reap is the gateway to the temples of Angkor and the perfect place to base yourself for a visit to the ancient city of Angkor. If you are following our travels in SE Asia, my last blog post was from Laos. We had been living like hippies enjoying life in a hammock in the charming island of Don Det, Four Thousand Islands (Si Phan Don in the Lao language) for a few days.

From Don Det, we returned by boat/bus combo to Pakse (3 hrs journey) to board our short 1:15 hr flight with Lao Airlines to Siem Reap. We booked our flight online just a few days before departure and our hotel in Pakse printed our flight tickets the day before our departure. 

There are overland options such as buses, minivans, or cars doing the Pakse to Siem Reap or even Four Thousand Islands to Siem Reap route including the border crossing, but after some research, we opted for flying. After enduring so many long and really uncomfortable bus rides in Laos, flying was a no-brainer.

The flight was very comfortable and soon we were touching down in Siem Reap, our hotel had arranged a pickup tuk-tuk to get us from the airport and it all worked very smoothly indeed. 

Planning our visit to the Ancient Temples of Angkor

How to even begin planing such a monumental task?  The Angkor Archaeological Park is huge – 400 square kilometers to be exact. Figuring how to tackle it is mind-numbing. For us, we knew that we did not want to miss out on visiting the most important temples such as Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom, Bayon, and Ta Prohm but we also wanted to see some of the other further afield temples (big circuit). 

After a chat with the very helpful staff at our hotel reception, we decided to go with the 3 days ticket (see prices below for the different types of tickets as per February 2020) and we also decided to hire the same tuk-tuk driver that brought us from the airport to the hotel to take us to see the temples for the following 3 days.

Early on day one, the tuk-tuk driver took us first to buy our ticket from the ticket office (open from 5:00 am – 5:30 pm daily), before starting our temple hopping experience. 

• 1-day ticket – $37 USD
• 3-day ticket (valid for 1 week) – $62 USD
• 7 day ticket (valid for 1 month) – $72 USD

Day one – Big Circuit

Situated a bit further from Siem Reap, the 26km Big Circuit is an extension of the Small Circuit. Our day on the big circuit comprised of the following itinerary:  Pre Rup Temple > Banteay Srei Temple > East Mebon Temple > Ta Som Temple > Neak Poan Temple > Preah Khan. Altogether we visited 6 temples on day one, with a break for lunch in between. Although it sounds intense and probably temple fatigue could be a possibility for some people, we thoroughly enjoyed being driven around by tuk-tuk and taking our time to explore each temple. It was not as hot as we had expected, but in any case, we took all the necessary precautions such as a high factor sun protection, a good hat, and plenty of cold water (provided to us by our driver who had a little cooler box in his tuk-tuk). 

I will not be going into too much detail about each temple we visited, since it would be beyond the scope of this blog, but I will give just a brief description to give you a flavor of what to expect. 

Pre Rup Temple ( Mid 10th Century).

Constructed by Rajendravarman once he took over as King of Angkor. Pre Rup was at the center of a city that has long since vanished. The temple consists of a pyramid-shaped temple, built in the mid 10th Century and dedicated to the Hindu God Shiva.  My research tells me that Pre Rup means ‘Turning the Body’ and refers to a traditional method of cremation in which a corpse’s outline is traced in the ashes, suggesting that the temple could have served as an early royal crematorium.

Several of the outermost eastern towers are dangerously close to collapse and are propped up by some strong wooden supports.

We climbed a set of very steep stairs to reach the very top of the Pre Rup temple, there are no handrails to hold onto as you climb up. Once at the top you’ll be rewarded with lovely views of the ruins below. The uppermost of the three tiers carry five lotus towers all constructed in a similar pagoda-like style.

Banteay Srei ( late 10th Century) 

Banteay Srei goes by many nicknames such as “the lady temple”, “the tiny temple”, “the pink temple”. The name means “citadel of the women” or “citadel of beauty”. It is believed that this is due to its miniature scale, the pink color of the limestone, and the elaborate decorative carvings of many devatas (minor female deities) that grace its walls. We both really enjoyed having a look around here, it is set among lush vegetation, like many of the other temples we visited. 

Inscriptions found at the site place its consecration very precisely on the 22nd of April, 967 A.D. The temple was rediscovered in 1914, but clearance and restoration took place only when a French politician and novelist stole some remains from the site, ensuring a renewed interest in the area and that’s when the restoration process finally began. 

Eastern Mebon ( Mid 10th Century)

This Hindu temple was erected by Rajendravarman II. Its temple-mountain form is topped off by a quintet of towers. The elaborate brick towers are dotted with neatly arranged holes, which attached the original plasterwork (stucco). 

Built-in the general style of Pre Rup, the East Mebon was dedicated in 953 AD. It has two enclosing walls and three tiers, all built with durable Khmer construction materials such as sandstone, brick, laterite, and stucco. The base of the temple is guarded at its corners by perfectly carved stone figures of elephants.

There are lots to explore, we spent about 40 minutes having a good look around and taking many pictures of this Ancient Temple. 

Ta Som ( Late 12th Century) 

Standing to the east of Preah Neak Poan, Ta Som is one of the late-12th-century Buddhist temples of prolific builder Jayavarman VII. The most impressive feature at Ta Som is the huge tree completely overwhelming the eastern gopura, which provides one of the most popular photo opportunities in the Ancient City of Angkor.

When you walk out of the back of Ta Som Temple you’ll see several locals selling souvenirs here. Therefore we decided to support the local economy and do a spot of shopping, I bought a colorful skirt and top from one of the ladies and Brian bought himself a Cambodian T-shirt. 

The Ta Som temple complex contains some amazing vibrantly colored, and really intricate stonework. The mossy green, rusty colorings of the stones add an interesting contrast against the vegetation surrounding the temple. You can really see how much detail was put into carving these amazing temples. 

To get through we passed under an impressive gate with a large head standing watch from the top. We spent about 40 minutes exploring this temple. 

Preah Neak Pean Temple/ Or Neak Poan ( Late 12th Century) 

There is a longish walkway to reach Neak Pean, just as well we come prepared with comfortable shoes. As you approach the entrance a few men who have lost limbs from land mines will be playing musical instruments and serenading the tourists who walk along this walkway (a small tip is appreciated and of course we did oblige). 

The Buddhist temple of Preah Neak Pean (also known as Neak Poan)  is a small yet intricately carved temple constructed by Jayavarman VII in the late 12th century.  The site is an artificial island with a Buddhist temple built on a round island, encircled by two snakes whose intertwined tails give the temple its name. The large square pool is connected to four other smaller pools representing Water, Earth, Fire, and Wind. The ancients believed that bathing in these pools would balance the elements in the bather, therefore curing many ailments and disease. 

We enjoyed our visit and we probably spent no more than 20 minutes to explore this place, since it is a very small site. 

Preah Khan (12th Century) 

Built-in the 12th century, the temple of Preah Khan is in quite a good state of preservation, being maintained by the World’s Monuments Fund, it is definitely one of the highlights of the “Big Circuit Tour”. We thoroughly enjoyed exploring all its nooks and crannies. 

Considered a fusion temple with the eastern larger entrance dedicated to Mahayana Buddhism and the other successively smaller doors dedicated to Shiva, Vishnu, and Brahma which apparently was meant to emphasize the unequal nature of Hinduism.

The walkway leading up to Preah Khan temple is lined by statues that appear to be playing a tug-of-war game with a very long and weird snake-like creature. Many of the statues are headless since pillaging and stealing from the ancient monuments has been an unfortunate problem in Cambodia (just as in many other ancient cities and sites around the world). 

It is a grand entrance and it sets the scene for the findings inside the temple. We spent almost one hour having a good nose around here, before heading back to our hotel for a well-earned rest. Day one went so well, it left us eager to see more, therefore after a good late afternoon rest and a delicious evening meal back in Siem Reap we felt ready to tackle day two. 

Day two – Small Circuit + sunrise at Angkor Wat

Is it worth a sunrise visit to Angkor Wat, I hear you ask? We ponder that very same question for a while since we have heard that it is not a quiet, spiritual experience that many expect, but rather a very crowded one. Also, we were not relishing getting up at an unsocial 4 am to race across town with hundreds of other punters.

But sometimes you just have to follow the crowd, they might be onto something special, after all, how often would we be able to rock up at one of the most incredible ancient religious monuments in the world to witness such an iconic event? 

Our second day followed this itinerary: Angkor Wat > Angkor Tom > Bayon > Ta Keo > Ta Prohm > Banteay Kdei 

Sunrise at Angkor Wat 

We met our driver (the same guy we had the previous day) at an unsavory 4:30 am at our hotel reception. It was still very dark outside, with few street lights lighting the way, there were few people out and about such as street vendors getting ready,  for the day ahead. Our driver stopped at the first checkpoint and we got a hole-punched through our ticket showing we are now on day two of our 3 days pass. Soon after he drops us at the entrance to Angkor Wat and we just follow the crowd, many shining their torches in the darkness, and we also had our own head torches. After crossing a long plastic, squashy pontoon we arrive at another checkpoint where we have to show our day pass again. 

We finally reach the small pond overlooking Angkor Wat and we sit down on the sandy ground to wait for the sunrise. At this point, I wished we had a rug to sit on since the ground was a little humid and very sandy. All around us, more and more people were arriving, everyone sitting or standing at the back quietly in contemplation, few whispered conversations going on around us. An American couple sitting next to us reported that they were here for a special occasion: it was her 60th Birthday and therefore he (her fiance) has treated her to this trip. 

Slowly the sun started to rise behind Angkor Wat, a thin cloud cover making the sun rays a little more elusive, but soon it started to light up the whole area and the demure vibe became more energetic, everyone is clicking away with their cameras, including us, wanting to capture an exquisite moment in time. Soon after sunrise people start dispersing towards the temple, it is time to explore the treasure. 

 

It turned out to be a very special and rather surreal moment to watch the beginning of a new day over such a magnificent temple. We were glad to have made the effort to do it and we felt that it was definitely worth it. Soon after sunrise, we make our way to the temple and start our exploring. Some steep steps take us up to the main tower, for a birds-eye view of the surrounding landscape. 

Angkor Wat is the very heart and soul of Cambodia, it is their national symbol, the epicenter of the Khmer civilization, and rightly so a source of immense national pride. The Cambodian National flag even features a depiction of Angkor Wat in the center, just showing how important this monument is to this country. 

We took our time to explore it, spending over 2 hours having a good look around it, including climbing up to the main tower for a “birds-eye view of the surroundings” and we took gazillions of photos. We absolutely loved this place and we felt so grateful to be able to finally make it here, it totally exceeded our expectations. 

It was not nearly as crowded as we had expected, in fact, there was hardly any queueing to climb up to the tower ( I have been told that usually, it is very busy). The reason for this, of course           ( unfortunately), was that the Coronavirus outbreak was starting to take its toll in Cambodia and tourist numbers were fast declining.  

Angkor Tom and Bayon Temple

Returning to our tuk-tuk, our driver was waiting for us with our breakfast box. The huge complex of Angkor Tom was where we would be heading next. But not before devouring our breakfast box ( courtesy of our hotel, who prepared us a delicious sandwich, fruit, and drink), and soon after we were on the road again, sitting comfortably on our tuk-tuk with the fresh morning air keeping us cool (for now at least). 

Angkor Tom meaning ” Great City” in the Khmer language, was the last and most enduring capital city of the Khmer Empire. Angkor Tom is set over 10 sq km, on a large moat and surrounded by an impenetrable wall, designed to protect the city from any invaders. Our driver leaves us at the impressive Victory Gate and gives us instructions to meet him later on at the West Gate.

There are lots to explore inside this ancient walled city including the Terrace of the Elephants, Terrace of the Leper King, and the surreal Bayon Temple. 

At the very heart of Angkor Tom is KingJayavarman’s state temple: the mesmerizing Bayon Temple, where 216 enigmatic faces watch over any visitors. Apparently the stone faces resemble the great King himself. 

Ta Keo Temple – Early 11th Century

One of the tallest monuments of Angkor, the Ta Keo is a mountain temple build by Jayavarman V, situated just around the corner from Angkor Tom.

The pyramid-shaped Ta Keo was built to represent Mount Meru, the mountain that is the center of the world in Hindu mythology. There are five pyramids like towers at the top, we climbed all the steep stairs up there to get great views over the surrounding area. 

The massive sandstone monument dedicated to Shiva was left unfinished at the start of the 11^th century. For unknown reasons, the work on Ta Keo was halted at a time when sculptors began to add decorations to the temple. An inscription says that lightning struck the temple at one point which was taken as a sign of bad luck upon which work was then stopped. More likely it was because of the death of King Jayavarman V who commissioned the temple.

Ta Prohm Temple – 12th Century 

Spectacularly engulfed by the Cambodian jungle this temple was finally rediscovered in the 20th Century by French Archeologists. Ta Prohm, along with the rest of the Angkor complex gained a lot of popularity following its appearance in the Hollywood movie Lara Croft: Tomb Raider and the Indiana Jones movie.

Ta Prohm was deserted at some point in the 16th century and like many of the other temples in this region, the Cambodian jungle enveloped it. Therefore today we can see trees and vegetation growing through the structures and although preservation work is ongoing the overall look of “nature taking over” is meticulously maintained. 

The giant tree roots look like tentacles strangling the temple, making it for stunning photography. The appearance of neglect is carefully maintained, although there is plenty of work behind the scenes to ensure it is safe for visitors.

It is an amazing place and we had a lot of fun looking around and taking photos. The incredible tall trees with their thick roots wrapped around the temple’s roofs, lintels, and doorways are quite a unique and eerie experience. One of the absolute highlights of our trip to this region. It is one of the most popular temples in Siem Reap and therefore tourist numbers can be high, we recommend visiting it early morning or late in the afternoon. 

Banteay Kdei Temple – Late 12th Century

Banteay Kdei was built by King Jayavarman VII. The name means “A Citadel of Chambers”. Inside the temple is actually made up of a number of complex chambers and passages.

 

It is another case of jungle taking revenge here also, but this temple is less popular then Ta Prohm, but certainly not any less beautiful. 

We finished day 2 of our temple hopping at around lunchtime and just as well we did that since we had a very early start (4 am) and we were feeling quite tired by now.  Our driver took us back to our hotel for a well-earned rest. 

Day three – Roluos Group ( former City of Hariharalaya ) 

For our last day of temple hopping, we chose to get out of town to explore an archeological site about 13 Km East of Siem Reap, there are 3 major temples here, also included on our 3 days pass. Our tuk-tuk headed east and within about 10 minutes, we were well out of the city. The countryside was peaceful, with rice paddies and water buffalos roaming around, farmers busy working the land, little villages dotted around and it felt like a world far removed from the hustle and bustle of Siem Reap. 

These monuments are what remains of Hariharalaya, the first important capital of the Khmer Empire for more than 70 years. These temples date back to the 9th century, making them some of the oldest Khmer temples in Cambodia

We did not have sky-high expectations for our day 3, particularly after being totally wowed by the Angkor Temples, but we just wanted to use our last day going further from Siem Reap and to check out the Cambodian countryside. 

Lolei Temple – 9th Century 

The first stop was Lolei and it was underwhelming, to say the least, maybe our driver thought would be better to start with the least impressive place first. The place is currently under renovation with two of the towers being held up by braces and surrounded by scaffolding, while the other two had already collapsed.

Lolei was built in the 9th century circa 893 AD by King Yasovarman I and was a Hindu temple dedicated to Shiva and to members of the Kings family.  Lolei was the last of the three temples to be built as part of the city of Hariharalaya. The temple consists of four brick temple towers grouped together on a terrace. Unfortunately, it was in a bit of a state of disrepair when we visited so we did not linger here for long. 

Preah ko Temple (+ Small Prasat Prei Monti) – 9th Century

Preah Ko meaning ” Sacred Bull” in the Khmer language was Built during the reign of King Indravarman I in 879 with the intention to honor some members of his family. It was the first temple to be built in the ancient and now extinct city of Hariharalaya consisting of six brick towers arranged in two rows of three towers each perched on a sandstone platform.

They are all made of brick, which you don’t see much of with Khmer temples, so that was something different.

Bakong – 9th Century 

The Bakong is a sandstone monument enclosed by two moats looking like a tiered pyramid with the main pagoda protruding tall from the center, like a single central sanctuary. We climbed all the way to the top to explore the sanctuary and get a good view of the surrounding landscape.

According to my research, Bakong was built in stages at the end of the 9th Century, by King Indravarman I, who also built Preah Ko. This temple was the first of the large temple mountain of sandstone at Angkor.  We were very happy to be visiting it at the end of our 3 days temple hopping in Siem Reap. 

The moat outside the inner enclosure is crossed by a stone-paved causeway, with huge seven-headed Naga snake inconspicuously watching from the sides. Apparently, these are the first examples of Naga bridges, found in many of the later Angkor temples. 

We met a guy who was doing these temples by bicycle, kudos to him, but I think it would not be something we would have liked, particularly with the hot Cambodian sun beating down on you. We were glad to be driven around by tuk-tuk. Once we finished exploring this final temple we were ready to return to our hotel, but not before one last stop at the APOPO visitor center back in Siem Reap.

APOPO Visitor Center

After learning a lot about how landmines have affected Laos we were very interested in learning how it has affected Cambodia. We soon discovered that Cambodia is also one of the most landmine-affected countries in the world, and it is estimated that there were as many as 4–6 million landmines placed in Cambodia during the Khmer Rouge period. There is a huge ongoing effort to find and clear the land from these explosive remnants of war. 

Therefore some furry rodents have been found to be perfect for the job of detecting the landmines. The rats are trained to use their highly developed sense of smell to sniff out explosives up to one meter below ground. Being lightweight ( just about 1.3 Kg) and therefore in no danger of setting off the mines, they can criss-cross section after section of land much more effectively than other conventional methods.

Our guide explains that just one of these clever rodents can clear a tennis court-sized area in half an hour; the same area could take up to four days for a human using a metal detector. 

APOPO is a global non-profit organization with roots in Belgium and headquarters in Tanzania, where the rats are trained. 

The rats are usually trained for about nine months before they are ready for the fieldwork. Training them is an expensive business and our guide told us that it can cost up to 6000 Euros to train each little rat. They live for about 6 to 8 years, but they are usually retired from the job after 5 years of service. 

After getting lots of information from our guide and watching a short film we were ready for the highlight of our visit: The live demonstration of a rat doing his job, although the poor thing took a little persuading to start sniffing for TNT since they sleep during the day and he was not very impressed being woken up for the demonstration. 

We were surprised to learn that they can also be trained to sniff out tuberculosis and therefore contribute to a prompt diagnosis.  We couldn’t help but be totally awed by this amazing work that these unlikely heroes are doing, we really enjoyed visiting this place and would certainly recommend it. 

Afterward, we return to our hotel and we say goodbye (plus giving a well deserved generous tip) to our fantastic driver who accompanied us for our 3 days of temple hopping. Angkor is huge and having the same tuk-tuk waiting for us after each temple visit meant we were able to take it all in on your own time and at a more relaxed pace. 

Practicalities and Final Thoughts

We allocated 4 nights for Siem Reap and we felt that it was about right for us, we would recommend allocating as many days as your itinerary can allow and you will not be disappointed. 

Our flight into Cambodia – Siem Reap from Laos- Pakse was short and sweet ( 1hr 15 min) and we even got a snack meal and drink. On arrival, we were directed to the visa desk, where we paid US$ 30 for the visa on arrival, after collecting our luggage we bought a Cambodian SIM card (costing US$ 10 each) there at the airport. 

Our hotel arranged a tuk-tuk to pick us up from the airport, we stayed at the Residence Wat Damnak (about 15 minutes ride from the airport), which we totally recommend, it is very central but also set in a quiet location, the staff there were super friendly, rooms were very clean, delicious breakfast and they have an excellent restaurant on-site for other meals and there is also a small pool to cool down after a long day of temple hopping. 

Cambodia uses US$, therefore there is no real need to get the local currency. There are plenty of ATM machines in Siem Reap. 

See above about the day passes for the temples, we chose the 3 days pass, we also paid for a tuk-tuk and driver to accompany us each day, booking it all via our hotel, costing us as follows: Big tour US$ 22, Sunrise at Angkor Wat, and Small Tour US$ 25, Roluos Group US$ 18.00. We also gave him a tip at the end, since we felt that he was brilliant. There are probably cheaper options, such as haggling with tuk-tuk drivers, etc. but we did not explore that. It just feels immoral haggling when a driver and tuk-tuk cost about the same for a full day as we could pay for a taxi across town after an evening out at home.

Having our own tuk-tuk driver for 3 consecutive days really helped us avoid temple fatigue, since we took our time and explored it at a very leisurely pace. He knew the best routes to get to all the temples, he also provided us with cool water and information on places to eat, etc.

Angkor Archeological Park is located about 4 miles North of the city center, but there are many other temples that are located further away from Siem Reap. 

Some people choose to cycle to all the temples, but cycling the long distances between temples under the hot Cambodian sun is not for the faint-hearted. Unless you are a very keen cyclist, I would not recommend this option. It is also possible to hire a car or to hire a motorbike with a driver. 

There are plenty of other things to do in Siem Reap besides visiting all the temples. The food scene is fantastic with great options for all budgets. We enjoyed some amazing food, drinking, and exploring the town. It felt safe to walk around even later at night.  

What this region has to offer is simply staggering, with awe-inspiring temples, architecture, culture, and history riches like no other place on earth. Siem Reap really is the jewel in the crown of South East Asia. For us it was a dream come true, we loved our visit and we left knowing that there was lots more to do here, so maybe a return visit in the future will be on the cards? But it was time to move on.

We left Siem Reap the following day bound for Battambang and the next leg of our journey.