Siem Reap, Cambodia

Over the last six months, Thailand became a second home to me. I can communicate in basic Thai, I had a Thai phone number, and I no longer needed to convert baht to USD every time I made a purchase. I understood Thailand’s infrastructure and felt completely comfortable traveling there, so I was a little nervous to leave for Cambodia, where I didn’t speak the language or know anyone.

My bus left Bangkok at 1 AM and arrived in Siem Reap at about 10 AM. Crossing the land border into Cambodia was… uncomfortable. I applied for an e-visa online beforehand, so I didn’t have to pay anything at the border, but everyone else on my bus was overcharged for “processing” and “convenience fees”. Directions weren’t clearly marked, and the border is crowded with people asking for money and trying to scam tourists into paying for help with their visas. Despite all of this, I made it to Siem Reap. As soon as the bus door opened, tuk tuk drivers claiming to be affiliated with the bus company were in our faces offering “free rides” to our accommodation. We had been warned by the bus company ahead of time that there would be drivers at the bus stop in Cambodia, and that they did not work for the company. Luckily, my hostel was right next to the bus stop, so after buying a Cambodian SIM card, I avoided the tuk tuk mafia by walking.

I did not have the best first impression of Cambodia. Siem Reap is a very poor town, with lots of aggressive tuk tuk drivers, insistent street vendors, and small children begging for money. Aside from its main attraction (I will get to that later) there’s really not much to do other than hang out at the famous Pub Street and a few night markets. I wasn’t interested in wasting my money on watered-down cocktails, which worked out well because the next morning I woke up at 4 AM to see the sunrise at Angkor Wat.

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While the city of Siem Reap itself isn’t somewhere I’d visit again, the many temples of Angkor made the trip worth it. The massive Angkor Wat is by far the most well known, but Angkor Thom, the former capital of the Khmer Empire, is actually made up of over 300 temples and structures. First built in the 12th century as a temple dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu, Angkor Wat was gradually transformed into a Buddhist temple. Angkor Thom was abandoned by the Khmer kings in the 15th century and wasn’t rediscovered until 1860.

Over the course of two days, I watched the sunrise and sunset at Angkor Wat, and visited 10 of the temples in Angkor National Park.

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The largest religious monument in the world did not disappoint.