Intro to Siem Reap

Tuk tuk drivers in Angkor

Yay, we're finally at what you may consider the most interesting part of anyone visiting Cambodia. This is the place where the famous Angkor Wat is! We spent 5 days in Siem Reap, taking into account the vastness of the Angkor complex. And it was indeed a right decision for us.

We took the Giant Ibis bus 10/29/13 -highly recommend this company- from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap. It was a comfy ride lasting approximately 4 hours and 30 minutes.

Hubby on one of Angkor's walk ways

Siem Reap is a province located in northern part of Cambodia. Its major income probably comes from tourism. Everywhere in Siem Reap you'll see tons of travelers. It is no wonder considering it being a host of the Angkor complex. Angkor, is one of the most important archaeological sites of Southeast Asia. It extends over approximately 400 square kilo meters and consists of scores of temples, hydraulic structures (basins, dykes, reservoirs, canals) as well as communication routes. The principle temple of Angkorian region, Angkor Wat, was first built between 1113-1150. The whole complex hasn't quite come to completion, so some of the structures look like works in progress.

Ta Prohm aka Tomb Raider Temple

Angkor Thom! Prasat Bayon in the background

Apsara dancing carved on the Angkor Wat

If you're not too familiar with Cambodia, perhaps you saw part of the temple for the first time in Tomb Raider, a movie starring Angelina Jolie back in 2001. The temple covering that structure is called Ta Prohm, and Tomb Raider temple following the capture on the movie. That was just a teeny tiny bit of Angkor. The whole complex was HUGE. An interesting fact was we saw lots of Korean tourist in the Angkor complex. Most of them were females traveling in large groups. We enjoyed one afternoon spotting these Korean tourists; They tended to dress in colorful clothes, excitedly posing for pictures. Ain't that cute!

Me at Angkor Wat

Among the sites we went to were Bayon temple in Angkor Thom, Ta Prohm, Sra Srang Lake, Preah Khan, Elephant Terrace, and of course,

Angkor Wat on our last day.

Hubby (white cap) and our guide Pine (sitting in pic) at Angkor Wat

It was a hot, humid, cloudy kind of day

We bought the three day pass (priced at $40/person), and still didn't actually get to see everything. The weather was just too hot for us to last the whole day each day we're there. 

Getting around from one structure to the next was done by tuk-tuk. We also hired a guide, who worked at the boutique hotel we stayed -Siddharta Hotel on Jean Commailles Rd. His name's Pine and boy was he hilarious! We enjoyed his company to the max and learned a lot about the Angkor history. All day tuk-tuk + driver cost $12 ($15 now, quoted from Siddharta's website), and guide service was about $30/day. 

Us at Angkor Thom

One of the cool things about our stay in Siem Reap was the all-day tuk-tuk we hired. Our 3-day Angkor experience typically started at 08:30-9:00 AM. Our guide and tuk-tuk were already waiting at Siddharta's lobby. We then took off to the Angkor complex, toured the temples, stopped by downtown for some Chatime bubble tea + lunch, then back to hotel for a quick nap. It was usually around 2 PM when we got back to the hotel. We then headed back to either Angkor or straight to town at 4ish PM to check out local stuff before eating dinner downtown.

In front of Siddharta

I initially wanted to talk about all aspects of Siem Reap in one post.. but look.. it's quite a lot of materials already and I hardly mentioned anything about the Siem Reap Old Market, the good local food/delicacy, and awesome massages we had. I feel the need to break things down in two post, making it much more bearable for you guys to peruse. 

That said,..on to the next post! :)