Cambodia 4. Siem Reap and Angkor Wat: Spring Festival 2018

Siem Reap and its nearby Angkor Wat is obviously the main attraction in Cambodia and is the countries 'must see' place.














I got the impression that a lot of people, when visiting Cambodia, will only visit Siem Reap as part of a stop over to another place. The city does well out of the tourists and as a result it is more together and organised. Public transport exists, traffic lights and rules the road are followed, pavements are for people and not just for tuktuks to blast down avoiding the traffic, ATM's are easier to find and accept international cards, hostels are everywhere and the city as a whole is cleaner.

My hostel was more of a hotel with a hostel bar and swimming pool area. After the quiet of Kampot and Kep, I was ready to talk to some new people. I had my own room but the bar was great and always full of people.

I needed up getting tips from loads of people about the temple complex, to the point I started to dread going. As can be the case, the 'must see' day trips and really not all that enjoyable. I felt the same way about the Great Wall and the Forbidden City. Its a long day with lots of traveling, hot as hell and usually crowded, but you 'must see' it.

I ended up booking a tuktuk and driver through the hostel who took me on a  highlights only tour. My driver was nice enough but was obviously bored with the temples and drove like a mad man between the spots. This actually worked in my favor as I am sure he shaved half an hour off my day, plus the breeze in the back of the cab was well needed.

We left at 9, bought tickets, and arrived to the complex for about 10. At this point in the day it wasn't too hot (30 degrees, after 2 weeks I was getting used to the heat) and so I could walk around fairly comfortably. By the end of the day, this changed and the burning hot sun with no shade was absolutely killer.

The complex is huge, reports vary depending on where lines are drawn but 16 square kilometers seems to be the average size. Inside the complex is a vast network of roads and shortcuts, My driver seemed to know where he was going but I couldn't even keep up on the map. We visited 6 areas in 4 hours which brought me to the very brink of madness. Temples all look the same after the third and my driver was having none of the 'I just want to go home' argument I put forward.

The biggest temple is the Angkor Wat temple, it turns out each one has a different name and Angkor Wat is a temple not, as i thought, the name of the complex. This was my last stop so I was not really in a position to completely appreciate it.

If I had time and was so inclined I would have bought the three day ticket and biked around instead of hiring the driver, but I didn't know about this and didn't really have time. If a return opportunity presents itself I'll think about it, otherwise I consider the Cambodia box ticked.



Siem Reap itself is a small city with a backpacker/tourist area in the middle. It has a huge night market, complete with food, and the bar street. The whole area is crammed with people and fairly chaotic but fun to walk around. My hostel was only a 15 minute walk from here so I could go for food, back to hostel for a swim and then back in the evening for more people watching.

Shopping wise Cambodia had nothing new to offer, I saw all the same stuff as I have seen in Vietnam and Thailand but it was fun looking anyway.