Siem Reap
Daylight
Angkor Wat (Sunrise, 3 -4 hrs)
The main attraction that brings tourists to Siem Reap, Angkor Wat, is the largest religious monument in the world. This is the main tourist attraction of Siem Reap, and a large reason people travel to Cambodia. You will need to be prepared for a lot of tourists.
To start, make sure you go to the Ticket Office (Angkor Park Pass Ticket Counters) before arriving at Angkor Wat. Without a ticket in advance, you will not be able to get access when they first open the gate, and if you are not within the first few people through the gate, you can expect to miss out on a good photo.
We woke up at 4:30 AM and got to the gate at 4:50 AM. The gate opens 30 min before Sunrise, which was 5 AM when we were there. We managed to be the first people through. The entire temple is surrounded by a moat, so when you are let through the gate you have to cross a bridge before actually getting to the ground. Once at the grounds, you will want to head toward either the left or right side of the main walking path to stand just behind the small lakes. We just cut through the grass and had a sensational spot for a photo and a view of the Sunrise coming up from behind the temple (off to the right pond/lake). Not within another 2 minutes the entire coast of this small lake was filled with people trying to get a good view. After 20 minutes it was swarming with people, all trying to get nice photos at this same location. I stepped away from the chaos to snag this photo to really capture the scene. This is the harsh reality behind all the nice photos you see online.
Once we had our photos, we moved on to keep touring the grounds. We were there until about 7:20 AM, and it felt like we had already gotten a full day of sightseeing completed.
Bayon Temple (1 hour)
We hired a driver to take us around Siem Reap for one full day and he took us to all the popular spots. This made it very easy for us to move quickly from place to place at our own pace and not have to worry about others in a larger group slowing us down. Once we finished at Angkor Wat, we went to Bayon which was fairly close by. We walked up at 7:29 AM and the gate was opening just at 7:30 AM. Without breaking stride, we were accidentally the first people in here as well.
The Bayon is well known for the number of stone faces that are engraved into the stone pillars near the center of this structure. You can climb up into the remains of this temple and get some unique photos with what is left of these faces.
Ta Prohm (Tree Temple) (1-2 Hours)
Another temple of similar architecture as Bayon, this temple has become one with the surrounding jungle. Some trees are hundreds, if not a thousand years old that have grown on top of the original structures. This puts into perspective how old these structures truly are. There has been a lot of work done to restore the grounds and prevent further damage. A combination of tourists and nature has put a lot of wear on the structures and engineered supports could be seen already installed on some walls. We enjoyed walking around and being pleasantly surprised by how the roots of these trees were completely engulfing these structures.
We walked around here for about 90 minutes, but there were others getting tours and I imagine if you joined a tour it would take you a bit longer.
Evening
Haven (Dinner)
This was another restaurant on our SE Asia trip that marketed the fact that they employed underprivileged young adults to help them develop working skills to help build them a better future. We loved this idea and wanted to check out the restaurant. The restaurant had a nice outdoor garden that had all the tables booked so we took the only available table indoors. We ordered a green mango salad and Khmer Lok Lak, a popular Cambodian meat dish served in a flavorful sauce, and the food was delicious.
Hot Pot Restaurants (Dinner)
For a unique local meal, the Hot Pot style restaurants are a must-try. We ate at one of these restaurants and felt like a local. There is a small grill in the center of the table and they place hot coals inside with a grate on top. You can order a variety of uncooked meats and veggies and they will deliver it to your table. You all sit around this grill and make your dinner. Not only was this is a fun experience and nothing we had seen before, but it was also very affordable.
Pub Street (Dinner and Drinks)
The most popular party street in Siem Reap, you have to at least walk through Pub Street to enjoy the lights, excitement, music, and people. We spent each night we had in Siem Reap at a bar on this road just people watching and cashing in good drink specials. The first night we found beers for only $0.50 and then got some two for one cocktails at a dance club farther down the road. The second night we went back for late-night food and drinks and had pizza with crocodile meat at one of the restaurants.
Villa Chandara (4pm-10pm)
We were picked up at our hostel at 4 PM and driven 20 minutes to a beach where we got in a private boat. We took the boat 10 minutes across a lake and arrived at another small beach with a hostess stand with welcome champagne. After we finished our glasses, and had a nice little hike through a local village, we arrived at a beautiful resort/retreat. This resort was complete with various activities, all you can drink alcoholic beverages, and a five-course meal. We started with foot massages while the sun was beginning to set over a large open field. We then did a small cocktail class to learn how to make passion fruit mojitos. We drank these mojitos as we watched the sunset. There was a live band playing local instruments all evening and we tried our hand at learning how to play. They got some enjoyment at how bad we were…..
Once the sun was down, they lit up candles around the grounds and sat everyone down at private tables. There were only 4 other families, and one family didn’t even stay for dinner. This became a very relaxing and romantic evening. After dinner, they shut off all the lights on the grounds so we could stargaze. We grabbed a few more drinks and sat on full recliners while we enjoyed staring up at the night sky. This was easily one of the highlights of this whole trip and would recommend this 10/10 times.
Note: You will need to register/pay a head of time online to guarantee a seamless all inclusive experience as described. Make sure to book this well a head of your trip as we are not sure on typical availability.
