I spent 4 days 3 nights in Siem Reap in Nov 07. If you like to see heritage sites, this is the place to go. In fact, there are a lot more to se in Siem Reap other than Angkor Wat. The small temples in Angkor Thom or those outside the Angkor Park are worth visiting. Cambodia is an interesting country with a sad history. It's developing now and the government ensures that there is zero crime to make it safe place for tourists.
Getting there : My friend and I took AirAsia from Kuala Lumpur (capital of Malaysia) - (departs at 7am in the morning) and it's a 2-hour flight. You can book your air tickets from the its website and you can get it for less than RM500 return (approx. £ 70). Since it's a budget airline, you have to book early for cheap fares.
You can also fly direct to Siem Reap from Bangkok, Phnom Penh and Singapore.
Hotel: We stayed at The Villa Siem Reap. It's a great guesthouse run by Australians and the best thing of the hotel is that they have travel packages that come with your room. I paid USD 110 for a 3-night package. This package includes a sunset pack, 3 breakfasts, 2 lunches, our own tuk-tuk driver for 3 days, a professional english guide for 1 day, airport transfers and of course 3 nights of accommodation in a superior room. The superior room is air-conditioned, there's a mini-barand satellite TV. It's not a 5-star hotel but everything you need is there. We are very happy with the staff and they have helped us planned everything.
I strongly suggest that you pre-arrange a driver for your trip (or at least for airport transfer) as it saves you the trouble of having to bargain for a tuk-tuk anywhere you go. On average, each tuk-tuk journey around town is USD1 but if you pre-arrange a driver, you can get it for about USD10 for a day. Also, drivers at the airport will take you to hotels where they get commissions. Your own driver for the trip will also wait for you when you are out shopping or at the temples.
Day 1: Our driver was waiting for us at the airport as this was included in our 3-night package. As there were only 2 of us, The Villa provided us a tuk-tuk (see picture). It took us 20 minutes to get to The Villa. Tuk-tuk is a convenient and popular transport in Cambodia. Roads are dusty in Cambodia so if you want a more comfortable mode of transport you can request for a car but of course this is a little more expensive.
After checking-in, we went straight to the Tonle Sap Lake. This is the largest fresh water lake in Southeast Asia. It's interesting to see the floating villages around the lake. During the dry season, you will need to travel a lot further in to be able to get to the Lake. The floating villages move with the water. The boat ride is about 1.5 hours and it costs us USD10 per person as we pre-arranged this with The Villa. However, the Villa was unable to provide us a tour guide as there were only two of us so they arranged for the driver to come onboard with us and acted as our tour guide.
In the afternoon, we went to the Old Market. This is where all tourists come to get their souvenirs. The Old Market has lots of small shops selling almost the same thing and the other part of the Old Market is the Wet Market where we did not dare to step in. In Cambodia, prepare to bargain as they always come up with a high price. If you are offered USD10, ask for USD 5 and you will most probably be paying USD 7 in the end. Things worth buying are the Cambodian Silk Scarf and bags. Cambodia is also famous for its gem stones but I wouldn't buy them at the Old Market.
The Villa gave us a sunset pack. This consists of red/white wine,cheese and olives. You can take this out to any temple of your choice but our driver suggested Angkor Wat. We were quite unlucky as there was hardly any sun that evening. If Angkor Wat is also your choice, be there by 5.30pm and choose a good spot (see picture below) as there would be many tour group tourists around by 6pm and you wouldn't even have a place to sit down.
Day 2: To visit the temples, you need a temple pass. There are 3 different passes: 1 day - USD 20 3 days - USD 40 7 days - USD 60
If you go in to Angkor Site after 4.45pm, it's free but wouldn't have time to see everything as the place is huge.
Your driver will definitely need to stop at the ticket booth before going into the Angkor area. At the booths, your photo will be taken and there's a pass you need to keep for the next x days that you have chosen. Note: The days on the passes are consecutive. These temple passes will also give you free access to temple toilets which are very clean.
We have a private guide today (included in The Villa package) and our guide speaks perfect English. He recommended us to visit Angkor Wat first thing in the morning as most tourists only come here in the afternoon. The logic behind this is that most tourists come in tour groups and the tour buses will go to Angkor Thom first, then lunch at restaurants opposite Angkor Wat with visit to Ankor Wat after that.
Strongly recommend you to hire a guide for your Angkor Wat visit if not you are wasting your time. Therer are many galleries with carvings and there are many stories behind Angkor Wat. Our guide also told us where to catch the best photo and which important spots to see.
Angkor Wat is huge and you can also shop there if you have time. We got some beautiful scarfs which are cheaper than at the Old Market.
For lunch, we took out our temple lunch packs prepared by The Villa. The lunch pack consists of sandwiches of your own choice, 2 drinks each and even wet towels. We had our picnic outside the temple. The Villa told us that we could go back to the hotel for our lunch but we did not want to waste time to go back all the way and then come back to catch the next temple.
After lunch, we went to Angkor Thom which was near Angkor Wat. Angkor Thom was once the capital and there are a few temples over here. It took us about 3 hours to see all the temples (such as Bayon, Terrace of the Leper King and Elephant Terrace). Again, there are stories behind these temples so it's good if you have a guide to explain to you.
Day 3: We were very excited in the morning as we were going to Ta Prohm, where Tomb Raider the movie was shot. Our driver told us that we must reach there by 7am in order to avoid the crowd. If we arrived later, there would be so many tourists and it's going to be difficult to take good photos. The temple is as eerie as seen in the movie (especially when we arrived so early - there were only 4 other tourists in the huge temple) but the views are breathtaking. We saw the huge roots of the silk cotton tree that ran along the galleries. We didn't have a private guide today so we were wandering around the temple when a young Cambodian guy came along and started explaining to us what to see etc. He showed us where to take the best photos and when we were preparing to leave, he asked for USD 3 to pay his tuition teacher. We didn't have enough 1 dollar notes and he demanded Thai Bahts !! Ta Prohm is really worth seeing and it's a temple in the middle of a jungle. There are 2 different exits so remember to check with your driver which exit he will be waiting for you. If you need to back track, it's a long long way to go.
After Ta Prohm, we went to Banteay Srei which was quite nearby. After Banteay Srei, we went to Preah Khan and Banteay Srei. Banteay Srei is outside Angkor Park but your temple pass covers this temple and it's also worth visiting. After Banteay Srei, we sat in the tuk-tuk for over an hour to go to the Kbal Spean. At Kbal Spean, we climbed 2km up the mountain to see stone carvings in the river bed. There are a number of incredible sights so if you don't mind the 1-hour journey, it's another place worth visiting. A lot of tourists miss it because it's out of the way. Note: If you are travelling in a tuk-tuk, please bring a cap, wear long-sleeves, a face mask and wear your sunglasses as it is going to be very dusty and hot. Our driver said from year 2008, the roads are going to be better so it wouldn't be so bumpy and dusty but just in case....
On the way back to Angkor Park, you will definitely pass by the Landmine Museum. As landmine is not something you can easily find in other countries, we decided to go in. Entrance was USD1.
Day 4: Early flight to Kuala Lumpur Malaysia via AirAsia. Remember: you need to pay USD25 at the airport (for foreigners). And if you have any postcards to send, buy the stamps in town rather than at the airport as the shops sell each stamp for USD 1 (it should only be USD 0.5).
Other things to note: Massage: Massage is really cheap in Cambodia. At The Villa, you can get massage in your room for only USD12 an hour (oil massage) or foot massage at USD 6 for 30 minutes. Besides this, I also tried the traditional Khmer massage at the City Spa (USD 9 for one hour - whole body) nd foot massage by the blind (USD 5 for 1 hour) near the Old Market. Massage at the Villa was more comfortable and you can sleep on your own bed so for me that's a lot better.
Food: There are a lot of restaurants near the Old Market and it is also known as the Pub Street. We didn't try any restaurants there as we wanted local food but you should always be careful when you eat at the local restaurants as they are not very clean so check with your driver before going.
Shopping: There are many kids selling similar things (those that you can find in the Old Market) at the temples. Most of the times, we find that those things (some exactly the same such as postcards and books) are cheaper when bought from these poor kids so it's good if you buy from these kids that from the Old Market.
Tipping: Service charge is not included in the restaurants so it's common to tip. Your tour guide and your driver will also expect tips from you.
ATM: ATM machines are common and can easily be found near the Old Market. When you withdraw from the ATMs, you will get US Dollars. For small change, you will receive the local currency which is Riel. 1 USD = 4000 Riel. If you are given Riel for small change, keep them and use this to give tips.
When to visit: November is a good time to go as the monsoon season is just over and the weather is cooling. January and February are peak season .From April onwards, weather will be very hot and July to October is the rainy season.
Siem Reap is a very safe place and it has an interesting culture. If you are going to Thailand or Malaysia, it's just on the way so make sure you stop by !
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