Seven years ago we had a one-day whirlwind tour of the Angkor temples. Now, as full-time travelers, we’re back for a more in-depth exploration.
In the first century CE, Indian culture began taking root in much of Southeast Asia as more and more Hindu and Buddhist traders settled in the region. While the term “kingdom” has been used to label the early ruling entities in Cambodia, it wasn’t until the 9th century that this loose collection of Indianized states truly coalesced into an empire.
In 802, Jayavarman II, a young Khmer prince with a rather grandiose opinion of himself, declared he was a divine universal monarch, essentially a living god on earth. Now, this living god didn’t exactly appear out of thin air. A few years earlier one of his fellow royal countrymen had announced his intention to behead a Javanese ally, which offended the king of Java (Indonesia). Java invaded, permanently removed this royal upstart from the political landscape and installed Jayavarman II on the throne of their new vassal state. Jayarvarman II wasn’t thrilled to be subjugated to the Indonesian king and in fairly short order made his grand declaration. Historians are mixed in their opinions on whether he can truly be credited with unifying the region or whether that unification was inevitable, but his reign does mark the beginning of the era known as the Angkor Period (9th to 15th century).
By the 12th century, the Khmer Empire was the largest empire in the region, ruling much of Southeast Asia. As is often the case with once-powerful kingdoms, internal strife (both religious and political) began chipping away at its strength. Beginning in the 14th century, the Siamese empire of Ayutthaya (Thailand) was a constant thorn in the side of the Khmer kings. For nearly 100 years control of the region of what is now northwestern Cambodia flipped back and forth between the two Empires before the Khmer king finally admitted defeat in 1434 and moved his court south to Phnom Penh. Interestingly, much of what is known about this part of Cambodia, beginning with the inroads by the Siamese, is conjecture. Very few Khmer inscriptions exist that document subsequent events, new construction ceased, and the jungle reclaimed the land.
Dollars – Entry fees to visit the Angkor temples accounted for a large part of our budget. In fact, they were roughly on par with 13 nights of accommodation! Granted we did find a pretty inexpensive Airbnb.
| Cost / Day (2 people/ 13 days) |
What’s Included? | |
|---|---|---|
| All-inclusive nomadic expenses | $95/day Canadian ($70 USD / €65) |
Entry Visas (pro-rated), transportation to Siem Reap, sightseeing, accommodation, groceries, restaurants, data packages, local transportation, subscriptions (Netflix and other streaming services, website hosting, Adobe Lightroom, VPN, misc apps, etc.) |
| Basic day-to-day living expenses | $85/day Canadian ($61 USD / €58) |
Accommodation, sightseeing, groceries, restaurants, local transportation |
Environment – We were quite pleased with our accommodation in Siem Reap. We were in a more residential section of the city, right behind an elementary school, but within walking distance of lots of restaurants and grocery stores. If we didn’t feel up to walking in the heat to find dinner, calling for a tuk-tuk or remorque through Grab only cost us a couple of bucks, at most. The unit was in a new building beside the host’s mother’s home. Very nicely appointed and spotless. However what we appreciated even more was that she supplied 5L jugs of filtered drinking water which we could grab anytime we needed them. Tap water in SE Asia is rarely potable (for non-natives) and I really dislike the taste of boiled water. We booked our first week through Airbnb and then added on some extra days at the end by speaking directly with the host, so our nightly rate averaged out to $25 CAD/night ($18.40 USD / €17). Pretty good deal.
Tips, Tricks & Transportation – You can easily fly into Siem Reap landing in their brand-new international airport, the Siem Reap-Angkor International Airport which opened in April 2023. The old airport, built under French supervision in the 30s (with a revamp in 2006), was only six km (four miles) from the Angkor temples and the resulting pollution from the high volume of traffic (in 2019 nearly 4M visitors passed through that airport) was having an increasingly detrimental effect on the stone buildings. The new airport is 50 km (30 miles) away, does not require a flight path directly over the temple complex, and can handle even more airlines. I suspect very soon pre-pandemic levels of tourism will be eclipsed. We opted for a six-hour bus ride from Phnom Penh, which we thoroughly enjoyed as it gave us a chance to take in the countryside and experience the thrill of an undivided Cambodian highway.
The rules of the road were clearly to take the path of least resistance, with our bus frequently barrelling down the center of the road, straddling both lanes of traffic. We witnessed the aftermath of only one accident and our driver had to slam on his brakes once to avoid rear-ending a car that nonchalantly pulled out in front of us. Seriously, the ride was just fine and we never felt unsafe. The Giant Ibis bus line caters to Westerners with very attractive fares (Phnom Penh to Siem Reap was $18 US/pp ($24 CAD)). We were provided with a light pastry, a bottle of water, the seats were comfortable, the aircon temp was perfectly set, and the bus stopped twice to accommodate any restroom needs. It was an ideal way to travel, in our opinion.
Everything, and I mean everything, is priced in US dollars in Cambodia. But they will only accept pristine, undamaged bills as counterfeiting US currency is a popular pastime. Tills in grocery stores will show the total in KHR (Khmer Riel) alongside the US amount, and restaurant staff will quickly do the conversion for you. We only carried Riel and getting it was super easy through ABA Bank ATMs which seemed to be on every street corner. Generally, we found the exchange rate on Riel was more favourable than the US to CAD conversion rates.
All tuk-tuk/remorque drivers will offer to take you around to the temples. The young guy who took us from the bus station to our Airbnb was delightful and we were happy to engage him for three half-days (4-5 hours each day) of temple touring.
We didn’t feel the need for a guide, having had a history lesson seven years ago on our first short visit, so just having a driver was ideal. Sean took us to every little off-the-beaten-path temple we wanted to see, some of which were not in very good shape, and I’m sure he was internally shaking his head at us. He also kept us supplied with ice-cold bottles of water as we wilted in the back of his remorque between stops. He asked for $20 US/day for driving us to the temples near Siem Reap and $30 US for the one day we went further afield (about an hour and a quarter drive away from the city). We gave him ៛100,000 (the equivalent of about $25 US/$33 CAD) and ៛130,000 ($32 US/$43 CAD), respectively. Having a guide is helpful for your first visit, but there is also a ton of information online. Sean would give us a quick one or two-sentence intro to each temple, presenting these facts to us as if he were standing in front of a classroom reciting his memorized passage, then send us on our way to explore – it was very cute.
There are three price points for entry to the Angkor Archaeological Park:
- 1-day pass is $37 US / $50 CAD;
- 3-day pass which is valid for seven days following the date of issue is $62 US / $84 CAD; and
- 7-day pass which is valid for one month following the date of issue is $72 US / $98 CAD.
The multi-day passes are the most cost-effective if you think you’ll do more than one day. There are so many temples to see, and the heat is exhausting, so we would recommend planning for at least two days at the temples. We opted for the 7-day pass to give us a bit more flexibility to spread our visits out over more days. As it turned out we only visited the Park on four occasions and one was just for a couple of hours so Howard could get a few more shots of the magnificent Angkor Wat. The entry tickets are non-transferable and to ensure people don’t circumvent the system include your photo on the laminated pass. There is an online portal to purchase passes (and then you just show your electronic ticket for entry) which seemed like a great way to get tickets thus avoiding a stop at the ticket office, which is nowhere near the actual archaeological park and can get quite busy, on the morning of our first visit. We have several jpegs of our faces that we’ve used for various e-visas and Howard had no trouble uploading his picture. The website kept rejecting my photo saying “no face detected.” We tried taking pictures with my glasses on, my glasses off, in front of different backgrounds to provide more contrast, a smile instead of a neutral expression and I even finally applied lipstick hoping that might help the computer recognize some facial features. Nope, I am either a ghost or a vampire. So we were forced to take a quick trip out to the ticket office, which fortunately we managed to squeeze in before the office closed, and were ready to hit our first temple early the next morning.
Out and About – Oh, my, where to begin. The Angkor Archaeological Park is a UNESCO heritage site and is listed as the largest religious structure in the world, stretching over 400 square kilometers (nearly 100,000 acres). Within the Park are the various temples. There are reams and reams of information available about them, and given my propensity for delving into history I could give you paragraphs of details; I will spare you and let Howard’s pictures speak for this awe-inspiring site, with just a little bit of my overview.
Typically visits to the Park follow a couple of different routes. The Small Circuit is the most popular and includes the best-known examples from the Khmer Empire: Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom, and Ta Phrom. The Big Circuit takes you further afield, and which temples you see is a bit dependent on whether you go with a tour or hire a private guide. Both of these circuits require some stamina as tours can often be 7-8 hours in length!
Our driver was happy to take us when and wherever we wanted so we opted to do the temples in smaller chunks, starting early in the morning (7am) and getting back to our Airbnb by noon or 1pm. I cannot recommend highly enough getting an early start – the heat is intense and shade is almost non-existent.
Day One
Angkor Wat
The first Westerner to stumble across this breathtaking architecture was a Portuguese friar, who was spreading the gospel in the late 16th century. He wrote in his journal of a place of “such extraordinary construction that it is not possible to describe it with a pen, particularly since it is like no other building in the world. It has towers and decoration and all the refinements which the human genius can conceive of.” It was the French however, 300 years later, who are heralded for bringing awareness of these ruins to the world when they created a scale replica of the temple for the Paris Colonial Exposition in 1931.
The term “Angkor” is a modern designation, derived from Nokor, Khmer for city (wat means temple). No inscriptions have been found that definitively name this temple, but it may have been known as Vrah Viṣṇuloka or Parama Viṣṇuloka – “the sacred dwelling of Vishnu.” Originally a Hindu temple, commissioned by the king as his state temple within his capital city (which some scholars believe had a population upwards of 900,000), construction began in 1122 and ended shortly after the king’s death in 1150 leaving some of the decoration unfinished. It is the decoration that is one of the most striking features of this complex; every inch is incised. Bas-relief friezes depicting myth and legend encircle the first floor, apsaras and devata (the most simplified description of which are dancers and goddesses, respectively) decorate the balance of the walls, pillars, and entryways. If you have a chance to visit see if you can spot the only devata, out of more than 1,796 apsaras and devata, who has been depicted with a toothy smile (as you look back at the three doorways of the western entrance, she is next to the entrance on the left).
There isn’t much information about Bantey Kdei, other than to note that it was built during the late 12th/early 13th century and the poor quality of sandstone combined with faulty construction has resulted in its poor preservation. Directly opposite from this temple is Srah Srang which is an ancient man-made reservoir, nicknamed the King’s Swimming Pool.
Prasat Ta Keo is one of the older temples in the Angkor Park, and the tallest. Dating from the early 11th century, it is a “mountain temple” which are temples constructed to resemble Mount Meru, the centre of the Hindu universe. It is almost 50 meters in height (164 feet) with a set of ridiculously steep, uneven steps leading to the top. Because this temple was never completed it is missing the decorative work of its contemporaries.
When the French “discovered” these Khmer temples they began restoration work on many of them, which I think must have been akin to trying to put together a colossal jigsaw puzzle. Ta Prohm was largely ignored and left in the state in which it was found, complete with spectacular sprawling ficus (aka strangler fig vine) roots bursting through rock walls. It gained fame after it was featured in the 2001 Angelina Jolie movie, Tomb Raider, and consequently is full of Instagrammers. We preferred Ta Nei; much more atmosphere.
Day Two
Angkor Thom
In many respects I liked Angkor Thom more than Angkor Wat. It is smaller in scale and rather than one massive structure consists of several smaller buildings spread throughout the forest. I was particularly impressed with the southern and northern gates and there is something quite magical about the Bayon temple.
The late 12th century witnessed the Khmer Empire shift from Hinduism to Buddhism. Built roughly 30 years after Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom is entirely dedicated to Buddhism and was the last great city of the Khmer Empire. Its state temple, Bayon, is adorned with roughly 216 smiling depictions of The Buddha, most likely patterned after the king at the time, Jayavarman VII.
Baphuon is another mountain temple and at the time of construction was probably one of the most impressive temples to be erected. We opted not to summit this temple and just walked around its circumference which allowed us to discover the reclining Buddha hidden in the stones along the back wall.
Another captivating temple crumbling around tree roots determined to win the battle against stone, was the small Buddhist sanctuary Prasat Preah Palilay.
Prasat Preah Khan not to be confused with Preah Khan Kompong Svay which is about 105 km east of Angkor, was one of our favourite temples. It is largely unrestored which makes it all that more compelling and attracts fewer tourists!
Day Three
This was our final full day of Angkor temples and started with an early morning drive about an hour into the countryside. The 10th-century Hindu temple, Banteay Srei, is only about 25 km (16 miles) from the main Angkor temple complex but the road does not lend itself to a quick compute, especially in the back of a remoque. It was great fun and so interesting to witness the area slowly awaken to another day. It is one of the few temples that was not commissioned by sitting royalty. Foundational inscriptions would seem to indicate that it was built by an academic whose pupil was the future king, Jayavarman V. The temple is built largely of red sandstone which is an ideal material for intricate carving, and these stunning decorations have withstood the test of time giving the temple its modern name, Banteay Srei, which means “citadel of beauty.”
Heading back towards Angkor Wat and Siem Reap, we stopped to appreciate three more amazing temples.
Bantay Samré, similar in style and material to Banteay Srei, but newer, dating from the 12th century, unfortunately has no visible foundational inscriptions to explain its construction.
Pre Rup which means “turn the body,” is so named to reflect the supposition that this was once a funeral temple and as part of the funeral ritual the deceased’s ashes would be rotated to face different directions.
East Mebon once stood at the centre of an artificial lake and was only accessible by boat. Its most distinctive features are the 2-metre-high free-standing elephants gracing the corners of the first and second tiers.
Day Four
We could have been completely satisfied with three days visiting temples, but because we had opted for the 7-day pass we popped out to Angkor Wat for a couple of hours one morning, which did allow Howard the opportunity to capture a few more shots of this marvellous piece of history.
APOPO
Angkor Park is certainly the big draw for tourists visiting Siem Reap but if you are interested in a change of pace from ancient history, may we suggest you stop by the APOPO Visitor Centre to learn about their demining operation.
The Cambodian landscape is littered with landmines and unexploded ordnance. Between 1965 and 1968, during the Vietnam War, it is estimated that the US dropped roughly 214 tons of bombs over this small Asian country. Landmines were used extensively by everyone during the civil wars that rocked Cambodia during the 70s and 80s. Tragically, because no mapping exists for where the mines were placed and effectively tracking bombs dropped from the sky it a bit of a challenge, the only way these death traps are discovered is when something trips one. Cambodia has one of the highest rates of amputees in the world, all as a result of these accidental discoveries. APOPO is a Belgium non-profit training African Giant Pouched Rats to sniff out TNT.
In 30 minutes just one of these critters can search an area the size of a tennis court. It can take manual deminers with metal detectors up to four days to clear a similar-sized area as scrap metal hampers the progress. It is a daunting task as the Cambodian Mine Action Centre estimates there are at least four to six million mines and unexploded ordnance still lurking in the soil. The Visitor Centre offers tours throughout the day – $10 US/pp ($13.50 CAD) and although the website says you need to book ahead, we just showed up and it wasn’t an issue. APOPO is not just working in Cambodia, they are also clearing mines in Angola, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Vietnam, and Laos. The program is fascinating and it’s not just demining that is making use of these highly-trained super sniffers. If a rat fails at TNT sniffing school their skills can still be put to use to detect tuberculosis in developing countries where lab testing of sputum often fails to identify TB-positive patients.
Us – We found Siem Reap just as enchanting as our first visit in 2017, and particularly enjoyed seeing many of the lesser-known temples. During our first visit we were taken around to the temples in the back of an air-conditioned vehicle. It was so much more fun to parade around the Park in a remorque – we felt a bit like royalty in a carriage. Off to Kampot, our last stop in Cambodia!
Restaurants – Siem Reap caters to tourists, which is very obvious in the selection of restaurants. Every cuisine imaginable is available, and while we only sampled a few of them we understand from others that the results are generally very tasty. Pub Street, which is sleepy and unassuming during the day, is party central when the sun sets, and a good percentage of these international restaurants are found on or near it.
Of the establishments we did patronize, none of which were on Pub Street, our favourites were:
- Sambo: Khmer and Thai cuisine;
- Little Red Fox Espresso Cafe;
- Golden Pumpkin: Khmer cuisine;
- Natraj Indian Restaurant: offers complimentary appetizers and dessert (poppadoms which are bits of fried black gram bean flour and gulab jamun which looks and tastes a bit like a teeny tiny Timbit swimming in sugary syrup); and
- Primetime Pizza: Pub Food – we ordered through Grab Food delivery after a hot day touring temples when we couldn’t bear the thought of leaving our air-conditioned Airbnb again.
Speech – Fortunately, given how challenging the Khmer language is to master, everyone with whom we interacted spoke enough English that we never had any difficulty getting our message across when our needs went beyond these basics.
- Soo sdai – Hello (and should be accompanied by a sampeah (a small bow with hands pressed together in prayer);
- Lee-hi – Goodbye;
- Bah – Yes (male) / Chaa – Yes (female);
- Aw-dteh – No;
- Suom – Please;
- Aw-koon – Thank you / Aw-koon che-rahn – Thank you very much (again accompanied by a sampeah);
- Tah nyek neeyay preesah ahng-lat-tay – Do you speak English?
- Suom ket loy – the check please (in a restaurant);
- Suom-toe – Sorry or Excuse me.
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