SIEM REAP ITINERARY:

What to do:

Angkor Wat: The largest religious monument in the world. This 12th century Hindu temple sprawls in every direction and is an emblem of Khmer classic architecture. Be wary of the trash-eating monkeys that guard the entrance.
Ta Prohm: Perhaps my favorite temple we visited, this one is an old Buddhist monastery and university known for the way nature interacts with architecture. Tree roots thicker than myself wrap their way up and over stone walls like they’re consuming the last marks of humanity on earth - it’s absolutely awe-inspiring. Try the echo chambers and be on the lookout for what appears to be a dinosaur carving in the stone.
Bayon Temple: The temple known for having 40 ornate towers each with the same enormous smiling face looking out in the all directions.
Angkor Thom: The last capital of the Khmer empire after Angkor Wat was sacked. We didn’t go inside to visit, but instead admired the gates and moat outside of it.
Terrace of the Elephants: An additional stop we made per the recommendation of our guide. This particular spot features the remains of a temple where the king would view his returning army. It is named as such because of a wall with carvings of elephants.

What to eat:

Banana blossom salad
Amok - yellow curry fish

Where we stayed:

Palm Village Resort and Spa - $38/night - The staff there were exceptionally friendly and greeted us with a plate of beautiful fresh fruit upon our arrival.

ANGKOR WAT

SIEM REAP ‘17

So apparently you can’t leave Cambodia within 24 hours of arriving. We didn’t discover this until we were at the airport heading to catch our plane. Let me back up and tell the story.

Lauren and I only had a short time to travel in SE Asia. We originally wanted to go to Thailand and Vietnam, but our research on Vietnam made us realize we would need at least two weeks to do everything we wanted to do and the flights to Vietnam rose dramatically. So, I scanned the map, and Cambodia caught my eye immediately. The flights from Thailand were unbelievably cheap too, so right then, we booked our flights for an early morning arrival and an evening departure the same day, giving us time to visit the spectacular Angkor Wat of Siem Reap.

I first learned about Angkor Wat when I was in college and it instantly became a dream of mine to visit the temples of Siem Reap. I even had a picture of Angkor Thom hanging at my desk at my call center job that I stared at while working. Angkor Wat is expansive but I still had two other temples I wanted to visit. I figured I could do all of that in 24 hours if I planned it out well. My thinking was this: I could die next year and I’d be damned if I didn’t get to set eyes on this masterpiece. So we set out to visit: Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom, and Ta Prohm. It’s recommended to spend at least a full week admiring all that is in this area, but we made extreme use of our time.

Our plan of attack involved the following:

Buy a single night stay at a resort near the airport so we could drop off our stuff for the day and have a place to rest and clean up quickly before heading back out on the plane. The hotels were super affordable and for us having our stuff safe from monkeys and not crammed into an open Jeep, it seemed like a good deal. You could do without for certain - this was a luxury.
We also hired a driver to take us exactly where we wanted to go for 8 hours.

We ended up being so efficient with our plan, that the driver even had time to suggest a few other places along the way!

Cambodia was a different world to me altogether. When we landed, there was no one at customs to check us through. We simply landed, walked through an unoccupied area, and then boom - we were in Cambodia. I was so used to the extravagant bureaucracy of places like America and France. I almost felt like I was doing something wrong, like I’d snuck in. In just 24 hours there though, we were absolutely mesmerized by the majesty of Siem Reap: the intricate bas reliefs in the temples, the immense grounds where once stood bustling cities. It was just a taste, but I know I’ll be back.

When we returned to the airport, I noticed the man who checked my passport seemed a bit aloof and I remember wondering if he really even looked at it. He waved me through. Then, Lauren was next. I was waiting for a few minutes longer when I looked back to see Lauren nervously pointing my direction and back at her passport. I headed back over. “But you let her through...” she said to the man. His superior came over and they spoke amongst each other. The other man said “You can’t come to Cambodia in one day and leave the same day.” “I don’t know what we’re going to do then. We have a plane to catch.” I replied. He then looked at his colleague and sheepishly motioned us through like he was breaking a rule. We made it, but barely, it seemed.