Backpacking Asia: High in Siem Reap

Cambodia, a country on the Indochinese mainland of Southeast Asia. It is a home to two UNESCO World Heritage Sites both showing remnants of a powerful empire gone through time. And just recently, I had the chance to explore one of these ancient wonders. Honestly, no word can best describe the grandeur of this temple ruins. But before I take you there, let me share with you the experiences I had in my short 2-Day stay at Cambodia’s tourist hub – Siem Reap.

Siem Reap was the last destination in my four-city backpacking trip in Indochina. I reached this city through a tourist bus departing from Khao San in Bangkok. It was a long 9 hours night trip. The bus left Bangkok at around 12 MN. We were just 8 people in the bus including the driver and the tourist assistant. It was convenient, the seats can be adjusted in such a way that you can lay your back and have a good sleep while you are traveling. It was 7 AM when we arrived at the Cambodia border. The tourist assistant did all the VISA works (except for me, coz Filipinos don’t need VISA for Cambodia). No hassle, and safe for travelers as scammers won’t have a chance to get to you.

At exactly 9AM I arrived at the city proper of Siem Reap. To my surprise, the Tuktuk driver was already at the drop off area holding a letter size bond paper with my name on it. He was on time! After a brief introduction to each other, he took me to the hostel where I was booked for the night. While traveling we were discussing on what to do and where to go in Siem Reap. I overhauled my itinerary and just do whatever my tour guide suggested. A decision I never regretted.

Tonle Sap Great Lake

Immediately I went on exploring the area.

First on our itinerary for the day is the Great Tonle Sap Lake. It is the largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia. And it is famous for its charming local communities and their floating villages. It is a little bit far from the city thus it will consume half of your day. The entire Tonle Sap tour will cost you 25 USD. With this rate, you can have the entire boat all for yourself.

After 20 minutes of boat ride, I had a first glimpse of Chong Khneas village. The Chong Kneas are the floating inhabitants of Tonle Sap. This community rely on the lake’s abundance for food and survival. But as the number of tourists ascended, they have found other means of earning like selling souvenir items and as tour guides.

Another interesting inhabitant of Tonle Sap are the people in Kompong Phluk village. They live in a flooded forest in the lake. I had a great experience learning about their lives and exploring the area while guided in a rowing boat by a Khmer woman.

Only women are allowed to work as tour guides or rowers.

I found the tour enervating basically because I was afraid that any time soon an anaconda or a crocodile will come out of the water right into our row boat. So, I decided to stop over a floating restaurant for an exotic gastro experience. I ordered crocodile meat but unfortunately, they were out stock. But good thing they had beer. A local beer. It never fails.

Majority of Khmer people are Buddhist by Faith. Thus, Buddhist temples can be found everywhere in the country.

And monks as well. And those who are still training and waiting to be ordained as monk.

The War Museum

Next on my itinerary was the War Museum in Siem Reap. It has the largest collection of war machineries, jet fighters, helicopters, field artillery, bombs and ammunition. It was almost closing time when I got there, and they just let me be as carefree as I can playing with these war toys. But of course, I was extra careful as some of the bombs are still active. I did not just pose alongside with the tanks, I climbed and even get inside of these machines.

The war museum has a collection of photos and stories about Cambodia. If you really want to learn, then you read all those. In my case, I got fascinated by the war junks that I did not notice they were already closing.

Wat Preah Prom Rath

We headed back to the center of the city for our next stop. The Tuktuk driver insisted that I also visit this modern Buddhist temple. Located by the river, this Buddhist temple is splendid and is comparable in beauty with those magnificent ones that you can find in Bangkok. It has an array of colorful temple complex and gardens decorated with Buddha’s and other Buddhist sculptures. You will also see a lot of Monks roaming around the area.

This temple complex makes a fascinating contrast to that of Cambodia’s main attraction. There was not much tourist when I was there, I guess it was only me and my travel buddy who were busy taking photos. However, I have noticed a lot of locals praying and some just enjoying the serenity in the gardens.

I have seen a lot of quotes and phrases posted everywhere in the area but there is one that caught my attention. It reads.

“May the followers of Buddhism at Wat Preah Prohm Rath and all our dear friends be blessed with longevity, good health, happiness, positive energy and right understanding.”

And these are everything that we need in life.

It was a perfect day-ender for my first day in Siem Reap. We planned to sleep early and regain energy for Angkor Wat but our struggle to find a good place to have dinner led us to something high and high and… high.

Night Life in Siem Reap

Siem Reap, being the closest city to the famous Angkor Wat, is the most touristy in all of Cambodia. And therefore, night life is as lively as ever. Bar, restaurants and night markets are filled with curious travelers and tourists looking for some night out fun. And most of the locals are conversant in English. You will never have a hard time communicating with them. Also, aside from their official currency – Cambodian Riel, the US Dollar is widely used and accepted everywhere.

Did you know that Cannabis can legally be use as ingredient in Khmer cuisine? Me, I have tried it first-hand only that it was a Pizza, absolutely not a Khmer food. We ordered for a whole 12-inches happy pizza. For just 12 USD, you will be guaranteed of a happy night.

It is always better with a can of beer.

What happened next that night is something I would like to keep in private. But one thing certain, I was high.

Angkor Wat Complex

And the next day, finally at Cambodia’s Pride – The Angkor Wat Complex. Angkor Wat is a Khmer word that translates to “City of Temples”. True to its name, it is the largest temple complex and religious monument in the world. It is so large that you would be needing more than 1 day if you want to visit all the temples in the complex. It combines two basic plans of Khmer temple architecture, the temple-mountain and the galleried temple. I only have visited the most popular ones in this group. And that alone is more than enough to be awestruck with its beauty. It is out of this Earth!

I feel so honored to be standing in front of the ruins of what is considered to be a wonder of this world. I could not help myself but be curious how on Earth did those people from the ancient times built these structures.

Even in ruins you can see how magnificent these temples are.

I intended to do a “Temple Run”, but the security guards were so strict. They won’t even let you stand on the debris.

I first knew about Angkor Wat from the movie The Tomb Raider. It is as amazingly wonderful as depicted in movies. Most of the relics are already taken and kept in Museums in Vietnam, like the big Buddha head inside of giant roots.

Nowadays, there are still a lot of Monks who visit Angkor Wat to pray and meditate.
A fun fact about Angkor Wat: 6,000 is the estimated number of elephants used to build Angkor Wat. Now, you can still see many elephants use to carry tourists exploring the temple complex.

Angkor Wat is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

TIPS TO CONSIDER:

Where To Stay:
* Central Hostel
7 Makara St., 855 Cambodia
3 USD per person per night. Check on Hostelworld.com for more details.

Tour Guide:
* Nasa
Whatsapp ID: +85517332270
Email address: [email protected]

Budget:
* In my case as a budgetarian, I spent around 120 USD all-in-all in 2 days.

This is all for now folks. On my next posts, I will be featuring 3 more Southeast Asia destinations. Please do follow me and upvote my posts.

Regards,

@jhezontheroad