Statistics
Days: 13. We arrived in Cambodia on April 14 and departed on April 27.
Cities: 2. Siem Reap and Battambang.
Apartment Rentals: 0.
Hotels/Hostels: 3. Ivy Guesthouse and Koh Rong Hostel in Siem Reap and Royal Hotel in Battambang.
Modes of Transportation: 5. Taxi, shuttle van, tuk-tuk, electric bike, walking.
It was challenging piling all of our bags into a tuk-tuk for our ride to the airport, but we made it work!
Q&A
What was your favorite site or place that you visited?
J: Angkor Wat itself was very cool, but being able to tour more of the complex was neat to see the different types of structures, themes, and types of buildings. It was really interesting!
L: While I enjoyed seeing the popular temples like Angkor Wat and Bayon, my favorite places were the lesser-known and quieter temples in the countryside. I loved getting to explore with hardly anyone else around; it felt like we were alone in the jungle discovering new spots that no one else has seen.
We had the less popular temples nearly all to ourselves, like Banteay Kdei.
What was the biggest surprise you had during this time?
J: A cockroach flying into my face at 2am…that was not a good surprise!
L: How hot it was and how much it affected us. We had been following summer our entire trip and had been in some hot climates, but this was the first time that we were so affected by it. Especially during our first week in Siem Reap, where we didn’t have air conditioning in our room, the heat and humidity were so bad that we either stayed in cafes all afternoon or laid on our beds under the fan wearing next to nothing and sweating.
I carried a sarong with me everywhere, so I could use as a skirt for impromptu visits to temples (such as Wat Bo in Siem Reap) or as a shawl to keep the heat off my neck and arms.
What was the lowest point for this part of the trip?
J: The heat and humidity. It was sweltering unrelentlessly and the fact that we didn’t have A/C in our first room in Siem Reap made it unbearable.
L: Our first afternoon in Siem Reap, I ended up crying at the ATM all because Jon asked me how much money we should withdraw. I was frustrated because of our room situation, hot, hungry, and feeling overwhelmed having just arrived in a new country. Luckily, he understood and we quickly went to a Chinese restaurant with air conditioning to get something to eat and relax. I was fine after that, but still feel bad for snapping at him at that ATM!
What was your favorite food or meal that you had?
J: As a whole, I wasn’t blown away by the Khmer cuisine. I thought the best food that we had was at The Temple Café, where we had a western-style breakfast on Easter. It may also be because we had come from Thailand where I loved the food so much.
L: Fish amok! This is a popular Cambodian dish of a fish curry that is steamed in a banana leaf, then served with rice. I had been eyeing this on menus while in Siem Reap and finally decided to try it one evening; I’m glad I did! This quickly became my go-to dish when ordering in local restaurants and I wish I could find somewhere in the US to have it again!
Once I tried it, I ordered the fish amok every opportunity possible!
What would you change if you were to do it again?
J: Get a hotel or hostel room with air conditioning!
L: Two things – first, I would have not made the mistake with our room in Siem Reap. I had mistakenly booked a room with only a ceiling fan – no air conditioning. It ended up being pretty miserable and in addition to the stuffiness, we also had a cockroach fly into Jon’s face one night while we were sleeping. That made for an interesting wake-up! The second is that I would have stayed longer and explored more of Cambodia. We had planned two weeks in Cambodia and six weeks in Vietnam. In hindsight, I would have switched those around since we loved Cambodia so much more than Vietnam!
There’s more to Siem Reap than just Angkor Wat, like watching the sun set at the night market.
What advice would you give someone doing a similar trip and route?
J: Take a few days to see and tour the Angkor complex. Rather than trying to do too much in one day, spread it out over a few days and give yourself time off between sightseeing to relax and rejuvenate. Buy either the 3- or 5-day pass and make sure to spend time and visit the smaller, lesser-known temples as well because they are just as interesting as Angkor Wat.
L: Be prepared for the heat and don’t try to plan too much to do in one day. While we could have seen a lot more temples and museums in Siem Reap, we spent a lot of time relaxing in cafes and taking walks when the temperature cooled down. We were tired after four or five hours of touring temples each day, so I can’t imagine how drained we would have felt if we tried to go all day without breaks!
Iced coffees were our go-to in both Thailand and Cambodia for a quick pick-me-up and cool-me-down!
What is the best memory that you’ll carry with you?
J: A cockroach flying at my face at 2am… While it was surprising at the time, it’s the thing I always remember of our time in Cambodia! To me, that’s part of living in Asia. It was harmless, but not a fun way to wake up at the time! Sometimes, it’s the little things that you remember!
L: Walking through the corridors of the uncrowded temples with just Jon. There were many times when we felt like we were the only people at some of the sites and it was so much fun to be all alone with these majestic structures. Since many have parts still in ruin, this is the closest that I’ve felt to what the explorers who “discovered” places like Angkor Wat and Machu Picchu felt before tourism took hold. If it weren’t for the heat, I could have easily doubled the time we spent exploring temples and not gotten tired of it.
One of our worst rooms ever – stuffy, humid, and complete with a pet cockroach. One thing’s for sure – we’ll never forget it!
Want to read more?
Read about our time in Cambodia…