Siem Reap, Cambodia and Angkor Wat

I had heard a lot about both Siem Reap and Angkor Wat before my arrival. What I heard was usually along the lines of, "Angkor will blow your mind, Siem Reap is just how you get there." That is true but misleading. Angkor Wat blew my mind and Siem Reap is how I got there. However, Siem Reap is how you get there but that is not all it is. Siem Reap is a servicable town with a happening night life that would attract people independent of Angkor Wat, though the tourist attraction of Angkor Wat certainly helps the nightlife of Siem Reap. Admittedly, other than the nightlife, Siem Reap does not have a lot to offer, but to say that is nothing other than where you sleep after exploring the temples of Angkor is unfair. For example, almost as soon as I arrived I met a girl that had been in Siem Reap for two weeks and not gone to see the temples yet and was leaving the following day. Small sample size, I know, but still.

In Siem Reap I stayed at the backpacker staple Garden Village Guesthouse. With dorm beds for US$1 and inexpensive draft beer, it is designed to attract backpackers and does so successfully. The dorm I stayed in was a room longer than it was wide with beds on either side seperated into pairs by walls. However, only a sheet seperated each room from the hallway in the middle making for a less than secure environment. I left my valuables with reception (which I usually do not do because I try my door lock more than a human being). Garden Village did its job so I was pleased.

Admittance to the temples is expensive. There are three options: a one day pass for US$20, three days for US$40, or US$60 for seven days. Multiple day passes can be used on nonconsecutive days over a week and month, respectively. Some people expect to love the temples and buy the seven day pass thinking it is a good value but get sick of the sights after an hour. The opposite also happens; somebody expects not to care for the temples but fall in love with it at the US$20 pass is all the sudden the first day of a month-long temple marathon.

I opted for the three day pass thinking that if I get sick of exploring after an hour or a day then I only wasted US$20 and if I decide to use two or all three days I either break even or come out ahead. I was not willing to spend seven-plus days here no matter how much I liked it just because I need to move on with my travels. I made the right decision. The first two days were really good and I used the third day as a half day to see some of the temples that are not in the central area. I saw enough for me and would have been dissatisfied with only one day and bored with more than four days.

The temples are pretty amazing but, as with the pyramids in Egypt, words cannot really describe them. That said, I found the "main" temple, Angkor Wat (the temples together are called Angkor Wat and there is a specific temple/area called Angkor Wat), was somewhat disapointing. It was still good, but it had been built up too much. The chied reason it is considered the "main" temple is how well it is preserved, but the temple itself is lesser, to me, than several other temples. I enjoyed several other temples considerably more.

On that final, half-day, I went out to some of the outlying temples, specifically the Rolous Group. To be honest, the temples of the Rolous Group are less than spectacular, particualarly after visiting the other temples, but one of, if not the most, memorable experiences from Cambodia took place here. The plan was to watch the sunset from atop the chief temple in the Group, Bakong. Because the Rolous Group was less than I expected, I arrived at Bakong with more than an hour to kill before the sunset. At the same time a local school had just gotten out and the kids were passing through the area. After the normal "Hello"-"Hello" exchange, the showed me to a tree from where the branches are flexible and strong enough to swing from. Of course, I indulged and it was good fun. The they showed me to the water where we threw stray branches at the overhanging fruit and I successfully knocked some down for them. Outside of "Hello" there was almost no verbal exchange given their level of English and my level of Khmer, but lots was understood despite this barriar.

All in all, Siem Reap and Angkor Wat will be one of the highlights of Cambodia. However, this is true for just about everybody that visits these places as Angkor is the main draw of Cambodia.