This weekend, we were off to Siem Reap, Cambodia for a quick two night mini-holiday! We left early in the morning and arrived at the border shortly before it opened. This turned out to be very lucky, as within two minutes of us arriving, the area was swamped with people heading into Cambodia. 

Despite being there early and having had everything organized, it still took over two hours to get all twelve of us through the border checks (1300 Baht was the cost of the visa, for those who are wondering)! After the border it was a relatively uneventful two and a half hour drive to the city of Siem Reap. Upon arriving, we were amazed at how touristy and almost Western it was! We quickly checked into our hotel, the King’s Boutique and stepped out onto the street to look for lunch.

 Lo and behold, within two minutes of walking, we found a honest-to-goodness pizza parlour. This may seem like not a big deal to you, but for someone who hasn’t had pizza in nearly a month, and whose diet typically consists of approximately forty percent pizza, it felt like seeing a mirage in a desert. To make things even better, the billboard outside read “Buy One, Get One for $1”. So my large pizza and pint of beer ended up costing me only about $4. Words cannot describe the joy that is seeing a waitress walk to you with a cheesy, bubbly, saucy pizza. 

After lunch, we scheduled our sunrise tour of Angkor Wat for the next day at our hotel. I cannot recommend the King’s Boutique hotel enough. There was a pool, air conditioning, and the most helpful staff I’ve ever encountered. They organized our tickets, Tuk tuks and provided restaurant recommendations in five minutes flat. 

After a quiet afternoon relaxing by the pool (beer in hand, obviously), we got ready and headed out for the evening. We headed towards the Night Market and found some of the best deals and all of the touristy presents you could ever imagine (head here after 6pm to catch most of the stores and to beat the heat). There was so much to choose from, it was almost overwhelming. However, I finished all of my gift shopping in one place, which is pretty hard to top! We continued walking down the street after the market and came upon what I have dubbed “Spa Alley”. One hour massages, pedicures, manicures, anything you can imagine for about $1 on average. A few people in our group decided to try out the fish that eat the dead skin off of feet which sounds like a literal nightmare to me, but apparently was very good! 

Once we got our fill of Spa Alley, we continued on to Pub Street, which is, as you can probably guess, a street filled with pubs and some of the best drink deals. Most bars offered a free shot to anyone who “Checked In” on Facebook, and cocktails that were 3 for 2. I’ve discovered that if you pay more than fifty cents for a beer in Siem Reap, you are, quite simply, doing it wrong. The first place we checked out was the Temple Bar which is three levels, the top of which is a rooftop bar with a live band and a pool. The bottom of which is potentially the best rave I have ever been exposed too. 

Though it was hard to drag ourselves away, we knew we had to wake up at 4am the next day to catch our tuk tuks, so we reluctantly headed back to the hotel. 

On Saturday morning we were up literally before the crack of dawn and driving to Angkor Wat. I would definitely recommend getting there as early as possible, as the gates open at 5am and it was absolutely packed by 4:45. The ticket is $37 USD (everything is in USD in Cambodia) and included entrance into most of the other temples in the area. We rushed and managed to catch the most breathtaking thing I have ever seen in my life: the sun rising over one of the man-made wonders of the world. Truly a humbling experience, I believe that no picture can possibly do the view justice (although that didn’t stop me from trying). 

After picking our jaws up off of the floor from the sunrise, we began to wander Angkor Wat and it’s surrounding temples. The worksmamship and detail in these temples is amazing in itself, let alone the fact that these structures were built during the 11th or 12th century (we didn’t pay for a tour guide). Our tuk tuk driver drove us between all of the temples, and we ended our tour with a stop at the temple where they filmed Tomb Raider which was amazing! 

We were done our tours by 10am and I cannot stress the importance of getting to Angkor Wat as early as you possibly can. I LOVE  the heat, but by 9:30 am it was unbearably hot to be walking around. 

For our final night in Siem Reap, we decided to go to the circus, which is put on by members of the Khmer community who come from terrible social backgrounds and who have experienced extreme poverty. The school they attend for free teaches them performing  and classical arts, while additionally providing homes, meals and life skills. Their story was amazing, but their performance was even more so. The ticket and tuk tuk cost $20 and was worth every single cent! 

After the circus we decided to head out for one more night on Pub Street with some $1.50 mojitos. My only regret from this amazing country is that I wasn’t able to stay longer. 

But don’t worry, I’ll be back!