A Short Stay in Cambodia

When planning our trip to Southeast Asia, Neil and I had a few countries in mind that we both wanted to visit. After we decided on the major destinations, we went back and forth a bit about whether or not to include Cambodia, specifically Siem Reap. As an avid Tripadvisor user, I spent a few hours looking through reviews for both the UNESCO World Heritage site Angkor Wat itself and where to stay. A quick internet image search will inform you that the temples are beautiful, but you can never imagine how massive and detailed they are until you get the chance to see them in person. Nearly all sources I read indicated that a one day visit was enough to see Angkor Wat as well as a few other temples, so we sprung for the airfare to get from Phu Quoc, Vietnam to Siem Reap connecting through Ho Chi Minh City.

Another quick internet search will reveal that hotels in Siem Reap are incredibly reasonable. At first, I wasn’t sure if I was misreading something but, our 5-star hotel, Angkor Miracle Resort and Spa, was less than $70USD per night. The reviews I found online were numerous and glowing, so we booked a room and were ready to see what Cambodia had to offer.

Upon arrival to the airport, you have to go through the visa process. Prior to arrival, you should bring a passport-sized photo of yourself to speed along the application time. Then, you simply fill out the customs and immigration forms, pay the $30USD fee, and then wait for the officers to file it. The entire process took less than 15 minutes.

We were greeted just outside the airport doors by a driver from Angkor Miracle Resort. He helped us with our bags and we were off! As we pulled up to the hotel, I remember thinking that it looked nice from the exterior, but not amazing. It’s large, but not anything I would have called beautiful or stunning. However, once we entered the lobby, there was ample audible usage of both of those words. The attention to detail was incredible, with a complimentary cocktail alongside a warm towel as you approached the desk . There were beautiful displays of floating plumeria in tall vases that had impeccable patterns to their colors. The gorgeous decor of the massive lobby made for a very welcoming sight after the extraordinary effort to get there.

After we were quickly checked in, another hotel employee walked us to our room with our bags. The room we had chosen, the Copa Cabana Pool Access King, was on the first floor, with the patio exiting the room right onto the deck of the saltwater pool. The room itself was spacious with a king bed, desk with chair, and a couch inside, along with a very cool swinging bed right outside the sliding doors on the patio. The bathroom was clean and bright with a full shower and plenty of room for us to dry out our Exofficio undergarments. A lovely fruit arrangement was waiting for us on the coffee table and the space was nicely equipped with technology for the light and temperature controls.

We decided to try out the hotel food that evening but stopped by the bar and lounge area first. There we met several friendly and hospitable employees who we chatted with while enjoying the awesome buy one, get one free happy hour drink specials. Neil had a ‘Rainbow Margarita’ which was a flight of 4 colorful and tasty margaritas. I had a tropical smoothie that was also delicious. Do note that we had to get the same drink twice for the buy one, get one deal, but it was so worth it! And, if you’re wondering if Neil drank two flights of margaritas himself—he absolutely did.

As we went into the main restaurant on the property, we were quickly taken to a table and given English menus. Oh! The entire country of Cambodia operates on a dual currency with one being USD, so that didn’t require conversions which was a nice break after having to do that for the greater part of two weeks already. We ordered two dishes that evening, but I can only remember one—Beef Lok Lak. Several other cultures have similar dishes, but having never had it before, Neil and I devoured the beef served over lettuce, along side an egg over rice, with a lime and black pepper dipping sauce on the side. Since returning home, I’ve made a version of it several times, and every time we think of this night in Siem Reap.

We used the time during dinner to game plan the following day’s travel to the temples. When it comes to local transportation we have always had good luck consulting the hotel concierge. After dinner, we chatted with the concierge, who mentioned that there are always tuk-tuk drivers waiting outside the hotel in the morning, and we could hire one for the day. We agreed to hire a driver for $40USD for the entire day and planned to get up early to hit the road.

Breakfast was included in the price of the hotel room and it was far from any domestic continental breakfast I have ever seen. The buffet was incredible. From traditional American fare of yogurt, fruit, cereal, and oatmeal, to the traditional Asian fare of pho, pastries, and vegetables, everything was great. I really do love buffets for the ability to get to try something without springing for the cost of an entire dish. We were able to try some different jellied fruits and stir-fried dishes that I would never had the chance to otherwise.

After breakfast, as promised, we were greeted with several tuk-tuk drivers ready to take us to Angkor Wat. We were able to communicate with ours in limited English, but still had a great time with him. This was our first tuk-tuk of the trip and it was quite an experience! It is a bit dirty to have the air blowing through your hair and all over your face, but most tuk-tuks will have shields you can roll down if it bothers you. In order to get to Angkor Wat, first we had to buy tickets for the day, which, at about $35USD per adult, is completely reasonable considering how much ground you can cover on that ticket. Also, be sure to keep track of this ticket since there are guards at many temples who expect you to have it. The day pass allows you to leave and come back at your leisure, which works out really well since Siem Reap can have the tendency of getting hot and humid. A midday break to recharge is highly advisable. We bought a guide book from a seller at the admissions center, which definitely aided our understanding of what we were looking at throughout the day, resulting in another good $15USD spent.

Angkor Wat is a religious site, which means there are a few rules to keep in mind when visiting. Both men’s and women’s shoulders and legs need to be covered, which for us meant breaking in our newly acquired elephant pants. Also there were monks praying throughout the temples. It is requested that you not take photographs of them without asking, or making a donation first, so keep that in mind when you visit Angkor Wat. Neil and I walked around for quite a bit, climbing up different towers to see views of the surrounding other temples. Our driver waited for us at every temple the entire day! After the second temple, Angkor Thom, which included some monkey and elephant sightings, Neil was in need of a new iPhone charger, so he was able to communicate this and the driver took us to get one on the way to lunch. We asked the driver to join us for lunch, where he was the one who ordered Beef Lok Lak. I had a noodle dish of some kind which was delicious. Again, super easy to pay for the with USD!

After lunch, we visited more of the temples in the complex as it began to rain. The last temple we visited, Ta Prohm, is extremely large and has two sides where you could enter or exit. However, we didn’t learn this until the end of our visit. We had agreed to meet our driver back at the same place he dropped us off, but as we were walking through the temple in the rain and mud, we managed to get turned around. Thankfully, we were able to ask another driver for his cell phone to call our driver (he had given us his business card earlier in the day) and the two were able to figure out where we were. At this point, due to the heavy rain, our newly purchased white and red elephant pants were bleeding their red dye all over our shirts and shoes and we were ready to return back to the hotel. We graciously thanked our driver and said we’d call him if we wanted to go out again.

Upon returning to the hotel, we rushed to our room to clean up so we could use the included 15 minute foot massage coupon at the spa before it closed for the day. After a long day walking around the temple complex the foot massage felt incredible. Exhausted, we decided to pick up meals at the coffee bar for dinner and go to bed, also having to get up early the following morning for our next flight.

We were shuttled back to the airport the next morning without issue. While in Southeast Asia, I would recommend this quick stop-over to anyone who has never been to Siem Reap. Comparatively, the flight was a bit pricey for a regional route. That said, at a total cost of about $600USD, it was completely worth the Angkor experience, even in the rain and our red-dye stained elephant pants!