If you're thinking of visiting Angkor Wat, you'll want to be based in Siem Reap. Photo / Getty Images
Thinking of visiting Angkor Wat? Then you’ll almost certainly be based in Siem Reap, Cambodia’s charming gateway city to the temples, writes Mark Daffey.
The magnificent Angkor temples were built by successive dynasties over a 500-year period when the Khmer civilisation ruled vast tracts of Southeast Asia. For centuries following the empire’s inevitable demise, they remained neglected, hidden beneath tangled jungle vines and barely recognisable. Now protected by Unesco’s World Heritage listing, they easily rank as Cambodia’s premier tourist attraction and can be found sprinkled among the farmlands and towering forests surrounding Siem Reap.
The dry season, from November to March, is the optimum time to visit Cambodia, or the Angkor temples specifically. Peak time is during the months of December and January, coinciding with the Christmas holiday period in many parts of the world. This is also when daytime temperatures are most agreeable. But if you’re hoping to wander through the temples on your own, reconsider your timing; they can be swamped with visitors during these busy months.
April and May can be unbearably hot, ahead of the monsoon, or green, season that lasts from June to October – the quietest time to visit. On the flip side, hotel prices may be lower then, with fewer crowds jostling for elbow room among the temples. With the rains come cooler temperatures too.
At the time of writing, direct international flights connected Siem Reap to Bangkok, Singapore, Ho Chi Minh, Hanoi, Da Nang and Pakse. Domestic flights depart from the capital, Phnom Penh, and the coastal city of Sihanoukville.
Fast ferries also travel up the Tonle Sap River from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap, while road improvements in recent years have made the commute north from the capital far more bearable than the slow, bone-jarring ride it once was.
Most nationalities require a tourist visa to enter Cambodia. Visas costing US$36 (US dollars only), including a US$6 processing fee, are valid for 30 days and expire 90 days after their issue date. They can be applied for online or on arrival at Siem Reap Airport, where you’ll also need one passport photo. Proof of Covid-19 vaccination or tests are no longer required.
Siem Reap was little more than a backwoods village when French explorers rediscovered Angkor during the 19th century. It’s now one of the fastest-growing cities in the country with a population topping 250,000.
Flowing through the middle of town and lined with beautiful parklands is the Siem Reap River. Cambodians come here to exercise, socialise or sit along the banks with a fishing rod in hand. Pass the royal family’s summer palace, 14th-century pagodas, French colonial buildings, market stalls and covered bridges.
Right next door to the Royal Residence is the FCC Angkor by Avani hotel. Once the elegant mansion of the French colonial governor, then later the Foreign Correspondents’ Club, vintage typewriters and framed front pages of regional newspapers now decorate each guest room and suite. Its central location and understated luxury make this hotel an ideal base from which to explore the town and temples.
Upon settling in, one easy way to set your compass is by joining a themed tour with Taste. Options include food and drink tours to hidden bars and restaurants, cocktail crawls, shopping jaunts and discovering Siem Reap’s considerable arts scene.
The jewel in the Khmer civilisation’s glittering crown is undoubtedly Angkor Wat, the world’s largest religious monument. Surrounded by a moat more than five kilometres long, its highlights include the Bakan, the holy sanctuary symbolising Mt Meru, the mythical abode of the Hindu gods, and stone galleries depicting gods and demons and more than 1000 Apsara dancers.
Angkor Wat is located six kilometres north of Siem Reap. During visits, be sure to dress conservatively by covering bare shoulders and legs. “Buddha don’t like sexy,” warned one taxi driver while we drove from the airport to my hotel.
Day tickets allow entry to the Angkor Archaeological Park and cost US$37 (NZ$60) per person or US$62 (NZ$101) for three days, payable in Cambodian riels or US dollars. More than 1000 temples are spread across an area measuring 400 square kilometres.
Of those, Angkor Thom was the last to be built, adjacent to Angkor Wat. Meaning “Big City”, it is an enormous ensemble of temples, terraces and towers bundled inside a stone wall 12 kilometres long. Five gated entrances (the South Gate is the best preserved) guard the multi-headed towers of the Bayon, the three-tiered temple of Baphuon and the Terrace of the Elephants on which members of the royal family sat when their victorious armies returned from battle.
The giant banyan trees wrapping their tentacled roots around Ta Prohm’s crumbling walls and towers make this temple a firm favourite among visitors. Otherwise known as the “Tomb Raider temple” for the starring role it played in Hollywood’s cinematic interpretation of the video game two decades ago, it can get busy late each morning or during the early afternoon hours after the tour buses have visited Angkor Wat or Angkor Thom. Come as soon as possible after dawn though and it’s a completely different experience. If you’re lucky, you may have the temple to yourself.
They are the three temple complexes frequented most. Others include Preah Khan, which is believed to have been a medical university. A popular place to watch the sunset over Angkor Wat is from atop the pyramidal Phnom Bakheng. Bantaey Srei is a little removed from the main temple complexes, preventing large tour groups from making the effort to travel out to it. Unlike most others, it’s made from red sandstone.
After Vietnamese invaders sent brutal Khmer Rouge dictators fleeing to the jungle in the late 1970s, eight young Cambodians who’d been in a refugee camp on the Thai border established a school for visual and performing arts. Circus skills were incorporated into the school curriculum, leading to the creation of Phare – an edgy, alternative, musical Cambodian circus that’s like a scaled-down version of Cirque du Soleil.
Shows follow a different theme each week and are staged across three nights during low season or daily during peak periods. The circus is located on Ring Rd, 10 minutes from the town centre. Tickets for the hour-long performances start from US$18 (NZ$29.50). Book online, through your hotel or at the door.
Like with castles and cathedrals in Europe, you can get templed out in Cambodia, particularly with children in tow. Luckily, Siem Reap isn’t a one-trick pony.
Jungled forests surround the temples of Angkor, helping to explain how they managed to remain hidden for centuries. Gibbons swing through the treetops like graceful acrobats in these parts and it’s possible to spot them during zipline tours with Siem Reap Angkor Zipline lasting up to three hours. Without a doubt, it’s a fun way to spend an afternoon.
Tuk-tuks are the predominant mode of transport used to get around Siem Reap. But an alternative, entertaining means on which to explore the countryside is through quad bike tours that motor through rice fields to some of the region’s lesser-known temples.
For a cultural slant, boat tours to floating villages on the Tonle Sap Lake include stops at local markets, schools, medical clinics and crocodile farms.
For more things to do in Siem Reap and Cambodia, see tourismcambodia.org
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