August 8th, 2019
Today we had an early start and checked out of our hostel to catch a bus to Siem Reap, Cambodia. It was a full day and we rode for 5 hours to the border. We stopped half way for lunch and to stretch our legs.
Once we got to the Cambodian border we got out and went through Thai’s exit immigration and then walked across another land border into Cambodia. We have now both been to 20 countries in our lifetime! The bus company we used handled getting our visas and immigration forms to Cambodia, so it was pretty simple. We got back on the bus which was now on the Cambodian side and continued for another couple hours to Siem Reap.
Siem Reap is a large town where people come to visit Angkor Wat. Angkor Wat is thought of as being the most incredible temple complex made by man, and often referred to as the 8th wonder of the world. It is also the largest religious monument in the world. Needless to say, it draws quite a lot of tourists (1.5 million a year). Siem Reap is hustling and bustling with hotels, hostels, restaurants, night markets, bars, massage parlors, and tuk tuks. My first impression was it is a great place to come if you don’t have a job because at first sight it appears very cheap. The tickets to Angkor Wat are not cheap but as far as food and accommodations, the prices are really low.
We got a free tuk tuk from the bus stop to our hotel in Siem Reap. The drivers offer this service for free in hopes you will hire them for the day when you go to Angkor Wat which is massive. Having transportation is the best way to get the most out of Angkor Wat especially if you are only there for a day or two. Angkor Wat expands over 400 acres and has over 100 temples/monuments in the area. So, you are really only scratching the surface with a day tour. Our tuk tuk drivers’ name was Mr. Gecko, and we did end up hiring him as our driver.
We checked into our hotel which was $12 a night and it had a pool, AC, free bottled water, a mini fridge and included breakfast for 2 people. We set out on foot to explore Siem Reap and went to the most happening place called Pub Street. We treated ourselves to a woodfire pizza dinner (to switch it up from rice and noodles) and afterwards walked around the night market. We had our first “rolled” ice cream which was good. We also stopped at a little stand for a drink as beer was only 50 cents.
The official language in the Kingdom of Cambodia is Khmer and most of the population is Buddhist. Cambodia is ruled by a constitutional monarchy. It is a very poor country which is obvious when you visit. On our drive in, I was surprised how flat it was. At least in the area we were driving, it was mostly all flat farmland. They also drive on the right side of the road which is different from where we have been the last couple of months (Australia, Malaysia, and Thai). It is crazy how fast you can get accustomed to something because even though I spent my whole life driving on the right side, driving on the left for a few months has really thrown me off again.
They gladly use the US dollar here at an exchange rate of 4000 to 1. Even the ATM’s will give you US dollars and it is super nice not to have to do any quick conversions in your head when you are trying to figure out the cost of something. In the tourist areas people speak enough English to get by. They do not learn it in school and some children do not even get to go to school, so it is a big deal for them to learn English so they can have a ‘good’ job in tourism. We read in many places and were told by others to not buy anything or engage with the children who are begging, or trying to sell you something as ultimately this encourages them to stay out of school and become beggars. I’m sure this is true anywhere in the world you have children begging.
We had fun roaming around the city trying not to get hit by tuk tuks before making our way back to the hotel for the night.