During my 2 years of travel, I visited Siem Reap, Cambodia for 4 nights in early March of 2018. Siem Reap was a pleasant surprise, especially as I had no idea what to expect. As you know, I’m the type of traveler who likes to visit a new place with no plans and live the local life, walk around, and observe. I found Siem Reap to be super affordable with friendly people and a bubbling nightlife.
What To Do in Siem Reap, Cambodia : Where to Stay, Things to Know, and More
Visa
The airport in Siem Reap, Cambodia actually looked really cool:
You’ll need a visa to visit Siem Reap. They have visa on arrival services at the airport, and we do recommend going this path. It was $30 when we went. We didn’t have passport photos – I believe they cost an extra $1-2 if you don’t have one, so I’d bring one if you have one handy (but paying the fee isn’t a big deal either).
Currency
It’s actually better to use USD, so make sure to bring a bunch if you have it handy. Initially I thought we were supposed to use local Cambodian currency but people don’t actually use it. The only time it is used is for change (under $1). 1 USD = 4052 Cambodian riel, so if you see things in riel you’ll know to divide by around 4,000 for the USD worth.
Things You Should Bring
I’d bring tons of sun block and mosquito repellent (as well as USD currency as mentioned earlier). It was so hot and there were a lot of insects. Be safe out there!
Accommodations
While I was in Hong Kong, I actually saw an online deal to stay at Kiri Residence in Siem Reap for about $5-6 a night (sounds ridiculous, I know). I knew I was going to be visiting Chiang Mai, Thailand from December to March, so I thought – why not book this affordable 4 star hotel! I figured even if I didn’t end up going, it’d be so cheap that it didn’t matter. I ended up paying $30 for 5 nights, but only stayed 4 of the 5 nights. It’s crazy that you can book a place for that little. You can’t even stay one night in many places in the US with $30.
My hotel room looked like this:
The room was equipped with the normal amenities of AC, a fridge, and shower, plus some awesome perks like a bath tub on the balcony and a swimming pool at the hotel. At $6 a night it was a huge steal. While in Cambodia, I’d make sure to book a room with AC and a pool – or you’re going to die in the heat!
Transportation
Most people ride Tuk-Tuks and mopeds out in Cambodia. Tuk-Tuk rides usually cost around $2 (and they’re very chill – you must do it at least once)! You can also use the Grab app as the rides are still super cheap, around the same price.
A photo of the TukTuk experience!
Food
Food was actually quite delicious and VERY affordable, like in most Southeast Asian countries. I’d say meals usually cost around $2-5.
Check out this menu:
Just looking at this is making my mouth water…and you can’t beat those prices!
Be wary, as I saw cockroaches at a few restaurants I ate at. There was even a cockroach scurrying around a bar top at a bar I checked out, yet nobody even cared cause they were so used to the bugs. I was extremely grossed out. It’s a little less sanitary in Siem Reap than other places, so I tried to eat at nicer places if I could.
Things To Do
Angkor Wat & Other Temples
So obviously, you have to go to Angkor Wat and the other surrounding temples while you’re there. To be honest, there isn’t much point in going to Siem Reap if you don’t visit this!
Heesun did a 2-part series of lengthy posts on Angkor Wat that you should definitely check out: (part 1 here and part 2 here).
I agree with her that Angkor Wat and other temples were nothing like anything I had ever seen before.
We decided to do the Angkor Wat sunrise experience.
We woke up at around 4 AM and left around 4:45 to get tickets. A one-day pass is now $37 (up from $20, what it used to be). It is still an amazing deal for what you get to see. I would hire a Tuk-Tuk driver for the day. We hired a Tuk-Tuk driver from our hotel, which actually would cost more than it should because the hotel takes a cut. However, we liked the hotel driver who helped us out, and we knew we could depend on the hotel’s services. I believe we paid $15-20 each for 2 people, so $30-40 for 8 hours of driving. You may be able to get this at a cheaper price.
The gates open at 5 AM.
Make sure to wear clothes that cover your shoulders and your knees to respect their culture.
Was it worth it to wake up super early for the sunrise? To be honest, I didn’t think it was that necessary, but I did like the fact that we started the day early and finished early afternoon. It got so hot during the day that it is kind of worth starting the day early to avoid the hottest hours.
The main point of going that early is to get that iconic picture and view. But the sunrise view wasn’t as impressive as we had hoped. It was quite pretty, but we may have gone on a day that wasn’t as attractive as the ones you see on Google search.
So many people were waiting! If you want that sunrise photo, you should go early and sit behind the water (it was already packed when we got there):
And all I had on me was my GoPro and Google phone so my photo wasn’t the best…
But I got some pretty cool pictures of the temples:
Angkor Wat was simply gorgeous. I had never seen anything like it, and it was crazy hearing that all this was manmade especially with all the intricate details involved in each of the structures.
Afterwards, we checked out some of the other temples. But it was so hot that we ended up only visiting 2 other ones and leaving. A lot of people comment that the other temples are more impressive than Angkor Wat, but to be honest, I liked Angkor Wat the most.
Bayon Temple
The Bayon Temple has the cool statues that are in the paintings you’ll come across everywhere you go:
There were a ton of these little stone pyramids…I think people randomly piled stones on top of each other over time:
Unfortunately I didn’t get pictures of the last place we visited as my devices were running out of battery. And since it was extremely hot, we left back to the hotel and dipped into the pool straight away!
Fish Spas
Fish spas are abundant in Siem Reap. Though I had done it before in Chiang Mai, I decided to experience it again in Cambodia. It is even cheaper in Siem Reap – I believe only $2 for 15 minutes, and you get a free beer to top it off.
We put our feet in two different tanks – one with smaller fish and one with a bigger fish. It’s always such a funny feeling. If you haven’t done it before, I’d suggest trying it at least once. But be wary that people do post about health concerns regarding these fish spas (with worries about diseases spreading). My experience was fine, but I’d say do it at your own risk!
Old Market
The Old Market has tons of goodies and souvenirs to check out. Everything was quite affordable – we even found tank tops for only $1! I don’t even know how you can profit enough from the clothes.
The paintings were beautiful. There are tons of stands that have their own handmade paintings, each quite similar yet created with their own specific style. I believe the small paintings were around $5, medium sized paintings were around $15, and large paintings were around $40. It is really such a great deal, and they give you a holder to carry your rolled up paintings in, making it easy to carry back on your flight home.
There were a bunch of these outdoor ice cream maker stands. It was really cool watching them make ice cream from scratch!
Massages
A lot of people get foot massages while they’re in Siem Reap. But I also hear there is a lot of behind the scenes, “dirty” massages out there. I guess it is common in Southeast Asia, unfortunately. Anyway, I decided to get a foot massage (a regular one). I was mainly trying to get out of the heat and into an air conditioned space. It was a good break from all the walking as well.
Nightlife
My digital nomad friend actually settled down in Siem Reap for a while so when I visited, we all hung out. We grabbed a few beers and checked out Pub Street. He frequented a place called X Bar:
There was a rooftop half pipe which was pretty crazy. And they had billiards and a band downstairs. Like most of these places, the alcohol was extremely cheap. Beer everywhere is $0.50-$1. And other liquor is around $2-3.
Pub Street
Pub Street is one of the main attractions for its nightlife. At night the music gets ridiculously loud. It’s like each place is competing with each other to get more attention, and it seems like there are no laws to keep the sound levels in order.
Here’s another crazy few shots:
Check out these people playing with fire inside the club…it seems like there isn’t enough concern for safety, but it was still awesome entertainment!
Pub Street was good fun. I highly recommend checking it out while you’re there. I ended up getting into a dance battle with a 16-year old local. It was awesome.
Conclusion
Siem Reap, Cambodia was super fun. There’s not a crazy amount to do there to be honest (and this fact was confirmed by my friend), but the prices are great, the people are friendly, and the food was tasty. The things I did mind were the hot weather and bugs. Obviously the heat was the biggest bother as I had mentioned it multiple times throughout the article. So I would try to choose a cooler time to visit. I would definitely recommend visiting Cambodia, and I believe everyone MUST visit Angkor Wat at least once in their life! If you have any other recommendations let us know in the comments!
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