ANKOR WAT - Siem Reap, Cambodia (February 2009)

I have always wanted to visit Ankor Wat but was never my priority or was never on top of my list of places I wanna travel before I die … I have watched documentaries about it (and of course Tomb Raider okay fine!) and was kinda intrigued but that’s just it.

So everytime I want to travel I always put it aside coz firstly, its near Singapore, I can go there anytime I want and another reason is, I thought it’ll be boring to see temples and the likes (oops, sorry but I was so wrong!)

So when we decided to go to Bangkok, I heard and read about backpackers going to Siem Reap from Bangkok via train or bus, so I said to myself why not try to add up some thrill on going to Siem Reap by doing so? Hmmm…

So at the last minute, we rebook our returning flight from Bangkok back to Singapore and extended our stay for 3 days more!

For more info about traveling to Siem Reap from Bangkok by land, click this:
http://www.

seat61.com/Cambodia.htm#Siem%20Reap

Tiring as it may seem, but it was worth it!
Ankor Wat is without doubt the most amazing creation that ancient people have ever done. I was totally stunned, and for lack of better words, it really is so great!
I’m still having goosebumps even while writing this, as in OMG! ;P

I have studied this in our history of arts and architecture, but seeing it for real is a wonderful experience and it is incomparable on what has just been written, I mean you should be there to witness how noble it really is…
I always say, if you are a strong believer of “aliens” you might say that this is done by them, hehehe…

I have met people there like Vedrana, a Bosnian, she had seen the Pyramids in Egypt and she said Ankor Wat still stands out…a Greek friend of mine, Aris from Travbuddy is obviously from the race where the greatest ancient architecture had been recorded (and Romans), was also amazed by it! It’s really awesome I tell you…

Some TIPS ;)

(Cheapest) TRANSPORTATION:
From Singapore, you can take Jetstar all the way to Siem Reap for S$300-350, or Tiger Airways to Phenom Penh for S$200-300 and take a bus going to Siem Reap for 3 hours more or plane again for less than an hour…Or you can take AirAsia from Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok around S$100-150.

If you want to try the adventure that we did via train/bus from Bangkok, it will only cost you S$50-60 roundtrip to Bangkok, depending on your bargain skills for taxis and tuktuks.

(Cheapest) ACCOMODATION:
Hotels here are very cheap, around S$40-80 a night is already living lavishly ;)
We stayed in a Guesthouse which is mostly preferred by the tourists…Around $3-8 per room!wow!... And since we are so cheapos, we still went around to canvass a place to stay coz there are a lot of options to choose from, though prices are almost the same, we look for something within downtown and something cool and cozy hehehe arti!...
and we settled for Ivy Guesthouse (Resto&Bar) for only S$8 a night for triple sharing!

FOOD AND DRINKS:
By the way, currency here is Cambodian Riel but they use US Dollars on their pricing and you can pay also in Thai Baht…Normal rate is US$1 = R4,000 or S$1 = R6,000.
Food for normal yet authentic restos ranges from S$3-S$5 per meal, drinks around S$0.75 and beers around S$1.10-S$1.50! wow compared to S$8-12 per bottle here in Sg!
Try their local beer, Ankor ;)

GETTING AROUND:
Tuktuks around downtown only is around S$2 per head.
Hiring tuktuk going around Ankor Wat Archeological Park for one day (5:00am – 5:00pm) is S$15 per head.
Hiring Taxi around Ankor wat is double, but you may need to hire taxi going to other attractions outside Ankor Wat (like Tonley Sap Lake, Hidden Waterfalls, Kbal Spean River, Chong Kreas Floating Village, Killing Fields, Kampung Khleang, Phnom Bakhen, etc) around S$60 per taxi, seems expensive but worth it coz it’s whole day ;)

Ankor Wat Archeological Park entrance for 1 day is S$30
Cheaper if you get 3 days (or 1 week), which is more advisable coz you can never tour around Ankor Wat in one day! Temples are far from each other, like the Kbal Spean Riverside, it’s about 2 hours travel (the most).

Souvenirs at Night Market is somehow commercialized now, their prices is something inappropriate for place like Siem Reap, some stuff are more expensive than what I bought in Tokyo (like my glass ball collection, waahhh!!!)


Ankor Wat is one place I would highly recommend for people to go, take the chance now while it’s still cheap! There are still developing projects and I can predict that once everything is developed, it’ll be costly to go there…

But I will still go back definitely ;)


Lee-uh Aw-kun!
(Khmer for Goodbye and Thank You)