A Guide To Visiting Siem Reap

I loved Cambodia. It really did end up being my favorite country in Southeast Asia thus far. I started off my travels in Cambodia in Siem Reap. Here is a guide to visiting Siem Reap and Angkor Wat. If you have any questions, leave them in the comments!

How To Get There

I flew to Siem Reap from Ho Chi Minh City with Cambodia Angkor Air. The airport in Siem Reap is located about a fifteen minute drive from the downtown area of the city.

You can also get to Siem Reap from several places in Cambodia. The major way is by taking a bus from Phnom Penh. There are many different bus companies and most hostels will have a specific one that they refer people to. The popular ones are:  Mekong Express and Giant Ibis. The ride is a bit longer, so there is a night bus option. If you decide to do this, make sure you book a sleeper bus and not a regular one.

Where To Stay

I stayed at Funky Flashpacker Hostel and it was the best decision I could have made. It was definitely a part hostel, but it was in a great location (walking distance to Pub Street), and everyone who worked there was a lot of fun. The rooms were clean and I opted to stay in a female dorm based off of the size of the mixed dorms (24 and 32 beds). I was happy with my decision, but I had friends staying in two different mixed dorms and the 32 bed dorms are separated into different sections, so it doesn’t seem that bad.

There is a swimming pool, two bars and a delicious restaurants. I was so excited when I ate a real salad. Seriously, it had actual salad dressing on it. The western food is great, it can be a bit pricey, but after being away for so long it was totally worth it for me.

Music is bumping around the pool area pretty much the entire day so I would tell you to bring earplugs. If you want to nap during the day, this isn’t the place for you. But, I didn’t have a problem sleeping at night when I was there.

Visiting Angkor Wat

I was in Siem Reap for several days, but my friends and I decided to only go to Angkor Wat one day. (Disclosure: I’m speaking as someone who has seen a lot of temples)

We hired a guide who picked us up around 5 AM. He drove us to the ticket office where we purchased a one day pass for $20USD (it’s so weird that the Cambodians use USD…like USD come out of the ATMs in Cambodia). We then went to Angkor Wat for sunrise. It surprisingly wasn’t as crowded as I anticipated. I was able to get awesome photos without anyone in them.

Afterwards, we checked out all of the major temples in the area including Ta Prohm (the temple from Tomb Raider), Bayon, and Angkor Thom. We visited a lot of temples over about 5 hours and this was more than enough time for us. I felt that we saw everything that we needed to see. It was so hot, so we ended up heading back to Flashpackers to take a nap.

Make sure you bring something to cover your knees and shoulders for some of the temples –It can’t be a scarf or sarong. You need to have pants/long skirt/dress and a sweater/t-shirt.

Nightlife In Siem Reap

If you’re looking to go out in Siem Reap, you’re probably going to end up on Pub Street. I had so much fun going out in Siem Reap. Pub Street is basically the downtown area of the city. There are several bar carts that will line the street. They’ll all be playing different music and what ends up happening is everyone just dances in the street for awhile. After they pack up, people go to The Angkor What? Bar and to Mezzo Lounge and Nightclub. You’re guaranteed to have fun at one of these places.

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