Siem Reap: Angkor Man

So we’d said goodbye to Laos, and our first stop in Cambodia was Siem Reap, home to the famous Angkor Wat. We channelled our inner Lara Croft and explored 11 temples across 2 days, and then threw in a circus for good measure...

Day 1: The Big Loop ~ 5 temples

A lot of people who come to Siem Reap decide to miss out the less well known temples and just go for the Big Boy that is Angkor Wat. But, Team Temple loves a ruin so we spent a whole day exploring them. We hired bikes and set off on a 25 mile mission, starting at Pre Rup and ending at Phnom Bakheng for sunset. Having now seen both these lesser known temples and the famous trio, we’re really pleased we did this day. Cycling through the ancient city itself was an adventure, rolling past forests, under the huge gates of Angkor Thom and over the stone bridges adorned by gods and demons. An added bonus is that these temples are virtually empty of people, so you’re free to explore without a selfie stick in sight. They’re pretty cool too, some in the middle of jungle, others we had to cross a flooded forest to get to. Sunset at Phnom Bakheng is pretty dreamy too- you have to get there around 4pm because they only allow 300 people up at one time, so getting there early secures you a spot to watch the sky become a wash of orange and pink.

Day 2: The small loop ~ 6 temples

Sunrise at Angkor Wat

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: early traveller catches the sunrise. And crikey was it early. We were up and out for 4:30am and arrived at Angkor Wat in the dark to find our spot by the small lake to watch the sun rise behind the largest temple in the world. Luckily, we’d got there early enough to get a position right at the edge of the pool so that we could see the temple perfectly reflected in the water. Minutes later and we’d have been behind a crowd of people. Not long after we arrived we were treated to a huge shooting star passing through the pitch black sky- amazing. How many people can say they saw a shooting star at sunrise at Angkor Wat? We’re some very lucky travellers. Over the next hour and a half the sky turned from black, to fiery orange, dusky pink, to dreamy indigo, and finally the sun popped up behind the temple revealing just how insanely huge it is. Sun up, it was time to explore the temple complex itself and it really is impressive. The golden light shone through the pillars and onto the intricate stone carvings as we walked through the 900 year old corridors and up into the famous towers. Well worth the early start.

Bayon, Angkor Thom

So we’d been treated to a magic sunrise at Angkor Wat, found some breakfast, and now it was time to explore Angkor Thom and Bayon stood in its centre. Bayon is famous for its 54 giant towers decorated with 216 smiling faces and sits smack bang in the middle of Angkor Thom. It looks equally magnificent in the morning light and basking in that Golden Hour glow before sunset.

Baphuon, The elephant Terrace, Takeo, and Chau Say Tevoda

We visited these temples on our way between Bayon and Ta Promh, and they’re definitely worth the stop off. Almost completely free of people, you have the whole joint to yourself to explore.

Ta Promh

If you’ve seen the film Tomb Raider, you’ve seen Ta Promh. The scene where Lara Croft encounters the mysterious girl, picks the flower from the tree and falls through the ground is filmed there. And you can see why. The creators must have had an easy ride because the whole place is already like a film set. Piles of huge stone blocks sit in ruins around the walls and trees have grown in and around the temple, their huge roots encompassing the doorways. It’s a pretty magical place.

Phare: The Cambodian Circus

Phare is more than just a circus. “The association was formed in 1994 by 9 young men coming home from a refugee camp after the Khmer Rouge regime. They were greatly helped during that time by an art teacher using drawing classes as therapy and wanted to share this new skill among the poor, socially deprived and troubled youngsters in Battambang. They founded an art school and public school followed to offer free education. A music school and theatre school were next and finally, for the kids who wanted more, the circus school. Today more than 1,200 pupils attend the public school daily and 500 attend the alternative schools.” ~ https://pharecircus.org/

The performers use theatre, dance, music and circus to tell Cambodian stories. We went to see ‘White Gold’, which follows an individual and his family as they try to balance the demands of the modern world with the Buddhist teachings of moderation.

We spent the evening watching 13 performers, all from difficult backgrounds, dance, paint, play music, and perform incredible feats of balance and strength. The money from the tickets then goes back to helping support the schools, training of artists and paying the wages of the performers so that they no longer have to live in poverty. Plus, they looked like they were having a whale of a time!

A sterling start to our Cambodian adventures, next stop: Battambang