STORY BY: Kari Hoel
PHOTOS BY: Kari Hoel

Three days in Cambodia is too little, but enough to find out that the Angkor temples are among the world’s most incredible sites.

A little bit of geography: The Angkor temples are 7 km from the town Siem Reap. Siem Reap is in the north-western part of Cambodia, and it has an international airport. My husband and I flew there from Bangkok, which was an efficient way to travel as we had limited time. Travelers whose funds are more limited than their time, get there by bus/taxi, or by boat from Phnom Penh.

Most visitors to the Angkor temples rent a tuk-tuk with a driver. We decided to combine exercise and sightseeing, so we rented bicycles instead. We loved it! The bikes very not very good (the rental price was USD 2 per day), but it did not matter as the area is very flat and easy to cycle around regardless of the quality of the bike. Also, Cambodian drivers are courteous and drive carefully (in sharp contrast to Thai drivers), so we were not worried about being run down by maniac drivers.

One great thing about the Angkor temples is that they are spread out on a large geographical area, which makes it easier to take in some sites at a time and not try to see it all in a too short time. Three days is enough time to see the main sites without rushing it.

The first, and largest, temple you get to is the Angkor Wat. It is the best preserved temple, and it is surrounded by a moat which forms a giant rectangle. Despite the fact that all visitors to the Angkor temples go here, it is surprisingly calm and quiet, due to the large size of the temple and the grounds surrounding it.

Moving a few kilometers along the road that goes past Angkor Wat, you get to Angkor Thom, a fortified city. The main temple here is the Bayon, which looks like a mess from a distance.

Once you enter the temple, you see that it is not a mess at all…the temple carvings consists for a big part of faces, and it is fascinating to have these faces looking at you from all angles as you walk around. There are also lots of smaller temples behind the Bayon, very different in shape and architecture, and it is worth checking out at least some of them.

The last of the big “must-see” temples (besides the Angkor Wat and the Bayon) is the Ta Prohm. This is also the temple that is furthest away. As I described that the Bayon looks like a mess from a distance, I am not sure how I should describe Ta Prohm…perhaps like a mess that looks like it has been hit by a bomb and then abandoned.

It is really something else, though – giant roots and huge trees make their way through the temple walls. In the movie Tomb Raider, part of the movie took place in Ta Prohm (or at least a studio that pretended to be Ta Prohm). It is also the most “hidden” of the temples – it is in a forest, which adds to the secluded atmosphere of the temple.

Siem Reap is not a big town, but the choice of accommodation, restaurants and bars is huge. We stayed at the Bopha Angkor , which I can highly recommend. A standard room costs 45 USD a night, and the hotel has excellent service, a pool area, a great restaurant and a good location. I was in a pizza mood when we were in Siem Reap, and both Ecstatic Pizza and Kampuccino Pizza had great food, good atmosphere and low prices. Another good restaurant and pub worth visiting is the Red Piano, situated in a colonial-style house on a busy corner of the Bar Street (I believe that is actually the name of the street, and I suspect it was named that in the not-too-distant past). There are also night markets with food stalls, where the food is even cheaper and just as good as the food served in restaurants, so visitors can pick and choose from a large selection of food and drinks in Siem Reap.

Like Thailand, Cambodia is full of smiling, courteous people who try their best to make visitors comfortable. And achieving this in a successful manner. If I had more time, I would have liked to check out much more of the country, for instance Phnom Penh and the coastline. Judging from my Cambodian experience, it is worth spending some time in this country, and it is probably a good idea to do it now.

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