Angkor Wat is one of the most incredible wonders of the world, and the “Angkor Wat Sunrise Photo” is practically an art in and of itself. As a religious complex, it has few equals. As an amazing ancient site, it has no equals. The number of temples, the size of the temples, and the amount of detail all combine to make it an incredible place to visit! When you’ve made the trek out to Cambodia, one thing is for sure – you want awesome photos of Angkor Wat. Especially Angkor Wat at sunrise. It can be tricky, but it’s definitely do-able!
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Scambodia? What to Know Before You Go to Cambodia
When I first landed in Cambodia, I got the immediate feeling I was being scammed. Now that I’ve been there, left, and finished my trip, I thought it would be worthwhile to come back to whether or not Cambodia should really be called Scambodia. So is Cambodia really Scambodia?
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Spreadsheeting: How Much I Spent in Cambodia (Siem Reap)
Once upon a time, Cambodia was known as a hotspot for backpackers who wanted to do things cheaply. From food to guest houses and more, Cambodia always seemed to make the list of countries you could easily do for under $30/day. I do not think that is true any longer, especially in Siem Reap, and especially if you want to see Angkor Wat. You might be able to do it, but you’d have to make some rough sacrifices (like riding an actual bicycle, not an e-bike or tuk tuk to the temples). I think one of the things that makes it expensive is that the currency used here is USD…
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I Hate Tuk-Tuks (And Other Cambodia Stories)
Oh Cambodia… coming straight after the Philippines, it was a bit of a culture shock. In the Philippines, almost everyone speaks English, and the areas I went were touristy but laid-back. Then I landed in Siem Reap. One of my friends here referred to it as “Siem Reap You Off” due to how expensive everything is and how aggressive the vendors are. A Soapbox on Tuk-Tuks Like the tuk-tuk drivers. What is a tuk-tuk, you ask? It’s this: Each one is essentially a “chariot” on the back of a motorbike. And each carriage is constructed to be quite functional. But that’s not to be confused with comfortable. These things are…
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The Good News is I Survived
And luckily there’s really not bad news! I feel like I need to start this post off with a brief history of my interactions with motorized vehicles – just for added context. Once we went as a family to Breckenridge, CO and decided to take some time to go snow-mobiling. Sounds fun, but alas, I almost flipped the snowmobile with my mom and I on it more than a few times, and I think we both ended up more than a little stressed. Whoops. And then there were driving lessons… apparently, the way to start is not to ask “Which is the brake and which is the accelerator?” because I…
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Tomb-Raiding (and Other Temple Adventures)
I hope you like temples! We have definitely arrived at the part of the trip that is temples, temples, and more temples! Temples in Siem Reap, temples in Bagan, temples in India – the next few weeks are filled with temples! The Angkor Wat Archaeological Park has a ton of temples that aren’t just Angkor Wat. And to be honest – some of them are much more fun! Each has its own personality, which is fun to see in such a small amount of land area. And, each has a ton of photo ops, so get ready for a lot of pictures in this post! Ta Prohm Outside of Angkor…
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Sunrise At Angkor Wat
I decided rather than split my temple-ing into the different days I went, I thought it would be good to just group them by temple. Starting with the biggest, most well-known I went to – Angkor Wat. One big “thing” to do is to get there to watch the sunrise over the back of the temple. It’s built up to be one of the most breathtaking sunrises in the world. I woke up at 4:00am, got into my tuk-tuk at 4:30am and was at the temple when it opened at 5am. I got to watch the sun rise with about 1,000 of my new best friends, all crowding around the…
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Scambodia? First Impressions of Cambodia
After an amazing couple of weeks in the Philippines, I headed over to Cambodia. I wanted to see the temples and Angkor Wat, so I flew into Siem Reap. Once I landed, getting my visa and through immigration was an interesting experience. Visas can be obtained once you land for $30USD (cash) and there is a whole line of immigration officers that take your passport and each one writes or stamps something on the visa. Not your usual process! Then, after you have your visa, you go through immigration. I thought it was a bit odd that immigration was before we picked up our bags, but in some ways it…
