Visiting the city of Siem Reap and the famous temples of Ankor Wat in Cambodia.
From Bangkok to Siem Reap
After a few days in Bangkok, we looked for the cheapest option to travel to Cambodia and ended up taking a direct bus from Chatuchak station. Since the bus was leaving at 9 in the morning and we had no ticket, we arrived two hours in advance to get a place, which was not a problem. It was very curious to be at the bus station at 8 in the morning, at which point the national anthem plays and everything is paralyzed.
After a couple of hours in the bus, which was very comfortable, we made a stop before the border where they consulted us and checked if we had the papers to cross into Cambodia. There are many comments and stories about the different scams that exist in this place for those who arrive with little information. Luckily, we had taken out our printed electronic visa that is obtained online, by which several individuals with dubious proposals desisted from offering us their services. After the stop, after a few minutes we arrived at the (bizarre) Poipet border post, where we first made the exit for Thailand, then walked 200 meters down a dirt road to the Cambodian side. On the other side, the same bus lifted us up to continue the trip to Siem Reap.
Lodging in Siem Reap
We already had a reservation made in a hostel but, as it is told in many forums, the Tuktuk that took us made us the theater of taking us first to two other different accommodations to see if we entered and charged the commission. We stood up and finally arrived at the hostel.
Visiting Angkor Wat and its temples
The following three days we were visiting Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom and their peripheral temples, which was spectacular except for extreme humid heat. Never sweat so much. The first day we got a pass to visit the temples, with photo included. It was $ 40 but it was worth it
Cambodia is very cheap. With a 1 dollar bill you can eat very well. It is highly recommended to carry small dollar bills as they are often used. The local currency, the Riel is only used for small transactions. Another thing to mention is that you don’t need to speak English perfectly to communicate. In fact speaking Tarzan is much more effective than making a complete sentence with subject and predicate. We personally verified this with Carolina, Mariana’s Argentinian / Canadian / Australian cousin with whom we shared a few days of travel.