After sampling our first Cambodian night bus, we arrived in Siem Reap. With a big few days ahead of us exploring bucket list item Angkor Wat, we decided to take it easy for the day, napping by our hostel’s rooftop pool and arranging with a tuk tuk driver for the next day.

Phare Circus

Phare Circus has become legendary not only in Cambodia but all over the world. Established in Battambang by a group of refugees who escaped the Khmer Rouge, the organisation offers training and employment to vulnerable or socially deprived young Cambodians. Phare has grown to include training in circus, music, fine art and animation. Graduates of Battambang’s circus and music schools go on to star in the show in Siem Reap, or tour around the world.

We had been recommended the show in Siem Reap by friends who had already been, so we met up with Karima, Nelson and Luiz to watch the show. The performance was set in a bar, taking the audience through one night of hedonism, with various quirky characters coming in and out and performing death defying stunts and acrobatics. Accompanied by Phare’s music graduates with original compositions, the performers took on contortion, balancing acts, aerial hoop and silks, juggling and much more. From start to finish we were on the edge of our seats, and the stunts were punctuated by genuine gasps from the audience.

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At the end we were encouraged to meet the artists and chat with them, an opportunity we gladly took! We were blown away by this show and by the outstanding work that Phare does every year, helping hundreds of young Cambodians and providing them with positive artistic outlets and potential future careers. They tour internationally so if they are ever in your town, we would highly recommend booking tickets!

Angkor National Park: Small Loop

After much deliberation we decided to book the three day pass for Angkor Wat. It was possible to see both the small loop and the grand loop in one day, but friends that had done it said it had taken around 14 hours, and we thought we just wouldn’t enjoy it as much with that level of exhaustion. Although it is more expensive to book the three day pass, for us it was worth it to be able to spread the temples out and really take our time.

On our first day we were picked up by our tuk tuk driver at 4am ready to see what must be one of the most photographed sunrises evert. We parked up in the dark and tried to find our way to the legendary spot in front of the reflection pools. It was starting to get busy when we arrived but we were still able to get a good spot, only three rows back.

Unfortunately there was some pretty poor behaviour from a lot of the tourists around us, people standing up for prolonged periods of time to the detriment of everyone else’s view, others getting irritated and starting arguments, and one woman attempting to move in front of people who had got there far earlier than her. As always with these once in a lifetime experiences, they become so popular that other people can put a dampener on the experience.

We weren’t too bothered by the other travellers in the end, when the sun started to rise. Although it was a little cloudy, it was a beautiful sight – a completely iconic view we’d been so excited to see ever since we’d booked the trip.

Once the sun was well and truly up, off we went to look inside the incredible temple – first stopping on the way in to see this cheeky little monkey scavenging a can of coke!

We made our way around the outside of the temple, entering from the side rather than the busy front. The architecture truly is breathtaking and we spend the whole time marvelling at how a structure like this could possibly be built by humans. The sheer scale and the minute attention to detail in every intricate carving is incredible.

Next up was Angkor Thom and Bayan Temple, a temple we loved so much that we spent almost double the time our guide had recommended there. Walking through the narrow walkways and between the high walls, you really feel you’re being engulfed by the stone. We climbed to the top and saw the famous stone heads carved into the spires. The whole day we really struggled to put our cameras down, with something amazing to capture around every corner.

We also visited the smaller temple and elephant wall in the Angkor Thom complex. Another temple that was completely unique. We once again climbed some really steep and sketchy stairs to see amazing views of the park.

The final temple of the day and possibly our favourite was Ta Prohm, made famous by its appearance in Tomb Raider. It was the most dilapidated temple we’d seen that day, with lots of poles and wooden structures having been built to prop up the parts that were crumbling. The image of the huge trees growing through the stone are iconic to Ta Prohm, and were just as beautiful in real life. We were truly in our element and felt like real life explorers wandering around the ruins.

We were very pleased with our decision to book the three day pass – by the time we finished the small loop at 1pm we were exhausted and struggling with the heat. We headed back to the hostel to hit the pool and rest up for our next big day of temples.

Angkor National Park: Grand Loop

Many people had told us that one day was absolutely enough to get temple fatigue, but we were not done yet and raring to go on our second day. I’ve written more than enough on the temples in the small loop so for Day 2 I’ll just let the photos do the talking!

We’d intended to stay the full day on day 2, arriving at 9am and returning to Angkor Wat for sunset. We found we were just too exhausted to make it that far, and decided to retire at around 4pm, having had a thoroughly excellent day and feeling we’d really got our money’s worth of temples.

Eating, Drinking and Relaxing

We spent the majority of the rest of our time relaxing and recovering from the collective 24km we’d walked around the park in two days. Siem Reap has so much to offer and it’s the perfect laid back place to chill after long days at Angkor.

The night market has some incredible food options, stalls where you can buy t-shirts for $2 and get a foot massage for $1. When we weren’t at Angkor, the night market was the place to be.

Siem Reap also has a lively nightlife scene, revolving around the countless bars and restaurants on Pub Street. Most evenings we would wander along the street in search of cheap beer, and one evening went to one of the bars with live music with friends we’d met in Hoi An.

We absolutely loved Siem Reap and our visit to Angkor Wat was one of the highlights of the whole trip. We just couldn’t get enough of those magic ancient temples, something tells me we’ll be back for sure.

Chloe x