Cambodia

The arrival

We landed at the end of the day in Siem Reap and had a great first impression, the airport is very good and super charming, following the local architectural style.

We were greeted by an Abercrombie & Kent employee upon arrival, he took our passports, forms and photos in size 5X7 to apply for the visas that are issued upon arrival (visa on arrival).

Just like in Laos and Vietnam, Cambodia requires a visa for Brazilians, and like other countries, it is super simple to obtain upon arrival.

For this procedure, we also previously contracted the fast track service as we were afraid of issuing the visa alone, however, just like in Laos, Cambodia is a very peaceful country and I found it very easy for English speakers. It is not an essential service, just convenient.

Siem Reap

The hotel

We stayed at the Park Hyatt Siem Reap, the hotel is located right in the city center, making it very convenient for exploring the surrounding area.

The decor mixes Eastern and Western influences, contemporary and maximalist at the same time. The staff is extremely polite and helpful, always ready to help.

Breakfast was the hotel's highlight in my opinion, with buffet and à la carte, eastern and western options. The bedrooms and bathrooms are large and comfortable, but my family and I found that both the bedrooms and hallways had a slight musty smell. In general, I wouldn't recommend staying at the Park Hyatt Siem Reap, it was the hotel we least liked on the entire trip. A shame because at the beginning of the trip we stayed at the Park Hyatt Doha and had an incredible experience.

We went to have lunch one day at the Raffles Grand Hotel D'Angkor and fell in love with the hotel, we were really sorry we hadn't stayed there. The rate was very similar to the Park Hyatt but the hotel's colonial style pleased us more and we felt that it was better looked after, in addition to being a landmark in the city's hotel industry, having hosted many celebrities and heads of state.

Other great accommodation options in Siem Reap are the Belmond La Résidence d'Angkor - we couldn't visit as it was closed at the time we went - and the Amansara, which has more of a home style than a hotel, from the photos I saw, yet I'll take Raffles.

To Go

We arrived at the hotel at the end of the day and were super tired from the trip, we decided to have dinner there as the next day's schedule would start early.

Our day began at 7:00 am with a special yoga class for our group at Pagoda Wat Svay Romeat, a place immersed in a very peaceful atmosphere, where we were able to learn some breathing and meditation techniques with a local teacher.

After class, we went back to the hotel to change and have breakfast and from there we went to the temples. It is important to mention that the dress code to enter Angkor is strict, showing your knees or shoulders is not allowed, unlike the Grand Palace in Bangkok, in Siem Reap just a pashmina is enough to cover yourself. I recommend wearing light, light clothing, the heat and humidity in Cambodia are unbearable, it's really, really hot, and we went during the "cooler" season.

The Temples

 After breakfast we were taken on our transfer to a meeting point in the city to pick up our bikes and cycle to the Angkor complex. It was a super nice ride, the day was beautiful and it was a great experience to see a little of the city in another way, however, it was too hot to cycle, we ended up stopping a little earlier than planned and returning to the van. Still, I recommend this tour.

Every time we returned to the van, the driver greeted us with cold bottles of water and refreshing towels to help with the heat.

To enter the complex, each tourist receives a card with their photo and information, the passes are for 1, 3 or 7 days. For those with a guide and little time, 1 day is enough, although tiring. That's what we did.

There is still no possibility of purchasing tickets in advance online, tickets are only sold at the complex's main ticket office.

Our entire trip was booked with Embarque With Us, we hired Abercrombie & Kent services through them and I couldn't recommend them more. For those who don't want to leave Brazil with everything closed, there is the possibility of hiring a guide at the door of the temples, there are several who stay there and speak different languages, including Portuguese, you can negotiate the price and time of the service at the time and at the Instead of a driver, you can get around by taxi or tuk tuk.

We divide our day as follows:

The first temple we went to was the walled city of Angkor Thom, the ancient capital of the Khmer Empire. We enter through the south gate, where there is an imposing four-faced structure guarded by two rows of gods and demons carved in stone.

Within the city walls, we soon came across Bayon temple, an imposing 17th century structure commissioned by one of the empire's most revered rulers, King Jayavarman VII, and also known as the temple of faces.

We continue to Baphuon, a sanctuary dedicated to Brahmanism, and Phimeanakas temple, a place of worship for kings. We then visited the Terrace of the Elephants, an impressive two and a half meter high wall used as a ceremonial stage, and the Terrace of King Leper with its incredibly detailed stone reliefs.

From there, we continued to Ta Phrom, an impressive temple that seems to be part of the local nature, with its fig and kapok trees that have intertwined around the stone ruins. It is also very famous for being a filming location for the film Tomb Raider with Angelina Jolie.

After Ta Phrom, we returned to our van which took us to the Raffles Grand Hotel D'Angkor for lunch. It was a great way to break up the day and recover from the heat. As I mentioned earlier, we loved the hotel, and the food at Café D'Angkor, a relaxed restaurant open for lunch with Asian and Western options, was excellent.

With our energy recharged, we leave Raffles towards the legendary Angkor Wat, the magnificent 12th century temple built during the reign of King Suryavarman II, to be the capital of his kingdom. Declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, it is the largest and most preserved temple in the Angkor complex and one of the most important archaeological treasures in the world.

In the original schedule, we had a ride in a Khmer gondola across the Angkor moat to watch the sunset after visiting Angkor Wat, but we were so tired that we decided to cancel the tour and return to the hotel.

At night we went for a walk along Pub Street and the Night Market, which were very close to our hotel. Walking along Pub Street you will see one bar and restaurant after another, the street is full of tourists, mainly Europeans. Despite being lively, in January 2023 when we were there, the city had not yet recovered the number of tourists that used to visit it.

Siem Reap is very different from what I imagined and much more developed, I was very impressed by the number of good hotels and resorts around the city, organized streets and happy and kind population like in the rest of Southeast Asia. You realize how much they depend on tourism upon arrival at the airport, the structure as a whole in Siem Reap surprised me positively.

On the way back we ended up having dinner at the hotel again and went to bed early, the next day we would catch an early flight to our last destination on the trip: Thailand!