Tomb Raider Time

I’m not a big New Year celebration fan, but was excited to spend New Year in Cambodia. Having never been to Siem Reap, we didn’t know if New Years Eve would be a quiet affair or if there might be a good pub where we could kick off 2017. Well, it’s not a quiet affair, that’s for certain. Siem Reap has a street full of pubs, funnily enough called Pub Street. When we arrived, the stage and speakers were being set up for the street party. The speakers were bigger than me and blasting some suspect dance tunes from early in the day. After some dinner at one of the many Italian/Mexican/Cambodian fusion restaurants we attempted to make our way down pub street, but it was just too busy with happy western and Cambodian revellers. The night draws huge crowds of Cambodians from the surrounding countryside and they looked like they were having a blast! We counted down the New Year with a cold beer at the Yellow Sub bar just off Pub Street and then joined the crowds on the slow shuffle back to our hostel. 

The main reason for a visit to Siem Reap is to see Angkor Wat Complex. It is the world’s largest religious site and was constructed in the 12th century by King Suryavarman II as a Hindu temple dedicated to Vishnu. It consists of several temples within the complex and we decided to go with a local guide to learn a bit more about the area. It’s popular to watch sunrise at Angkor Wat temple, and Rida knew a great quiet spot to watch the sun come up with the silhouette of the temple behind. It’s the symbol on the Cambodian flag and was beautifully reflected on the lake which lies in front of the temple. 


We didn’t spend too long in Angkor Wat temple before moving on to the huge Angkor Thom city which was built by Jayavarman VII. It was established as the state capital and was turned from a Hindu to a Buddhist place of worship at the end of the 12th century. At the centre of the city is the Bayon temple. It has over two hundred faces of Buddha which seem to be looking at you every way you turn! 

We then moved to Ta Prohm, which is one of the most popular temples to visit, due to its use in the Tomb Raider movie. It’s an impressive tangle of temple, tree and vines. Rida spoke about how the area was luckily not bombed during the Vietnam war and the Khmer Rouge regime, but there is evidence of bullet holes from some fighting in the area at those times. Having been through Vietnam and seeing how so many places were destroyed and rebuilt, it was a relief to see that Angkor Wat had been spared. 

After a morning of temple hopping we were very glad to see the cool water of the pool in our hostel and we got ourselves ready to head to Thailand. It’s only a 45 min flight to reach Bangkok by plane, which must be our shortest journey yet! Our introduction to 2017 has been pretty awesome so far and we’re very excited to see what the year brings! 

– F xx