Siem Reap, Cambodia

We had a great time in Siem Reap touring the temples, but the heat was stifling (even in the middle of winter) and the tourists were everywhere. If you are planning a trip I would suggest going to one of the outlying temples (which we didn’t do) to get away from the crowds and get a chance to explore properly.

On our first day at Angkor we did the ‘Big Circuit’, touring the smaller temples around Angkor Thom. We started at Preah Khan, a large complex just to the north of Ankor Thom.

Next was Neak Poan, a small (and slightly disappointing) water temple in the middle of a lake.

Next up was Ta Som, again a smaller temple, but not too crowded.

After Ta Som we visited two temples of a similar style, East Mebon and Pre Rup.

After Pre Rup we visited Sra Srang, the ‘swimming pool’, and the adjacent Banteay Kdei complex

We finished the day at Ta Prohm, famous for the trees growing out of the now crumbling walls of the temple.

We spent the evening walking around Siem Reap itself, having dinner a restaurant in a lovely (though quite touristy) alley.

The next morning we joined everybody else at Angkor Wat for sunrise, before walking around the temple itself.

We finished off our trip to Angkor at the main (ancient) city itself, Angkor Thom.