Here starts our Cambodian adventure …
We only did a short trip through Cambodia as we wanted to see Angkor Wat Cambodia’s star attraction. We took a bus from Ho Chi Minh City to Phnom Penh and it took us about 5 hours and 30 minutes including the stop at the border to get our visa. We travelled with Giant Ibis which was pretty good, they handle the visa for you, you have to pay a fee of 5USD but you don’t have any trouble to get the visa at the border.
When arrived in Phnom Penh we stayed at the Feliz Hostel Cafe & Bar(booked through Agoda). We definitely want to recommend this hostel as it was really good. Friendly staff, good food, clean and good location. We did some sightseeing in Phnom Penh, we went to the Night Market which was really big and fun to do but beside that we didn’t do anything as our main purpose of visiting Cambodia was t to see Angkor Wat.
After the first day we took a Giant Ibis bus to Siem Reap. This took us about 6 hours. In Siem Reap we stayed at the Lub d hostel which was AWESOME! It was the coolest, cleanest, most beautiful hostel we stayed in ever!! The staff is very friendly, the room (private double room) is clean and beautiful, you’ve got everything you need, there is a swimming pool, the food is delicious, if you have breakfast included you can choose from everything on the breakfast menu which is good because you can change. The only sad thing was that Lauren got sick so she couldn’t enjoy the hostel that much but Angkor Wat she didn’t skip! We booked the sunrise tour to the temple in the hostel you have to leave early, at 4.30 am, but it’s worth it! When we arrived it was still dark, we waited for the famous sunrise at Angkor Wat.. It was stunning… Only there were a lot of clouds but still it was beautiful. As it is so famous it was overcrowded with tourists. We really enjoyed the sunrise and took this amazing photo! The reflection of the temple in the water makes it even more special.
Now we understand why this temple is so famous.. No words can describe this place you have to experience it yourself. We saw a lot of photos before we went there but when you stand in front of the temple you just get blown away.. It’s huge! The sunrise gave a touch of perfection to the temple..
The attention for details in the construction of the temple is impressive! They made such beautiful designs on the walls. We want to show you some with the photos below.
But we did not only visit the Angkor Wat temple we also visited a few other temples as they were a part of the “Sunrise Angkor Wat & Secret Temples tour”.
Ta Prohm is known for the trees growing out of the ruins which is pretty impressive it’s also called the “the Tomb Raider”.
The Bayon Temple was really unique with over 200 massive stone faces looking out over the Kingdom.
Ta Nei temple was a non-touristy temple which was was nice after the overcrowded Angkor Wat Temple. It’s also known as the “mysterious temple”. A big part of the temple collapsed.
Angkor Thom City, the last great capital of the Khmer empire, means in English “Great City”.
The temples of Cambodia were a really unique experience as they were so different compared to these of Vietnam and Thailand. The temples at Angkor are pure and made out of raw material. The temples in Vietnam and Thailand are much more about glitter and glamour which is also very beautiful but it’s different. It’s great to experience both.
Our Angkor Wat experience was amazing and we had an awesome time there. After a 4 night stay in Siem Reap in the AWESOME hostel Lub d it was time to move on and fly to Thailand. We were so ready for a new country, a new adventure!