Today we got up at 4:30am to head to the airport and get our flight to Cambodia. Unfortunately after getting to the airport our flight was delayed by about an hour but it went smoothly otherwise and we landed in Siem Reap without issue. One perk of missing the flight and having to contact our hotel is that I learned they provide free a Tuk Tuk pick up from the airport. So when we arrived we met our Tuk Tuk driver and headed to the hotel.
Once at our hotel, we took a shower and cooled off a bit before texting Channa. Before we arrived in Siem Reap I had read a blog that referred Channa as a good guide and Tuk Tuk driver for Angkor Wat. So about a month before our trip I arranged with Channa a tour around Angkor Wat so we didn’t need to haggle in the street and good just get going right away. So Channa came a picked us up and we were off to explore the temples in the “grand circuit” of the Angkor Wat area.
As we drive thru the temple area it was clear Jacob and I didn’t understand the scale of the temple complex around Angkor Wat. It’s huge with several minutes drive between each temple/stop. Our first stop was Preah Khan, a temple dedicated to the father of King Jatavarman VII who was the ruler of the Khmer empire at that time. The temple was built in the 12th century and surrounded by a thriving city of thousands with in the main outer wall of the area.
Next stop on the route was Neak Poan Temple which was a temple dedicated to providing medicine and hot baths to the local community. There wasn’t much left to see if the temple other than the central bathing area.
Next up was Ta Som Temple. This temple was also at the end of the 12th century for King Jayavarman VII and dedicated to his father. This was one of the first temples we visited with trees over growing the temple and it looks really cool.
We then made our way to one of the cooler temples on the circuit, Mebon Temple. We were even able to climb up to the upper levels of this temple.
We rounded out the Grand Circuit with Pre Rup Temple. At this point we were starting to lag with 98 degree heat and 80% humidity.
Glad to be done with the Grand Circuit, Channa took us back to our hotel where we took a much needed shower, relaxed, and waited for the sun to set before adventuring out for the night to the down town area of Siem Reap. We had a good night hopping from bar to bar and grabbed street food as we wandered.
