NEW! 6 Unforgettable Days in SIEM REAP, CAMBODIA: Angkor Wat, Floating Village, Markets, Travel Vlog

The city of Siem Reap, Cambodia lies 90 minutes east of Bangkok by plane. And whilst it will always best be known as entrance to the spectacular city of Angkor Wat, there's heaps more here to keep you busy. Starting with a great mix of cuisine and markets catering to all styles, tastes and budgets. A surprisingly fun circus show holding its own Guinness World Record. A healthy range of excellent affordable hotels to unwind, and a sensory overload of entertainment streets. Add to this the best variety of day trips I've found all coming from one central starting point, and of course, there's the Angkor Wat Archaeological Park itself. Quite simply the most breathtaking location I've ever experienced, and the definition of bucket list that you simply cannot miss at the end of this video. If you're unlikely to ever visit Cambodia then please let me take you here for free, but if you may, I'll show you what options you have and how to make the most from your time. This is Suitcase Monkey with six full days around Siem Reap, Cambodia. You can quite easily hit all central hotspots here in one single day, with downtown Siem Reap being a total patchwork of activity and style. I did find though that having that second day in the city allows for some much needed downtime in between the long excursion days I'd be taking. It is a relatively easy city to walk around, but you can always just book a Grab Tuk Tuk for a few dollars, which is fun in itself. After landing my ride from the airport was welcomed with this inviting sunset, so after check-in Siem Reap by night was my first introduction. And this is when the city really comes into its own. For an opening night in any new city, I always find the night market is the best way to settle in, and this string of lakeside stall diners was perfect. My first surprise though was seeing everything listed in US dollars. Turns out the instability of the Cambodian real has meant it's been directly tied to USD for more than 30 years. But if you do want to use dollars they'll need to be in great condition, so I still found it easiest just paying in local currency, and they'll convert it at the official rate. Overall then, I'd say the Siem Reap night market scene, with all its eclectic style, is one of the city's best highlights. So let's run down a few of my favourites to mark on your map. The Old Market is probably the easiest to recommend, slightly due to it being the largest and most central. But despite its name, it also had a surprisingly good run of modern stalls around its fringe, largely leaning towards organic and herbal gift ideas. Likewise, the Made in Cambodia market provided a solid range of pop-up style shops and kiosks, whereas Candel Village has become a small but trendy hangout for boutique window shopping and perhaps even some shopping shopping. Likewise, on the food front, whether market or restaurant, Siem Reap exceeded my expectations once more. Compared to the outdoor street food I had on night one, this indoor more pricey market is a solid alternative. With loads of stalls lining its perimeter and a live music show underway, it had a really good vibe to it, and makes a simple choice for larger groups with different needs. In general, Cambodian cuisine shares much with its neighbouring countries, but often with less spice. So Fish Amok is the signature dish that you'll see everywhere. Comparable to a Thai green curry I guess, but with melt-in-your-mouth fish, it's an easy recommendation. I've linked all the markets, restaurants and upcoming attractions in one free downloadable PDF format if you're wanting to replicate any part of this trip. The Beef Lok Lak is another popular dish. This is stir-fried beef cubes served over a sweet tangy sauce with rice and a fried egg. Another easy suggestion. But easily my favourite restaurant was the night I wanted to treat myself, and I paid the highest bill as a result. Situated over two storeys, this Cambodian restaurant specialises in traditional flavours, but presents them with a modern twist. Every mouthful I had here was really unique in both texture and flavour, so much so I came back a second time. I even enjoyed the diet cock, which I didn't think I would, but here we are. Undoubtedly though, the most famous road for food and drinks in Siem Reap is Pub Street. And yes, with a name like that, it certainly isn't shy about coming forward. Whether this is your idea of holiday heaven or hell, it all seems so at odds with the spiritual Angkor Wat just 30 minutes down the road. But it was a sensory overload that still put a smile on my face. As for how you can spend your time during daylight, I must confess a decent few hours were just enjoying my hotel. While searching for accommodation here, I'd go as far as saying that along with Kuala Lumpur, this city has some of the best bang for your buck I've found, with reasonable pricing for four and five star hotels. So I think for this reason, it's a great city to spoil yourself. For £38 a night, my hotel was in a good quiet location, walkable to the city centre with good facilities and super helpful staff. Along with the dining, I've linked this hotel and alternatives on screen and below. When I did pull myself away from the pool, although this isn't essential, I also enjoyed making a few detours to some of the city's larger temples. They are quite spread out, but again, a few dollars through Grab will easily get you to your destination. There's also a massive range of spas dotted around. With higher end massages hovering around $10, I ended up finding this great little place just across the river. It was really relaxed, the staff were all super thoughtful, and I can't recommend them enough. My longest daytime stop though was the Angkor National Museum, which takes between one to three hours. I'll save my overall findings on the actual city of Angkor to the last chapter of this video, and believe me, it is worth waiting for. So a visit here acts more as a solid introduction. All the religion, relics and rulers told within an air-conditioned space. It certainly isn't essential, but still good enough, and I enjoyed the big tease before experiencing the real thing in person. But again, I'll save that for the end of this video. Finally, the last experience I have to mention is the Cambodian Circus, who also holds the Guinness World Record for single longest circus performance, lasting a full 24 hours in runtime. This high-energy show combines theatre, comedy, music and acrobatics, with almost 75% of its profits going to local schools and art centres. The show itself changes over the year, but typically involves themes around war, discrimination or relationships, and I absolutely loved this show. The music itself was a particular highlight, and the charismatic performers put on an excellent show that didn't take itself too seriously, was heaps of fun, and I'd encourage everyone to make time for. As mentioned, a visit to Siem Reap is more than just the city itself. Its location makes it an almost unbeatable spot for excursions to its neighbouring regions, and for tomorrow, I'd be starting with my first of three different day trips, visiting the largest lake in all of Southeast Asia. Before we continue to our next chapter, I want to look at the burden that long-haul travel can put on your spending. So for the times you're unable to commit to such a large cost so far in advance, Pay Later Travel, the sponsor for this segment, is a great way to get you where you want to go whilst managing your holiday budget. Pay Later Travel lets you find your flights as usual, but then both lock in the price and save a seat for you with whatever deposits suit you at the time. This means you can't be stung by airline price hikes or a lack of availability, whilst breaking costs down to a more manageable payment schedule over the weeks or months before take-off. The total price shown to you at the time of the booking is the final price, so there's no added interest from what you originally commit to. And once that final payment is made, your tickets are sent to you as normal and you can enjoy your holiday having paid everything off already. There's no impact on your credit score or credit checks, no early repayment fees, and a great trust pilot score from thousands of customer reviews. To learn more, visit paylatertravel.com using the code SUITCASE to get a $25 discount and lock in your next holiday destination. The Tonle Sap Lake presents a difficult problem. On the one hand, it provides the largest pool of sustenance and sustainability for people to live here. However, a unique set of circumstance means this lake swells to a crazy five times larger in size during wet season. And its inhabitants, now around 80,000, found a solution that lets them live off this biodiverse landscape whilst mitigating its annual change. Through a mixture of stilts and floating platforms, this is a real working village, with schools, homes, stores, temples and Christian churches all living on the lake. I travelled in November, the start of dry season, and waters were still holding at their peak. So just keep in mind that a visit in April, the end of dry season, would be a very different experience. Fishing is obviously the main source of income, but when visiting, you do have the additional option of taking a mangrove forest canoe. This is always paid directly to the rowers in cash, not the tour company and turned into my highlight for the day. Whilst it was quite easy to feel a sense of isolation here, don't be fooled that at times, this can feel like a tourist conveyor belt with the boarding procedure of Small Small World. But at least for this part, your money is going directly to the village. It is a bit weird looking into people's homes in this way, and I guess afternoon balcony nookie is probably out of the question for me. but it's still an experience that has stuck with me ever since. Considering all of this was just one hour south of Siem Reap, I was eager to see what else lay on its doorstep. Tomorrow I'd be moving further north, again just over one hour away, visiting a national park that holds one of Cambodia's most sacred locations. Almost 150 square miles, the Phnom Kulen National Park is birthplace to the ancient Khmer Empire. And this word Khmer, or Khmer as locals would say, is the ethnicity for the vast majority of people in Cambodia, making this whole area one of the country's most important. Best explored with a guide for full understanding, you move from remote temples to tiered waterfalls and sacred rivers. Upon closer inspection, just beneath the water here, you'll find hundreds of 11th century carvings. Known as lingas, this physical representation of the Hindu god Shiva means the river itself becomes blessed as the water runs over it. Thus this whole mountain range is turned into one massive automated holy water tap, feeding Angkor Wat, Siem Reap, and the entire empire with sacred water on its way down. Despite a historical link to Hinduism, the Khmer Empire over its 600 years would eventually shift towards Buddhism. And this nearby temple is an active but peaceful ground built in and around its natural habitats, including its most famous resident, a 16th century reclining Buddha carved out of the stone itself. We ended our time today with a couple of hours at the Phnom Kulen waterfall. Sitting in parallel to the falls, numerous seating areas are prepared for lunch, complete with a full picnic spread before cooling off for the afternoon. As much as I enjoyed everything I've shared so far, I cannot tell you how much I was anticipating my final two days around Siem Reap. And the reason was one final destination that's been on my bucket list since I can remember, and yet somehow still far exceeded all of my expectations. In all my years of travel, if I had to choose the best place I've ever visited, which I really wouldn't want to, but if I had to, it would be the entire Angkor Archaeological Park, just 30 minutes from Siem Reap. To put this vast region into perspective, it was built up and lived in over a period of 600 years from the 9th century. The capital of the Khmer Empire, it is the largest urban development of the pre-industrial era, the world's first mega city. Leagues ahead in size compared to medieval London, its footprint is still larger than modern day Paris. Yet it's a city that was mysteriously abandoned by its inhabitants, swallowed up by jungle, and largely ignored until the last 160 years. And to visit in person is incredible. There's so much I want to say about my time here, so I'll try to keep it as succinct as possible for why this place is so special, both historically and as a tourist. But I'll be following up with a second video covering the practicalities and choices you can make as a visitor, which I'll link that video at the end once it's ready. The Angkor Wat Temple on its own is still the largest religious monument in the world, but whilst this might be the poster child for this whole region, it is just one of hundreds of different temples. And as great as Angkor Wat itself might be, it still hangs around the middle of my own personal rankings, so for me it is just the tip of the iceberg. But I probably should mention that I am more of an underdog kind of guy, so take that with a pinch of salt. To explore the grounds, I'd booked a private tuk-tuk over two separate days, which for me was just about right, and I'll explain more why in that follow-up Angkor Wat dedicated video. But time-wise, as I saw with some visitors, if you do enjoy posing for selfies, as I clearly do, then maybe you'll need an extra day. Typically, day one covers the more popular route and therefore busier temples, and the second allows for a more peaceful trip. Of the 12 temples I'd walk, it was usually the more isolated experiences that made my time here so special. In these moments, since you are truly forging your own path, I have never felt more like Indiana Jones or Lara Croft, and this sense of self-led discovery is what I remember most. Although some might get bored after a few temples, oh, it's just a bunch of rocks, innit? I was still always able to find something unique about each stop, then finding a solitary spot to catch my breath and imagine the history that's fallen beneath my feet was always mind-boggling. What of course is missing from the grounds today are its wooden homes, schools, and markets, and what allowed all of this to work and bring each town to life was an insanely complex road and water system, used for both irrigation and transport. And so before the Dutch were even perfecting their canals, the Khmer Empire had already built an entire network that made this possible, all for a population debated to be anywhere from 750,000 to 1 million people at its peak. This elaborate bridge, for example, marks just one single entrance, forming a giant snake being pulled along the whole crossing. And there are countless details like this that make the whole experience a constant stream of mini-discovery, inscriptions that would have taken decades to carve, artwork depicting their daily lives, and even how nature has tried to reclaim itself back from deforestation. The city's downfall is believed to have been caused by a number of factors. Its intricate water system was ultimately too delicate to cope with the changing seasons and ballooning population. It was ransacked from the emerging kingdom of Siam, or Thailand as we know it today. Its people found more forgiving land further east, where the modern day capital of Phnom Penh sits. And faith in its leaders was ultimately lost. So fortunately for us visitors, all of this was simply left abandoned to be rediscovered centuries later. I got the chance to visit as the sun rose over Angkor Wat, as the sun set from up high, and I'll discuss the pros and cons to all of that and more in that follow-up Angkor Wat video guide. Everywhere featured in this video is directly linked on screen or below. Please leave a like if you've gotten this far, and let me know your thoughts in the comments. So until the next Angkor Wat video drops, thank you for watching, Suitcase Monkey.