Since every traveler we met who had visited Cambodia was enthusiastic about Angkor Wat, we planned a stopover in Siem Reap to explore the area. We were welcomed once more by our two friends heat and humidity at the airport: They almost killed us when we stepped off the plane. The short ride to our guesthouse in downtown took us past an endless seeming strip of hotels and resorts, which, given the fact that Siem Reap is Cambodia’s tourism capital, did not surprise us. Most of them didn’t seem very busy, though, as the low season had just started.

Tuk-tuk in Siem Reap.

By the way, if you are looking for a reasonable priced hotel in Siem Reap, check out the Okay Guesthouse. We highly recommend staying there: very friendly staff, nice pool, bar and restaurant on the roof, wide offer of massages and other relaxing treats, good location near downtown with clean and simple rooms.

There are different ways to explore Angkor. We decided to do it within two days by bicycle, which set us back USD 88. While USD 40 per person for a multi-day pass may seem like a lot, it does give you access to the entire Angkor area, which contains many days worth of temples. Plus, splitting up the visit is actually not a bad idea, having in mind that after 11 AM the heat gets unbearable.

Angkor Wat is the best-preserved temple at the site and still the largest religious monument in the world. It was built by the Khmer King Suryavarman II in the early 12th century in Angkor, the capital of the Khmer Empire at that time. Due to a long dry period, all the inhabitants of Angkor fled and the city stayed abandoned for a long time.

A temple in Angkor.

We rode about 20 km on the first and 40 km on the second day. Heat and humidity never left our side. Neither did Vit and Nab. We met these two enthusiastic cyclists through ICF Cambodia. They didn’t only show us around for the two days, they gave us an insight in Cambodian life and culture as well.

David and Nab our cyclist friends.

The other highlight of Siem Reap was visiting ICF Cambodia, a church that was established in 2013 by a Swiss family. We were deeply impressed with their service to the community, and especially with their awesome project Elevate Campus. Seeing first hand the enthusiasm with which Nab, Vit and all the other young guys speak of this project, it really does seem like a life-changer. It’s inspiring to stand on a hill of dirt, overlooking a massive construction site and hearing about the vision behind it from the founder, ND Strupler. Bike track, waterslide, pump track, tennis courts, and two lakes with a wakeboard lift? Count us in!

Elevate Campus.

Angkor is nice, but it’s been dead for a while, where as Elevate Campus is only just starting. We’ll be back for that one! (And more nibbling fish…)

“Fish can do massage.”