10 Days in Cambodia

Today marks our last day in Cambodia and I am sitting here thinking about how 10 days wasn't nearly enough time to explore this beautiful country. We began our trip in Siem Reap, 15 minutes from a complex full of ancient temples where the world's largest religious monument stands, then we moved on to the capital where we learned about the heartbreaking history that happened not long ago. If we had more time, we would've gone on a jungle trek in the northeast and explored some of Southeast Asia's most beautiful islands that lie off the coast of Cambodia. I can't believe we originally only planned to come for 3 days... If you ever come to Cambodia, don't be like 90% of tourists and only go to Siem Reap. This country has so much more to offer. This was just the preview... We will be back!

A little background history: Cambodia is home to 17.4 million people (as of 2023) and 93% of the population is Buddhist. The people speak Khmer and the top two biggest industries are textiles and tourism.

Angkor Wat

5 nights in Siem Reap, Home of Angkor Wat

We arrived at our hostel late in the evening after going through immigration and taking a 45-minute tuk tuk (open air 3-wheeled taxi) from the airport. We were greeted by the amazing staff at Siem Reap Pub Hostel who warmly welcomed us to Cambodia. We were originally only going to stay for 2 nights but then we added a 3rd night, then a 4th, then a 5th. You can't beat a $7 (each) air conditioned private room and bathroom with a pool and delicious cheap food, and the helpful staff who made our time here seamless. We walked to Siem Reap's famous "Pub Street" and had some gelato.

Pub Street

We quickly realized that prices were listed in US dollars, which was very confusing since we were so far from home. We learned that most businesses accept USD and Cambodia's currency, Riel. The reason for this is because the country experienced hyperinflation in the 90s, which encouraged the use of US dollars. I didn't have any cash left, so I took out Cambodian Riel. $1 equals 4,000 Riel, which made for quite the learning curve.

Sometimes you get a mix of USD and Riel back as change!

Our first full day in Cambodia was sort of a day off. I have been in a perpetual state of exhaustion for the past month, so I decided to spend my first day taking it easy. I used this time to watch a couple documentaries about Angkor Wat, the ancient temple we'd be exploring the next day. For dinner, we picked a restaurant that was hosting a free Aspara show, a traditional dance show. It was a beautiful display of Cambodian culture put on by local youth.

Day 2 was spent exploring Angkor Wat, the world's largest religious monument built in the early 12th century making it about 900 years old. It was almost lost to the jungle until a French explorer stumbled upon it while researching exotic insects in 1860. It's a massive structure that is surrounded by a huge wall and an intricate water system. It's one of those places where you can't wrap your head around the fact that something so vast could be built so long ago. Angkor Wat was originally built as a Hindu temple, but became a Buddhist temple by the end of the 12th century. The craziest part is that Angkor Wat is just one of over 1,000 temples located in this complex. There are 72 major temples and after 3 days of exploring, we still only scratched the surface.

Beautiful Angkor Wat

Day 3 was spent exploring Bayon Temple, Ta Prohm, Ta Keo, and Terrace of the Elephants, other major temples in the Angkor complex. I think Angkor Wat is worth all the hype it gets, but I think the other temples are underrated. They are so much less trafficked and just as impressive.

One of several gates around the Angkor complex

Bayon Temple was our first stop! We had an epic game of hide-and-seek here (highly recommend). There are monkeys and bats living in this temple. I had a monkey jump on me.

Bayon Temple

A screenshot from a video Atticus took. This monkey wanted my hat and sunglasses lol

Ta Prohm is often called "the jungle temple" and was my personal favorite because I saw this temple as a beautiful display of the power of the Earth to take itself back despite human settlement.

Ta Prohm's most famous photo opt. Not pictured: the long line of people waiting for this photo

I thought this photo opt was even more impressive and no one was around

Ta Keo was a treat because we had it all to ourselves at sunset!

Ta Keo

We ended our day at the famous Cambodian circus, called "Phare." This was a human-only circus... I will never support any kind of circus that exploits animals, but I love seeing talented humans doing crazy tricks! This circus happens 365 days a year and the profits support Phare Ponleu Selpak, a non-profit organization that provides education, art schools, and social support to Cambodians in need. They also hold a world record for putting on the longest circus performance in March of 2021. This show lasted 24 hours, 10 minutes, and 30 seconds!

Thank you Atticus for capturing the action shots!

The cast of Phare

Our last full day was spent exploring more of the Angkor complex. I haven't mentioned that we did our exploring on a motorbike, which was an experience in itself! I rented my own bike the first day then rode on the back of Atticus's the next couple days. Navigating traffic can be a bit complex at times, but this was one of the best places we could've had a motorbike experience.

We explored Prasat Preah Khan, another huge temple that once again blew us away! Then we went on a 15 minute hike up to Phnom Bakheng, a temple famous for watching the sunset, where we enjoyed the sunset with about 1,000 other tourists.

Prasat Preah Khan

The following photos were 2 of many taken by a security guard. He asked if he could use Atticus's camera to take our photo then took us on a full blown impromptu photoshoot that we didn't ask for. We eventually had to end it and walk away because he asked for a tip even though we never asked to have our photo taken in the first place.

First photo of our impromptu photoshoot

He told us how to pose lol

Phnom Bakheng at sunset

My motorbike gave me "Jet X" vibes so 8-year old Meg was thriving! (Only Zoey 101 fans will get this)

The next day we took a van from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh, about a 5 hour trip. There were so many options for this journey and our hostel helped us pick the best one. One of the best things about hostels is all of the resources they provide as far as booking tours and transportation. This hostel in particular was exceptionally helpful.

3 nights in Phnom Penh, Cambodia's capital

Royal Palace thanks to Atticus

We checked into our adorable studio apartment that cost $10 a night (total, so $5/each!) then went out to explore the bustling city. We had a tuk tuk drop us off at a riverside night market. We took a stroll through the busy market and eventually ended up on a busy street lined with restaurants and bars. We picked one that offered traditional Cambodian cuisine. After dinner, we were drawn towards a big neon sign that read, "night life" and entered what I thought was going to be another strip of restaurants and bars. It wasn't long before we realized we had entered the red light district. I knew prostitution was legal here, but I never expected to see so many young girls. A lot of the girls looked like they were teenagers - some looked as young as 14. Once we realized where we were, we then noticed the old white men picking them out and taking them inside. It was an appalling sight to see and something I'll never be able to unsee. I understand that there are some benefits to legal prostitution regarding safety of the women, but to see children involved in this made it all feel SO evil. I think the men that leave their privileged countries to come to a less developed country to pay for sexual favors with minors should face sex offender charges in the country where they came from. I don't know how some people live with themselves.

The next day, I needed a day off. I woke up really sad thinking about what I had seen the night before. I couldn't stop thinking about those poor girls. I also couldn't shake the constant fatigue I'd been feeling for weeks. Conveniently, my best friend, Karli, released her 4th book on this day. I had it preordered and it was waiting for me on my Kindle when I woke up, so I spent the day cafe hopping and walking around the city, reading in different places. You can order her book here: i'll wait till dawn by karli crispin. Karli writes beautiful, creative, inspiring collections of poetry. This one tells the story of the breakdown of a toxic relationship and the rediscovering of one's identity. She is an amazing person, an incredibly talented writer and a fellow world-traveler. Go check her out! Atticus spent the day exploring on his own and we met up for dinner later that evening.

Reading by the river after sunset :)

After a much-needed day off, we set out to learn about the heartbreaking history of Cambodia. The first stop was the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, where we learned about the evil acts committed against the people of Cambodia during the Democratic Kampuchea regime, commonly called the Khmer Rouge, from 1975-1979. The regime took power after a brutal civil war that left the country pitted against each other and with huge discrepancies in income, making the country susceptible to a revolution. The country also suffered severe damage from American bombs during the Vietnam war, which also heavily contributed to Cambodia's vulnerability. Pol Pot became the Democratic Kampuchea party's leader and began efforts to attempt to create a classless agrarian society. He cleared cities and forced people to work on farms resulting in many people dying of starvation and being overworked. Anyone who was seen as a threat to the regime's efforts were sent to prisons where they were interrogated, tortured, and often executed. Most of these people were completely innocent and they were often tortured until they wrongly admitted fault of some kind. The museum is actually one of the former prisons, known as S-21. Only 12 victims are believed to have survived. We paid for an audio tour that walked us through graphic details of unthinkable acts of violence that occurred inside the walls of the prison. There are several rooms lined with the photos of some of the victims, men, women, and children of all ages. There were also photos of prisoners who were on the brink of death and paintings of various torture methods recreated by a survivor. This act of pure evil happened less than 50 years ago. In just 4 years, it's estimated that 2 million Cambodians were killed, which accounts for one-fourth of the population.

After the museum, we went to Choeung Ek Genocidal Center, one of the many "killing fields" in Cambodia where people were brutally executed and buried in mass graves. Collectively, 1.3 million people were killed in this way. This place had one of the most somber energies I've ever experienced. We also did the audio tour here and learned about the dark history of what happened just 50 years ago. I'm not comfortable sharing graphic details, but I will share a few photos that tell a small part of the dark history. I implore you to take the time to learn more about this important piece of history that took place not long ago.

It was an extremely heavy day and it gave us so much respect for the people of Cambodia. Upon doing research on this country, someone pointed out that there are not many elderly people living today due to losing so many people 50 years ago. I had the same observation and it broke my heart. This country and its people are so resilient.

*Trigger warning: Photos depict extreme violence

Caged hallways to prevent prisoners from committing suicide

Clothing of victims recovered from the mass graves

S-21 Memorial

"Killing Tree" where infants and children were murdered

We decided to lighten the mood by going on a sunset boat tour, but honestly, it didn't feel right and was a bit hard for me to enjoy. My brain couldn't stop thinking about what I had just learned. It's one of those pieces of history that you can't wrap your head around because it's so evil and inhumane. It takes the meaning of "life is unfair" to a whole new degree.

Later that night, we decided we wanted our final moments in Cambodia to be fun and lighthearted, so we went to a rotating rooftop bar and had dessert among the skyline. We talked about the emotional day we had and took a moment to honor all of those affected by the crimes against humanity.

The next day we slept in, checked out of our Airbnb, and had our last Cambodian meal at our favorite restaurant in town, Khmer Women. We filled up on delicious mango salad and fish curry then went to a cafe to camp out before getting on our bus to Vietnam at 4pm. We showed up at the bus station at 3:30pm like we were told, but the company told us that the third party we had booked through didn't communicate to them that they had switched our tickets from 3pm to 4pm. Since we didn't book directly through the agency, we were the ones to get the boot. We ran down the street to another bus station to see if they could squeeze us in, but their last bus of the day was fully booked. We were told we'd need to get a private taxi or fly, both options that were way over our budget. We realized pretty quickly that we wouldn't be getting to Vietnam that day like we had planned. We were bummed at first, mainly because we booked a nice, over budget Airbnb for Valentine's Day that we wouldn't get to enjoy, but the negativity lasted about 2 seconds because everything we had learned the day prior put life in a different perspective for us... We felt we had no room to complain about our situation and felt blessed to get a bonus night in Phnom Penh! We rebooked the same Airbnb and set out to find a pool where we could cool off with a swim. If you ever research travel in Cambodia, you will notice everyone complains about how hot it is... the rumors are true! It is sweltering, but I'd still rather be uncomfortably hot than cold any day. We found a pool that was offering a deal where if you spent $5 on food, you could swim for free. We spent most of the day exhausted but something about getting stuck in Cambodia for an extra night gave us so much energy! After our swim, we checked into the same Airbnb, then went out for some delicious Mexican food that I had been craving. Then we went out on Basaac Lane, a famous street home to many restaurants and bars.

The next day, we got to the bus station at noon. We opted for the midday bus because we're not morning people, but also didn't want to risk being on the last bus again. When we checked in, they wanted to see our passports and visas since we'd be crossing a border. A man told me through Google translate: "I noticed that your passport and visa name are different so I called the border and they said 50%." I had no idea if he meant I had a 50% chance of getting into Vietnam or if 50% of people mix this up, but he let me on the bus after debating not to, so I was hopeful. When I filled out my visa application, I specifically remember being confused about where to put my first vs. middle name and apparently I got it mixed up. I am happy to report I was allowed to enter Vietnam but only after encountering one of the coldest border guards I've ever met.

More about Vietnam coming soon, but first I want to reflect on our Cambodia experience. When we were doing research, we read quite a few warnings about safety. For example, it was recommended to not walk with your phone in your hand due to reports of valuables being quickly swiped by locals on motorbikes. Before leaving Thailand, I bought a string that attaches my phone to my purse, but I honestly don't think it was necessary. Bad things happen everywhere around the world, but I felt very safe in Cambodia. I went off on my own in both Siem Reap and Phnom Penh and felt totally safe as a solo woman. The locals can be very forward when trying to sell things, but not in a way that ever made us uneasy. Cambodia's tourism industry is still developing, which results in a more high pressure approach to selling goods and services.

Something that did really bother me about Cambodia was the presence of child begging and child labor. We read about child begging and learned that it's not good to give in because it perpetuates the cycle. If every tourist stopped giving in, the adults behind the child begging operations would have to figure out a better way to make money. What is really hard about this is that young children, some look as young as 3, will approach you at a restaurant or on the street with puppy dog eyes and a basket of souvenirs and say "$1 please" over and over again. If you show the slightest bit of interest, they will not leave, so you eventually have to ignore them. It is absolutely heartbreaking. We also noticed many young children running food stalls. Some looked as young as 10 years old :(

This was in the bathroom at the circus

One thing that I do really appreciate about Cambodia is the fact that is it normal to bring your children to work. There are children in restaurants, spas, motorbike rental shops, etc, which gives the parents the freedom to make money while they care for their children. I'll never understand why it is so normalized in the US to work full time just so that most, if not all, of that income goes to paying someone else to watch your child. Bringing children to work is actually normal in all of Southeast Asia. We're currently in Sapa, Vietnam and last night a lady giving me a foot massage was simultaneously helping her son with his homework. In the US, I can totally see the "Karen-type" throwing a fit over this, but I loved it. Why would I want a mother to be separated from her child if she doesn't have to be?

Overall, I think Cambodia is a must-visit destination in Southeast Asia! This country is full of friendly people, delicious food, beautiful temples, and very important, heavy history. If you ever make the trip, give yourself at least 10 full days.

A moment for the food in Cambodia


Bai Sach Chrouk - most popular breakfast item: pork & rice

This was at a convenience store. I wish we had these options at 711s back home!

Khmer Omelet - we had this everyday at the hostel in Siem Reap

Mango salad & fish amok (coconut milk curry)

Delicious smoothie bowl

Last meal at our favorite restaurant, Khmer Women - or at least we thought this was our last meal ;)

Valentine's Day breakfast for $3 each! (Not pictured - tea also included)