Siem Reap, Cambodia

As we round out our Indochina journey we can officially confirm that “wet season” is a hoax. That, or we have gotten extremely lucky because the weather we have had in Siem Reap (and honestly our entire trip so far) could not have been better, allowing us to explore all different facets of the city.

We started our journey at Angkor Wat, the largest religious site in the world. Measuring in at over 400 acres, we decided to utilize Vespas to traverse the massive UNESCO World Heritage Site. Although Angkor Wat was built in the 12th century by the Khmer Empire, the site was not popularized until the mid-1850’s when French explorer Henri Mouhot raved about the site in his publicized travel notes. In addition to dashing through the sites al la Temple Run and exploring the temple made famous by the movie Tomb Raider, we enjoyed a lakeside lunch, eating with the locals and tasting an array of Cambodian cuisines.

The following day, we ventured out to the Cambodian countryside via bicycle. Here, our tour guide took us to a local rice husker where we learned first hand about the rice farming process. While there are two different types of rice crop (long term and short term), a lot of short term harvesting is happening right now. Out in the countryside, 40% of their harvesting power is still done by animal due to the cost of utilizing machines in the fields, so you often seen lots animals pulling plows.

Further into the countryside in a town of about 500 families, we stopped by the local farmers market where crops, meats, grains and everything in-between are sold 365 days a year. It was pretty wild to see vendors cutting off the heads of chicken and fish right next to where you would purchase a toothbrush. Our 25km bike tour concluded at a local hut where we could rest in hammocks and enjoy a refreshing breeze.

In contrast to our busy days, our nights were spent kicked back on Pub Street drinking the local beer (Matt’s favorite so far) and attending the local Cambodian Circus, a music, acrobatic and theater show put on by Cambodian youth.