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Two days is usually painfully short for a trip to an amazing place! Cambodia is a great exception. If you are pressed for time, Siem Reap is a great place to visit, see the sights, eat the food, and experience Angkor Wat, all in two days. As with all trips to fascinating countries, if you would like to absorb more of the culture I would recommend staying for a month or longer.
With Andreas’ work, we usually can’t stay for very long in the places we want to visit, so we try to experience everything we can in a short time. Because I think a lot of people would like to travel but often use the excuse that work gets in the way, I’m going to show you how to see Siem Reap and the famous Angkor Wat – all in two days.
Landing In The Airport
First, to make the most out of your two days, make sure you time your flights accordingly. We planned to stay one night and maximized our time by landing early in the morning and leaving late in the evening the next day.
Unexpectedly,one of the most unique experiences of our trip was getting a Cambodian visa upon arrival. The airport is very small, and as long as you have your paperwork, passport and cash organized, getting your visa is a swift process. There was a long counter where we handed all of our documents to the person on the end, and watched a perfect assembly line process that worked its way from person to person down the counter. We had both our visas in less than five minutes and were on our way to Siem Reap!
Siem Reap
Siem Reap is a very small town and is pretty easy to navigate on foot. We felt very safe wandering the streets and ordering street food. Everything here was very cheap. The price of a meal and drinks for two people was around $2. We checked into a hotel that was fairly close to Angkor Wat and communicated with them our itinerary ahead of time. We arranged with the hotel for someone to pick us up in a tuktuk to take us around Angkor Wat that day and the next and they gave us our recommendations as soon as we checked in. Planning ahead with our hosts saved us a lot of time!
How To Enter Angkor Wat
On entry, you get your picture taken and a paper “passport” is given to you to carry while you explore the ruins. Everything was very well organized when we arrived and we simply followed the instructions on the sign and had our passports and cash ready on entry. You can get a pass for one week, but we got two separate passes for the two days we spent in Angkor Wat.
Getting Around Angkor Wat
I suggest you ask your hotel to help you find a local tuktuk driver to take you around the ruins. It would be impossible to navigate them by foot in a very short amount of time, and the heat can get pretty unbearable! We told our driver we only had two days so he had a plan as to which parts of the ruins we should visit. He dropped us off at various places, we jumped out and explored, and then would find him later. We paid him at the end of the trip in cash.
What To Bring To Angkor Wat
Bring LOTS of water! It is very hot in Cambodia and you often don’t realize how much water you are losing through sweat. There are toilets around but bring your own toilet paper in case they are out of supplies. There are also vendors throughout the area who sell fruit and other food. Make sure you bring cash so you can buy snacks if needed, otherwise bring food that is non-perishable in the heat. I often bring cereal bars when I am not sure of the food situation!
Wear sunscreen, sunglasses and a hat if possible. Cambodians don’t mind shorts and tank tops, but if you want to visit temple areas bring a sarong so you can cover your knees and make sure you are wearing a t-shirt so your shoulders are covered.
Surprises
The biggest surprise for me in visiting Angkor Wat was that tourists were allowed to climb all over the ruins. We had no restrictions as to where we wanted to go. This was a really fun experience though it may not be possible forever, in the interest of preservation.
The other surprise was that it is so hot and muggy that when we went to see the sunrise one morning there was basically no sun! The sky was brown and the sun suddenly appeared as a strange red disk out of nowhere. It could be that when the weather is cooler there might be a nicer sky to look at, but it convinced me that all the beautiful Instagram shots you see of Angkor Wat skylines are very much Photoshopped.
Our Advice
Read up on Angkor Wat as much as possible before going. There are no signs to tell you what you are looking at, and often, your tuktuk driver/guide will not speak English well enough to explain things to you. Our driver was great in that he showed us a map and pointed to where we were going and where we were, but we couldn’t communicate beyond that and ask him what the significance of many places were to Cambodians.
Overall, I would put Angkor Wat as one of the top things you must see if you are planning on visiting South East Asia. The architecture is absolutely stunning and the Cambodian people are beautiful and friendly. We felt very safe and well taken care of while we were there. We were so glad that we got to see one of the architectural wonders of the world, even if we only had two days.
Are there any places you would like to spend more time in but only have a few days? What are your ways of making more time for travel, despite your work or personal life? Let me know in the comments below and maybe I will do another post on the destination you are looking at!
Go ahead and pin this image if you are thinking about visiting Angkor Wat!
I would love to visit Asia. Such ancient sites always make me feel so humble. Love the shot of Cambodian kids, going to re-pin it.
Yes, the sheer size and architecture of Angkor Wat is indeed humbling! I’m glad you enjoyed and hope that this inspires you to visit!
Lovely post with a lot of useful tips! I visited Angkor AND Siem Reap back in 2012 and we did it in total for 3 days. That was a bit rushed but not too bad. We only spent these 3 days in Cambodia and I am sorry we didn’t stay longer. Cambodia is a fascinating country. Anyways…Great post. Thanks, Severina
I’m so glad you were able to visit! We definitely wanted to stay longer than 2 days and I know that even 3 days might have felt rushed. Sometimes you just don’t have the time but still want to soak everything up!