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RTW Trip Day #37: Exploring Angkor Wat and the Siem Reap Water Festival
- andrewsco3
- Nov 5
- 4 min read
Updated: Nov 7
4 November 2025
Steps: 12,726
Today was our first day exploring the Angkor temple complex, which is the unofficial 8th wonder of the world, and one of the main reasons we wanted to visit Cambodia on our trip.
We hired a tuk tuk driver for the day called Mr. Vet, who took us around the temples for $20 USD. We’d pre-booked our tickets online the night before through the app, so it was easy to just scan the barcode on our phones when we arrived.
Angkor Wat Temple
The first temple we visited was Angkor Wat, which is by far the most famous temple in the complex. It’s absolutely massive.
As you walk across the bridge over the wide moat that surrounds it, you really start to appreciate the scale of this place.
Of course, it’s busy since it’s such a popular site, but there are still plenty of spots where you can get away from the crowds. Along the path to the main temple, there are smaller buildings you can wander through and open grassy areas where the kids can play.
Inside the outer walls of Angkor Wat, the detail is incredible. Almost every pillar and walkway is covered in carvings, many showing ancient battles and scenes from Khmer history.
The architecture is simply mind-blowing. We found ourselves saying “how on earth did they do that?” more times than I can count.
At the centre, there’s a courtyard with a temple you can climb (it’s limited to visitors aged 12 and up, and there was a bit of a queue). I climbed to the top, and it was absolutely worth it for the view back over the bridge and pond we’d crossed earlier, as well as the beautifully detailed courtyard at the top.
Bayon Temple Complex
Next, we made our way to Bayon, the second largest temple in the complex. To get there, we crossed the famous stone bridge leading to the South Gate of Angkor Thom, that is lined with rows of stone figures on either side. Passing through the towering gate on a tuk tuk was pretty amazing!
Bayon felt quite different from Angkor Wat. Instead of long, open walkways, its towers are stacked closer together, and each one has enormous faces carved into the stone. Seeing the detail of them up close is incredible.
Although smaller than Angkor Wat, Bayon feels more compact and maze-like, with narrow corridors, small rooms and steep stairways.
The kids loved exploring the tunnels and hidden corners, and it felt like stepping into an ancient stone maze waiting to be discovered.
By this point it was already 12.30, so we had Mr Vet drive us to a local restaurant for a bite for lunch and we decided we could fit one more temple in before retreating to our hotel for some pool time.
Ta Som Temple
After lunch, we decided to visit Ta Som Temple, which is quite a small temple, but one of the furthest temples to the north of the complex. We wanted to make the most of the girls’ energy after eating and tick it off our list before heading back.
Ta Som was much quieter than the first two temples we’d seen, and for most of our visit, we almost had it to ourselves. The peaceful atmosphere made it easy to slow down and really appreciate the details.
We had seen photos of an old tree that once grew over the entrance, where its roots twisted dramatically around the stones. Unfortunately, the tree was cut down a few years ago to preserve the structure and it was starting to become dangerous.
Even without the tree, it was still a wonderful temple to visit.
Dinner and the Siem Reap Water Festival
Before heading out for dinner, we had hoped to relax on our hotel balcony, but it turned out that the hotel was hosting a pool party to celebrate the Siem Reap Water Festival.
I’m all for joining in local celebrations…. but the music was so loud it felt like we were in Ibiza, not exactly the vibe we, or I imagine any other hotel guests were hoping for.
I complained, and they turned the music down a bit. Does that make me the old guy now?
For dinner, we went to Sambo, a local Khmer and Thai restaurant. I had the fish amok curry, Jess tried another Khmer curry, Susie went for a massaman curry, and Evelyn… got fish and chips! In fairness to her, it was actually pretty good.
From there, it was a short walk to the riverbank, which was alive with festivities as part of the Water Festival, that is running from 4–6 November while we’re here.
Boats floated down the river, lights illuminated the night sky, and market stalls were everywhere. We plan to head back tomorrow, as we had to cut our visit short when it started to rain - after all, it is the Water Festival.
Previous Day #36: The Giant Ibis Bus to Siem Reap
Next Day #38: Rest Day and Angkor Wat Putt
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