4 Days in Siem Reap Cambodia

Coming from our time in Thailand, we decided to spend a quick 4 days in Siem Reap, Cambodia mainly to see Angkor Wat. After some research, we decided to take the bus from Bangkok to Siem Reap through Giant Ibis. This company seemed to have the better reviews and the best safety of the companies. It’s considered a VIP bus so it costs a bit more, but was worth it. The ride is about 8.5 to 9 hours and costs about $43 USD per person.

As a US citizen, we were required to have a visa to enter. There are a few ways to do this as of 2024. The first is apply for an e-visa on this website. The cost of the e-visa is between $30-40 USD. The other option is to get the visa when you arrive. Not too sure about this method, but apparently you can pay for the visa at immigration, but I’ve read that the time this takes can vary and it can also be a bit of a hassle. The third option, that we went with, is if you’re using a bus company like we were, you can pay an extra $5 USD per person to have the bus company handle the visa. This was super easy and worth the extra price.

What to Do in 4 Days in Siem Reap, Cambodia

When we arrived in Siem Reap, Cambodia, we had paid for the pick-up service through our hotel – they sent a tuk-tuk. The hotel we chose to stay at was Central Suite Residence. This hotel is probably one of the fanciest we’ve ever stayed in. It’s centrally located right near pub street and is absolutely beautiful.

The staff is incredibly friendly, so much so that we got a bit uncomfortable with it. Every time we walked off the elevator, about 4 staff members were greeting us. Every time we walked into the hotel after a day out, they asked us how our day was and what we did. It was nice, but for two people who don’t like a lot of attention, it got uncomfortable fast. We also felt we had to sneak around a bit with our tuk-tuk driver. I’ll get to that story in a second. So here’s what we did in Siem Reap, Cambodia.

Day 1: The Small Tour

Tip: Buy Angkor Wat tickets online to avoid having to go to the ticket booth and wait. Sean and I paid for the three day pass which was $62 USD per person. It includes all the temples in the complex. The ticket can easily be put on your phone to show at the various checkpoints.

First Stop: Angkor Wat

We started our first full day doing the small tour. We booked this through our hotel, which cost $15 USD for the tuk-tuk driver to take us to the three major temples. Most people do the sunrise tour of Angkor Wat, but the weather wasn’t great while we were there – it was very cloudy and rainy in the mornings. So we decided to skip that and instead scheduled to be picked up at 8 AM. The small tour typically includes the famous Angkor Wat, Bayon, and Ta Prohm (the Tomb Raider temple).

First stop was Angkor Wat, which was the capital city of the Khmer Empire. originally built in 1150 CE as a Hindu temple Angkor Wat later became a Buddhist temple at the end of the century. The complex is massive and took us about two hours of exploring. Afterwards, we found our tuk-tuk driver and went to the next site.

Next: Bayon Temple

While getting there, you’ll pass through the Tonle Om Gate and get to mesmerize at all the stone faces. Bayon Temple was built in the late 12th or early 13th century. It’s most recognizable for its huge stone serene smiling faces built into the temple. This temple is much smaller but still deserves the time to explore. The construction and craftsmanship is breathtaking. I think we spent about 45 minutes to an hour at this site.

Final Stop: Ta Prohm (Tomb Raider Temple)

After Bayon, we headed to the temple that was in the Angelina Jolie movie – Tomb Raider (Ta Prohm). It’s mind-boggling to think, but each of these temples kept getting more and more impressive. This temple was built in the late 12th to early 13th century and what’s amazing about it is that it was built without mortar so that once it was abandoned, trees started growing out of it. This is the temple that definitely makes you feel like you’re an explorer in a movie or video game. Sean and I kept saying it felt like we were in Uncharted (Nathannnnn!).

In the evening after our tour, we walked around Pub Street and checked out some of the local night markets. They have some amazing art work (not sure what’s real or not though).

Day 2: The Big Tour

The next day of our 4 days in Siem Reap, Cambodia, we ended up using the same tuk-tuk driver to take us on the big tour. Here’s where the story about lying to our hotel comes in. At the end of the first day, our tuk-tuk driver asked us to book with him outside of the hotel. We gather that he would get the whole payment if we just went through him. There are tons of tuk-tuk drivers around town that you can book, so it didn’t feel necessary to go through the hotel. He quoted us the same price as the hotel ($18 USD for the day) and we already knew him a bit.

The only problem was that he didn’t want us to tell the hotel. So when they asked us what we were planning that day, we felt the need to lie. It became a bit awkward when they liked to question us about our day whenever we came and went.

Anyway, aside from that, we had a great day. The big tour takes you farther out to some of the less known temples. These are the temples we visited on this tour: Banteay Kdei, Pre Rup temple, Eastern Mebon Temple, Ta Som, and Neak Poan Temple.

Day 3: Banteay Srey

Day 3 of our 4 days in Siem Reap, Cambodia, we decided to take the long ride out to Banteay Srey. This tour only takes you to one temple, but it’s a long ride of about 50 minutes so the price is more expensive at $25 USD for the day.

Banteay Srey is a 10th century Hindu temple dedicated to the Gods Shiva and Parvati. What’s unique and amazing about it is that it’s built from red sandstone so it looks pink. This temple is fairly small but the carvings and color are incredible. It’s definitely worth the extra time and price if you have the time. There’s a small restaurant there, which is where we had lunch.

Day 4: Last Day

Our fourth day in Siem Reap was technically the day we were leaving to go to Vietnam. But our flight was in the evening so we decided to leave our bags at the front desk of the hotel and go to Angkor National Museum.

We used the same tuk-tuk driver that we had been using as it was just easier than getting hassled on the street. There was a bit of a weird occurrence in that he had us stop at some office to buy tickets for the museum beforehand, saying that if we get the tickets from this office he gets a credit for gas. This is a common scam in SE Asia so we were a bit on edge, but he told us the price of the tickets (~$12 USD per person) and with a quick search, the prices matched those from the actual museum. So we just crossed our fingers and hoped the tickets were legit. Thankfully they were, so no harm done.

After the museum, we ate a quick 7/11 toastie lunch at the hotel before they had a car pick us up to take us to the airport.

Some Places We Ate in Siem Reap, Cambodia

Breakfast was included in our hotel so we ate there every morning. We also had dinner there one of the nights. That was a bit more expensive but very easy. We also enjoyed some of the restaurants on or nearby Pub Street. Some of them included: Socheata Restaurant (delicious and decently priced), Mesa – Restaurant (right on Pub Street so a bit more expensive but delicious food and great service), and Lost City Pizza Society (great pizza and run by an American expat couple).

All in all, it was an amazing 4 days in Siem Reap, Cambodia but extremely exhausting. If you’re planning on doing a trip like this, prepare for lots of walking. Also, we really believe Cambodia is a beautiful country with friendly people, but the amount of hawkers and hassling in Siem Reap was way too overwhelming and very off-putting. Every time we took one step outside our hotel we were being called to go into restaurants, get a tuk-tuk, get a massage, called in to souvenir stores, etc. We were constantly saying “no thank you” with every step we took. It was really unfortunate and exhausting. We understand that people are trying to make a living, but it definitely gets old, fast.

Final thoughts: I still can’t really comprehend or process these amazing complexes. It’s absolutely one of the most amazing things we’ve ever seen! It’s too difficult to but into words, you just have to see it for yourself.