It has been a little over four months since I visited Cambodia and Thailand, so I decided it was finally time to write about it. Shortly after I returned from this trip, my mom visited me, finals happened, and my computer decided to stop working. So armed with a new computer (and a bit more time on my hands), below is about my time in the two countries.
Since I was traveling on a budget, it was quite a bit cheaper to fly through Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia onto Siem Reap, Cambodia, than it was for a direct flight to Siem Reap from Singapore. The only caveat was an eight hour overnight layover in the Kuala Lumpur International Airport. I arrived in Malaysia at 11pm, with my flight to Cambodia leaving at 7am the next morning, I found a booth at a nearby restaurant to sleep on for the night. I quickly found that with lights, vacuums, and paranoia about my belongings being stolen while I slept, getting a good night’s sleep would be difficult. I was able to sleep for a little under an hour. The time dragged on, but I eventually was boarding my flight for Cambodia the next morning.
I arrived in Siem Reap at 8am, so I knew it was going to be a long day if I wasn’t able to sleep. I was picked at the airport by a tuk tuk, and was on my way to my hotel.
The Tuk Tuk that I rode around in for three days.
I was able to check into my hotel when I arrived, so I was able to take a couple hour nap to keep me going for the rest of the day. After the nap, I walked through downtown Siem Reap, and I was able to check out the vendors/resteraunts.
Pineapple, chicken, and rice for lunch.
After strolling around for the day, I went back to the hotel to set up my trip for the next day to the Angkor Archeological Park. After I finished that, I went back into Siem Reap to again, check out the vendors. 
Nutella pancake/crepe!
Whiskey anyone?
The famous Pub Street.
After a couple of hours walking around town, I called it a night. The next day I would be visiting the main attraction of Cambodia, and arguable the top in South East Asia, Angkor Wat.
For those reading that don’t know, Angkor Wat is the largest religious monument in the world, and was the capitol of the Khmer Empire, the largest pre-industrial urban center in the world. At its peak, the Khmer Empire ruled over portions of modern day Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam in addition to Cambodia.
After being picked up around 8am, I was off to explore.
Bas Reliefs within the temple. These carvings depicted battles throughout the history of the empire.
The intricacies of the carvings were incredible.
Looking outward from the entrance of the temple.
The moat surrounding the temple.
After exploring Angkor Wat, I visited the next temple, Bayon. Built in the late 12th century, Bayon was equally impressive. My favorite part about this temple was the uniqueness of it. Nowhere in the park could you find anything resembling Bayon.
Rubble on the outside of the temple.
Following Bayon, we visited Ta Prohm, the temple where the film ‘Tomb Raider’ was filmed. This temple was also unique in it’s own way, where the site has been left relatively untouched since the 12th century.
After the first three temples, we visited the smaller, less visited temples.
The extremely steep steps that replace the older, even steeper steps.
Just like having my mom with me.
Pit stop for a snack, $1 pineapples.
After exploring for the day in 100+ degree weather, I called it a day and headed back to the hotel. The next day was more of the same temples, so for the sake of the length of this post, I’ll skip to my final day in Cambodia.
The morning of the day I was heading to Bangkok, I woke up at 5:00am to watch the sunrise at Angkor Wat. One of the most sought after experiences in the world, I was thrilled to enjoy it.
Enjoying the sunrise with my closest friends.
After the sunrise, I went back to my hotel to cleanup and leave for Bangkok. Out of all the places I have been to in my life, I would easily say Cambodia was my favorite place. The people were so friendly; the sights second to none. Before returning to Singapore, I stayed in Bangkok for two nights.
I flew into Bangkok around 6pm, then I took a cab from the airport to the hotel I was staying at. I was staying two minutes away from Khao San Road in Bangkok, which in my opinion, is the mini Times Square of Thailand.
10 baht ($0.30) meat kabobs.
Coconut ice cream in a half coconut!
After walking around Khao San Road for a couple hours, I returned to the hotel to get some sleep for the night.
My first morning in Bangkok I visited the Grand Palace. The Grand Palace was the home of the King of Siam (later named Thailand) from 1782-1925.
Paintings in the hallways of the palace.
After leaving the Grand Palace, I visited Wat Pho, home to a 150 foot long reclining Buddha statue.
After Wat Pho, I crossed the Chao Phraya river to visit another temple in Wat Arun.
The boat I boarded to cross the river. It also cost a whopping 2 baht ($0.06).
Unfortunately, Wat Arun was under construction to restore the upper portion of the temple, so I was only able to climb to the first level.
Due to the scaffolding, I wasn’t able to get many pictures I liked, which explains the only two I posted. After Wat Arun, I walked to Chinatown.
Found some Mormons, which made me feel right at home.
Vendors in Chinatown.
Stopped to grab some coffee in Chinatown. This honestly was one of the best iced lattes I’ve ever had.
After Chinatown, I walked back to Khao San Road to enjoy my final night in Thailand.
Pad Thai vendor.
After walking around Khao San and purchasing a few things then having the aforementioned pad thai, I headed back to the hotel and called it a night. My final day in Bangkok I visited the MBK Center, a mall that houses over 2,000 shops, in Bangkok so I could be closer to the airport when it came time to leave. After wandering through the mall for an hour or so, I headed to the airport, back home to Singapore. This trip was one that I did alone. Traveling alone in a foreign country sounds frightening, but I honestly loved it. I brought along Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse 5, which now happens to be my favorite book. If anyone is looking for a new book to read, it is certainly one I would recommend. I’ll be writing my final thoughts on Singapore in a future post (I promise there won’t be as long of a wait between this and my next post), so stay watch for that if it interests you. Overall, this was probably my favorite vacation that I’ve ever been on. Although I wasn’t there for long, Cambodia and Thailand will always be places that I will recommend for anyone to visit.
As always, thanks for reading!
Alex Abroad 