This week it's the water festival in Cambodia! The school is closed for the week which means we get a 9 day holiday. On Saturday we caught a flight to Siem Reap, last time I came here I got the night bus which was great, but on this occasion we wanted to save some time and it was such a cheap flight.
Siem Reap is so much more than the temples, don't get me wrong they are amazing and a must if you're ever in Cambodia, but they don't show you the real Siem Reap. Here are some ideas of things to do in Siem Reap that aren't the temples.
1. Pottery and Quad biking with Quad Adventure Cambodia
This was a great day. We were picked up from our hostel (Lub.d) and taken to Khmer Ceramics at 1:45pm. The people who work there are deaf so can't speak or hear anything, they show you how to make pots through actions and with written instruction cards which were hung up on the wall in front of us. You get to make 5 pots, they fire one for free and then any other pots you want fired you pay an extra $5. I got two pots fired and got them to send the pots to Phnom Penh where I can pick them up as I was leaving the next day. It was a lot of fun!
We then were picked up from the pottery place by tuk-tuk and drove to the quad biking place. We were given a form to sign, a face mask and a helmet before getting on the quad bike for a test run. Once everything was good, we got on our quad bikes and followed our guide into the beautiful local country side of Siem Reap. Our ride was an hour, we went through muddy puddles, dusty paths, bumpy fields and saw the local people living their daily lives. It was one of those moments where I just breathed and understood why I love travelling so much, I was truly living my 'best life'. This was definitely helped by the great company I had.
2. Central and night market
Siem Reap is my favourite place in Cambodia for markets. They've got some really nice stuff! The night market is open from 5pm and the central market is open in the day. You can get everything from bags, clothes, notebooks, hair cuts, nail salons and massages. If you're looking for souvenirs and presents this is definitely the place to be. I even got my nails done! (which made the pottery a little bit tricky to do)
3. Pub street
This is the place to go for food, drinks and dancing! We had some great meals here, if you're looking for a good night out go to the roof of temple bar- they have live music there which is a great laugh. You'll find kids selling scorpions and snakes on a stick to eat, club promoters trying to get you to their club, tuk-tuk drivers asking you again and again for a tuk-tuk ride. It's a busy place!
I really love Siem Reap, it's a great place to stay and if I'm ever in South East Asia again, I would definitely make a trip!
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