When you stand before Bayon Temple’s mysterious stone faces today, hidden from that amazing view is one of the most sustained and scientifically rigorous conservation efforts in Southeast Asian archaeology. Since 1994, the Japanese Government Team for Safeguarding Angkor (JSA/JASA) and Cambodia’s APSARA National Authority (ANA) together have been methodically preserving, researching, and revealing the … Read more
Over the Christmas/New Year period, I found some time to do site updates and one that I have been wanting to do for some time. I desperately wanted to reduce the amount of time consumed by tracking down historical data. I do love doing what I do, but time is an irreplaceable resource. In some … Read more
Siem Reap is once again hosting the massive spectacular that is Angkor Sankranta, celebrating Khmer New Year, with events kicking off on the 13th through to the 16th. Work along the riverside and at Angkor Wat has been going on for weeks in the lead up to the event, and it’s going to be huge! … Read more
The annual Siem Reap Giant Puppet Parade (Khmer: ទីងមោងយក្ស) took place February 22, 2025 with crowds of locals and visitors lining the streets for the joyous event. It’s hard for us to miss it as it passes right by our home base in Siem Reap! Preparations for the event begin three weeks in advance with … Read more
Every year there is a traditional community fish-catching event that takes place at Lake Bangkong in Bangkong Village, Ampil Commune, Prasat Bakong District, of Siem Reap Province. It’s not far from the Siem Reap city centre, about 30 minutes by moto, car, or tuk tuk and not far from Chau Srei Vibol Temple on the … Read more
Here’s our updated intro to Siem Reap for 2026, including the hot attractions and things to do I update this post yearly, and for 2026, not too much has changed from 2025, bar the closure of some smaller attractions. In the city, the Wat Bo area continues to grow with new cafes and eateries, rivalling … Read more
Updated Feb 2026 – The Angkor Pass ticket covers Angkor Wat and all the temples in Angkor Archeological Park, including outlying sites such as Beng Mealea, Chau Srei Vibol, Kbal Spean, and Banteay Srei. There are two types of tickets, the normal ticket type and one for long-term foreign residents, as set out below, with … Read more
To introduce Cambodia’s ancient Royal Road network to those not familiar with it, there are several roads emanating out of Angkor that feature stone masonry infrastructure, including bridges and temples along with ponds and basins primarily dating back to the 12th century, with a broad range of activity seen between the 11th century to around … Read more
The pesani, or grinding stone/millstone, is an infrequently discussed object of the ancient Khmer Empire but regardless, prominent throughout, from the earliest times of the 6th-century pre-Angkorian times and through the Angkorian era. They were likely used for grinding spices to make Auyrevedic medicine, pastes for ceremonial purposes, and even curry has been proposed, which … Read more
If you have followed this website or the Facebook page for any amount of time, then you’ll well understand how much time I spend on archival research. Let me tell you, it’s way more than I should be! It’s hugely addictive which is often fuelled by gems like this. Le mystère d’Angkor is a wonderous … Read more
During special events and functions, the temples of Angkor from time to time are lit at night creating a unique and very special experience. It’s usually Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom South Gate, and the Bayon Temple that are lit up but it just depends on the scale and type of event. Sometimes the Baphoun temple … Read more
Whilst not on the scale or significance of the concurrently held Water Festival in Phnom Penh, the Siem Reap Water Festival offers a more relaxed version of this historically and culturally important event. There’s a full intro to Bon Om Touk (Water Festival) here. The Royal Water Festival at Siem Reap lasts three days, with … Read more
Recently, I wrote an introduction to the Cambodian Water Festival (here) and I thought it’d be cool to do a little digging through the French archives for some historical notes and see what comes up. The first account I could track down was that by Louis Delaporte in his 1880 publication, Voyage au Cambodge. L’Architecture … Read more
On October 28 and 29th, Angkor Wat hosted celebrations for the 20th anniversary of King Norodom Sihamoni’s coronation under the “Smile of Cambodia” event. Exhibition of local foods, souvenirs and Khmer arts, plus traditional Khmer performances took place throughout the day while the big event was the Kings Parade that started at 4 PM along … Read more
I promised the kids months ago I’d take them up to Kulen Mountain and this school holiday was finally the chance. We loaded up two motos and headed off from Siem Reap and spent three wonderful days and two nights up there stopping by Beng Melea on our way back. Camping in a random spot … Read more
It’s that wonderful time of year again when the sun magically rises over the center tower of Angkor Wat! It happens twice a year, in March and September and it’s one of the biggest events on Angkor Wat’s calendar drawing crowds of upwards of 10,000 people. It’s one of the world’s most unique experiences, where … Read more
The Gumball 3000 Rally is making its Southeast Asian debut with Cambodia as a key stop in 2024, marking the rally’s 25th anniversary. The event attracts global celebrities, automotive enthusiasts, and media attention. Around 130 supercars and luxury exotics will participate, including cars like the Mercedes AMG GT, Rolls-Royce Cullinan, Lamborghini Huracan, Ferrari, Porche and … Read more
This was a short tour, 3 days in total from Aug 1 – 3, heading northwest from Siem Reap into Oddar Meanchey, Banteay Meanchey and back to Siem Reap. Due to other obligations, getting the Ancient Cambodia book finalised and so on, we had not really had a break since our last tour in January and it … Read more
Recently I had to head to Phnom Penh to pick-up a new passport, and how could I not turn that into a tour? Of course, I did. Chanthim came along and this time, and considering it was going to be sealed roads we just took one bike, this time the Honda Dream. It was a … Read more
This was a short tour from Sep 22 – 24, 2023, following the scribbled notes on a map by Henri Parmentier in the 1930s, turns out it’s an intriguing heritage trail. As you likely well know, there is a large volume of maps available in various sections of the EFEO website much of which comes … Read more
This tour almost replicates my first big tour, the Red Dot Tour in early 2002 but this time I’d have Chanthim come along for the ride and this time, shifting focus from the ancient temples to more contemporary Buddhist wonders. To see all the sites visited on both tours and other shorter trips see the … Read more
Located 40km north of Phnom Penh on the west bank of the Tonle Sap River at the confluence of Kandal, Kampong Chhnang, and Kampong Speu is the historical area of Longvek-Oudong that was home to Cambodia’s capital in periods of the 16th century to the mid-19th century long after leaving Angkor. It was a period … Read more
Battambang city, located about 160km by road to the southwest of Siem Reap and Angkor Wat, is culturally rich and charming, featuring the best food in the country, several important ancient temples, beautiful heritage pagodas, and also French colonial heritage. We’ll focus on the Buddhist pagodas today, introducing a little of their heritage and the … Read more
Another year of traveling and exploring this amazing country comes to an end! 2023 was full of short day trips out of Siem Reap and several larger adventures, mostly towards the northeast, Preah Vihear and Kampong Thom provinces, with a loop around the Tonle Sap later in the year. Cambodia’s roads are getting better and … Read more
Whilst Siem Reap is home to the famed temples of Angkor, there is much more on offer in the province, today, let’s head east. The area of Kampong Kdei and Kampong Chikreng is a fascinating and interesting place to explore offering not only one of the country’s famed ancient bridges, Spean Praptos, but also in … Read more
Hello Angkor is five years old! How time flies, it nearly passed by without a thought yet it was in June 2018 when the domain name HelloAngkor.com was purchased and the journey to where we are today had begun. From a blank canvas in 2018, the website has been through a few iterations and grown … Read more
This trip, from Mar 6 – 11 2023 would cover some remote and still-standing sites in Preah Vihear that we haven’t visited to date. It was also a special moment for us, by the end, ticking off our goal to visit every standing temple (at least those with more than 50% of their structure still standing), and, … Read more
Taking advantage of good weather, before the hot season kicks in around mid-March, we went on another journey for five days from Feb 23 – 28 covering some of the remote sites not visited on previous trips in Preah Vihear province. I’d meet up with Chanthim in Stoung and we’d head off once again on our trusty … Read more
This tour is perhaps one of my favourites to date, visiting some of the more remote ancient temples in Preah Vihear province and extending upon previous trips I, II, and III. From January 25th to Feb 6th we’d cover just over 1000km on our trusty Hondas. Heading off from Siem Reap and meeting Chanthim in … Read more
This was a short two-day trip and sadly, once again travelling on my own as Chanthim was busy. For this trip, from Jan 19 – 20, I’d do a little loop from Siem Reap out to Khvav and down to Kampong Kdei and back to Siem Reap. Starting from Siem Reap I’d head out my favourite back … Read more