A smile says welcome

You know when you finished a trip to a country that you were so much in love with and when you waved goodbye to it, you whispered to yourself that one day you would definitely come back, but chances are you will never make it happen. Oh well, at least that happened to me most of time. But there is a unique place that I always think of whenever I desperately need a little getaway. It is Siem Reap, Cambodia, a country full of warmth and rural beauty.

Change has indeed come at amazing pace in this once-quite country. Siem Reap has evolved into a chic heaven for backpackers and tourists who are seeking to explore rich culture and grandeurs architectures. For my entire trip, I found new hotels have gone up, roads have been paved, and many more were under construction. Galleries were popping up everywhere I went. An international group of chefs has set up the country’s finest tables there. Everywhere I went, I was confronted with Tuk-Tuk drivers who were trying to guess where I was from by speaking Mandarin, Japanese or Korean. Eight years ago, when tourists were still considered scarce, Tuk-Tuk drivers were so shy that they did not even know how to talk to foreign customers. But this time, I had to buy myself a T-shirt that said ‘No Tuk-Tuk today” to stay away from them.

Still, there are many that remain unchanged.

For many first-timers, Angkor Wat can be breathtaking. But for the second-time visitors like me, some may find Angkor Wat a little bit too “touristy”. But there is always a moment about Angkor that makes it unique. Perhaps it comes when riding a bike under a thick jungle to catch the last glimpse of sunset at Phnom Bakheng. Maybe it comes when a group of monks walking pass by you and you can’t help yourself but grab the camera to take photos of them entering the sacred temple. Or maybe it is the locals who sit outside the Angkor Wat, inviting you to join their family gathering.

And just like eight years ago, the country’s notorious scorching sun and humid air once again conquered me. But there are still plenty of new things to experience. I could either have afternoon tea at the city’s modern-look cafes or pamper myself with luxurious SPA after days of countless climbing. But I decided to go for my favorite, which has remained unchanged: arriving Angkor Wat in the late afternoon and climbing the steeple ladders to the top of the temple to sit in silent and watch the sun sink, turning from orange into deep red.