Temples in the Sun

Belle Taylor visited Cambodia and toured the ancient temples near Siem Reap during the Spring Festival. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

For Chinese New Year my boyfriend and I decided to head to Cambodia for ancient temples, excellent food and, perhaps most importantly, a respite from the freezing north China winter.

We also chose Cambodia because as Spring Festival grew near, we grew increasingly frantic watching the cost of flights out of China steadily rise. The thought of spending a week moping around our freezing apartment while our Chinese friends celebrated with their families, and our foreign friends fled the city to sunnier climes, did not exactly appeal. Cambodia was not only the cheapest flight we could find, but also one of the shortest, a little more than four hours in the air to be deposited in 35 degree heat. Perfect.

Phnom Penh didn't disappoint, it was outrageously hot - just the way we like it. The food, from the local Fish Amok to the tourist-friendly pizzas, was great. Not the prettiest town, Phnom Penh still had plenty to offer, from their excellent National Museum, to cocktails at sunset on the balcony of the Foreign Correspondents Club.

We then headed to Siem Reap to see the ancient temples of the Angkor complex, more than 200 temples are scattered throughout the area. We managed to see about eight, so vast and intricate, you can easily spend hours exploring just one.

It seems half of China had the same idea. The temples were full of Chinese tourists, many of them family groups, who had obviously decided to take advantage of the week's break to travel, Luckily with so many temples to explore, the crowds rarely felt overwhelming.