The first time I went to Siem Reap, nearly 20 years ago, the Cambodian city was a mere dusty town. Arriving in Siem Reap's centre on the back of a tuk tuk, I walked the quiet streets like the backpacker I was, trying to find somewhere to stay. There weren't many options back then, but I did find a budget hotel near a bar called The Red Piano that was trading off its newfound fame as Angelina Jolie's hangout during the filming of the Tomb Raider movie.
Over subsequent trips, I've noticed the changes in Cambodia, most recently in February 2020, my final overseas journey before the pandemic slammed shut most international borders. In Siem Reap, it was incredible to see what had happened to that modest neighbourhood of yesteryear. Backpacker Michael would not have recognised the city and, in fact, when I went looking for The Red Piano bar, I was shocked to find its rat-infested dirt alley had transformed into a crowded boulevard of restaurants, nightclubs, and neon signs called Pub Street.
In the 15 years before the coronavirus, international tourism to Cambodia had increased from about one million to six million people a year. Almost all of them would come to Siem Reap for the same reason that Angelina Jolie did - the magnificent temples of Angkor.
These monuments of the Khmer Empire are truly one of the world's great wonders. The soaring stone spires of Angkor Wat, the carved faces that look out from Bayon Temple, the strangler fig that embraces the walls of Ta Prohm - each of these elements is iconic in its own way. But each is only a tiny part of the ancient capital city that prospered from the 9th to 15th centuries and was about the size of Canberra.
And so it is that the temples are now just a part of Siem Reap, which has morphed into a holiday destination in its own right. Design hotels with large pools and lush tropical gardens provide a relaxing oasis, cooking schools and food tours take you on a culinary journey for a day, while the city's different neighbourhoods reveal pockets of hip shopping and trendy cafes.
I find a wonderful example of this in Kandal Village, a rejuvenation of the 150-metre stretch of Hap Guan Street just south of the French Quarter. Nondescript shopfronts have been transformed into boutique stores selling jewellery, soap and art. You can browse the collection of Cambodian fashion designer Muoy Chorm, who has made a name for himself after leaving his small fishing village at the age of 20 to pursue his passion. And among the leafy pavements, there's also a sushi bar, an Italian restaurant, and even an Australian cafe called The Little Red Fox Espresso (which, of course, does an excellent flat white).
Ten minutes' walk away, Artisans d'Angkor offers a different style of product, embracing the more traditional forms of Khmer art and craft.
In the main workshop, I watch artisans carving, painting, and weaving. They're creating crockery and statues, necklaces and scarves, authentic handmade goods that you can take home with you. But behind the craft is a heart-warming story, because Artisans d'Angkor is run as a social business that helps young artists from small rural villages, now employing more than 1300 people across the region.
You wouldn't know it just from the show, but the Phare Circus is also a social enterprise. The high-energy acrobatics performance has become one of the most popular attractions in Siem Reap, with the seating around the small circus tent creating an intimacy that explodes with tightropes, fire dancing and aerial ballet.
Although distinctly modern, the stories dig into the country's folk heritage for inspiration, but it's the more recent history that led to the creation of Phare Circus. It's part of an organisation founded almost 30 years ago by a group of young men who discovered art at a refugee camp during the Khmer Rouge era. These days, it offers about 2000 rural students a free education every year.
The scars from Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge are still etched across Cambodia, but they are often balanced with stories of resilience and inspiration. It's worth visiting the APOPO centre in Siem Reap to meet the "hero rats" that are used to detect landmines still buried in the countryside. They've been trained to sniff out the explosives but are too light to set them off. Out in the field, the rats can clear in 30 minutes an area that would take a human four days. Watching the demonstration myself, it's almost hard to believe how effective these cute little lifesavers are.
Even before the pandemic, I would've encouraged people to visit Siem Reap and discover some of these places. But out at Angkor Wat, the World Heritage Site was under threat from over-tourism, with tens of thousands of people climbing up and down its stone stairs every day. There were quiet moments - exploring the overgrown courtyards of Ta Prohm first thing in the morning before anyone else arrived was beautifully eerie. But elsewhere, the crowds were almost as stifling as the humidity.
Right now, though, might be a perfect time for a trip to Siem Reap to see the ancient Angkor temples. Cambodia no longer requires quarantine for vaccinated travellers but mass tourism is yet to return. I wonder if it would feel anything like my first trip all those years ago.
You can see more things to do in Siem Reap on Michael Turtle's Time Travel Turtle website
