First time. Also probably the last…

We departed Battambang and drove to Siem Reap in record time. The roads have vastly improved over the past three years. And when we got to Siem Reap, the place was unrecognizable. 

We departed Battambang and drove to Siem Reap in record time. The roads have vastly improved over the past three years. And when we got to Siem Reap, the place was unrecognizable. 

The city’s roads are almost completely new. There are pristine, tiled sidewalks everywhere. Almost all of the dirt-and-gravel roads are gone. But that’s not the only thing missing.

The place is a ghost town. 90% of the businesses and restaurants are boarded up, many of them gone for good. And the temples? I’d say that visitors — especially foreign ones — have diminished by at least 95%.

Angkor Wat, the main temple complex, is usually packed. I swear there were no more than 10 of us there on the afternoon we visited. And we were completely alone when we arrived at Ta Prohm, famous for the strangler figs that have overtaken the temple walls.

This is very, very good for visitors to the temples, but very bad for the people whose lives depend on the tourism trade. Selfishly, I’m grateful for the opportunity to photograph Angkor Wat, Ta Prohm and Angkor Thom without the crowds. But I hope for Cambodia’s sake that things return to pre-Covid levels of tourism, and quickly.

I’ve visited Siem Reap probably fifteen times over the past couple of decades, and this is the first time I’ve seen it like this. And it’s also probably the last.