On our first trip, I l searched for our flights to Cambodia for a few months. Everyday I'd be at the computer at least for an hour figuring out the best route and comparing the rates between airlines. I spent so much time on it to the point that I had analysis paralysis. I just kept waiting for the lowest rate possible, and each time the rate dropped, I'd be hoping that it would drop even further. I planned to stretch my travel budget as far as possible, and if I have to be in from of the computer everyday looking for flights to Cambodia, then so be it.



When I finally decided to purchase the tickets, and thereby carving my fate to an Angkor Wat visit, it was through the Asian budget airline, AirAsia. The other contender Jet Star Asia was always a standby, but in the end, AirAsia won by a slight margin. I was flying from Jakarta, and since I knew that there's no direct flight from Indonesia to Siem Reap, I had to first fly either to Singapore or to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia.

That was a momentous occasion for me. To see the confirmation email on the inbox meant that this time I'd really be going to Cambodia, to Siem Reap, to Angkor Wat. After all the years of hearing about it, watching the documentary videos, and looking at majestic pictures, this time I was actually going. Yes it's so close from Indonesia, it's just right there, in the same continent, but for all intents and purposes, it could also be halfway across the country. In Indonesia, no one's really interested in going to Cambodia. People are mostly interested in travelling to rich countries, such cities in Europe or to North America. So when I spread the news that I got my flights to Cambodia, most of my relatives looked at me as if I was weird. But never mind that, I'd go through thousands of weird stares, and none of those would matter. I was going to Angkor Wat, and so, yayyyy!!

On my subsequent visits to Angkor Wat, I've searched for flights to Cambodia from different cities, since I didn't know which country I'd be in when I ?had? to go to Cambodia. I've compiled the list of airlines and routes on my website for easy reference, but for the most of the time I'd still use AirAsia.

There are direct flights to Cambodia (Siem Reap/Angkor Wat) from (are you ready?) Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Phuket, Koh Samui, Ho Chi Minch City, Danang, Hanoi, Vientiane, Luang Prabang, Pakse, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Kunming, Nanning, and Seoul. In the near future there probably will be more cities. Scratch that, there will definitely be more cities flying directly to Siem Reap in the near future. More and more airlines will offer the route.

Right now, the airlines that offer these direct flights are AirAsia, Silk Air, Jetstar Asia, Bangkok Airways, Malaysian Airlines, Vietnam Airlines, Siem Reap Airways, Lao Airlines, China Southern, Dragon Air, China Eastern Airlines, Korean Air and Asiana Airlines.

I'm so glad travelers now have many options to go to Angkor Wat. It truly is one of the destinations that you must visit during your lifetime on earth. And the abundance of choice of direct flights to Angkor Wat just makes that even easier.