Siem Reap – more than just the gateway to Angkor Wat

Most of the tourists visit Siem Reap mainly as a starting point for the Angkor Wat temple complex. Because of this tourist stream the city has grown steadily in the last years and offers more and more sightseeing attractions besides Angkor Wat. Although we also came to Siem Reap mainly because of Angkor Wat (read our article about Angkor Wat), we still want to see and experience the city. 

Here you can find out what else you can do in Siem Reap

If you stroll through the center of Siem Reap you can see the influence of the colonial times, when Cambodia was still ruled by the French, on almost every street corner. The houses are built in the typical colonial style and the main boulevards are clearly French-style. This nostalgic atmosphere vanishes relatively quickly when you move away from the city center. The streets start to turn into sandy paths, the houses get smaller and simpler up to corrugated iron huts. In the evening you will notice the difference even more clearly, because actually only the city center has street lights, as soon as you are outside you walk in the dark. Here you can see very clearly that Cambodia has gone through a very hard time with the Khmer Rouge, which has driven the already poor country much further into poverty than before.

 In former times the inhabitants of Siem Reap lived mainly from the fish stock of the nearby lake Tonle Sap. Today this has changed and tourism is one of the biggest sources of income. In the center of the town there are a number of chic restaurants and bars. There are more and more nice big hotels for the tourists and the contrast to the simple houses of the locals is accordingly drastic.

How to get there

Airplane

Siem Reap, thanks to Angkor Wat, has an international airport, which is located only about ten kilometers west of the city. The airport is not very large and is mainly served by Asian destinations. But there are many tourists who come to Cambodia only for Angkor Wat and for them it is of course ideal to have an international airport.

Boat

From Phnom Penh to Siem Reap there is a daily boat connection. The trip takes about 5 hours and costs +/- 35 dollars. During the dry season the trip can take up to 8 hours or even be cancelled due to low water level.

Bus

Cambodia has a relatively well developed bus network, but also very bad roads! From Phnom Penh there are several daily connections to Siem Reap, the journey often takes up to 7 hours and costs you between 12 and 15 dollars. There are large, relatively comfortable buses (e.g. Mekong Express and Giant Ibis) and minivans. These are usually a bit faster, but you have much less legroom. Also, there is often almost no room for luggage in the minivans and the driving style of some minivan drivers can make you fear for your life. Well, we want to leave the choice to you. Our decision was to do without minivans in Cambodia wherever possible.

Cab

In Cambodia cab rides are not very expensive and you can rent private cabs for long distance trips almost everywhere. A ride from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap takes about 5 hours and costs between 50 and 60 dollars. If there are four of you, this can be a good alternative to the bus, because you will get about the same price per person, but you will travel less long.

We travel by bus from Bangkok. There is the possibility to take a Thai bus to the border town of Aranyapraythet, cross the border there and continue our journey over there by Cambodian bus. We take the easier luxury option and book a trip from Bangkok to Siem Reap via “BookmeBus“. For 40 dollars they drive you to the border, get you a visa for Cambodia during the trip, you only have to get off at the border and pick up two stamps for your passport (one from the Thai and one from the Cambodian authorities) and you can get back on the same bus on the Cambodian side and continue your trip. The advantage is that you can leave all your luggage in the bus (the most important valuables of course always on you!). Additionally, you do not have to worry about getting a new bus ticket in Cambodia. The whole thing is a bit more expensive than booking two single bus tickets and taking care of your visa yourself, but very relaxed.

The trip takes about 8 hours in total. We are provided with water and a small lunch and don’t have to worry about anything. Even when we arrive at the bus station in Siem Reap there are free Tuk Tuks waiting to take us to our accommodation.

Sights in and around Siem Reap

As mentioned above, most of the visitors are only to stay overnight in Siem Reap and spend the whole day in Angkor Wat. The city itself has a lot to offer and is constantly expanding its sights to get some of the cake.

Tonle Sap

The Tonle Sap is the largest inland lake in South East Asia and is said to have one of the largest fish stocks in the world. In general there is said to be a huge population of various water birds, snakes, turtles, otters, crocodiles and many other animals.

There are several floating villages that can be visited, two of them are Chong Kneas and Kamping Phluk, but the former is said to be very popular with tourists. Unfortunately we missed to go to Tonle Sap, but we heard only positive things from other travellers. And actually a day trip to the lake is also a nice change to the whole temples in Angkor.

Phnom Kulen

You can also make a great day trip to Phnom Kulen. The 490 meter high mountain is located 50 kilometers outside of the city and promises attractions like different waterfalls and a Buddha carved into the rock. The mountain is part of the Angkor Temple Park, so with the Angkor Pass you can also get to the mountain. On top of the mountain there is the Prasat Phnom Krom temple, from here you have a great view of the Tonle Sap.

(Night-) Markets

There are quite a few different markets in relation to the size of the city. The best known is probably the Phsar Chas or Old Market. It is open daily from 8.00 to 22.00 hours. Most of the market is covered and offers pretty much everything you are looking for. However, a lot is imported from Indonesia and some of it is fake goods.

Also very famous is the Art Center Night Market, the special thing is that you can watch traditional Aspara dances for free, they usually start at 8pm.

Then there is the BB Angkor Market (every day, 8:00 to 22:00), the Made in Cambodia Market (twice a month, 12:00-22:00), the Orginal Noon Night Market (every day, 12:00 to 24:00) and the Angkor Night Market (every day, 8:00 to 22:00).

Cambodian Culture Village

This is a kind of amusement park around the traditions and stories of Khmer culture. We somehow imagined something different, but it was funny anyway. There are miniature replicas of famous buildings of Cambodia and many shows that showed e.g. a traditional Khmer wedding, but also traditional dance styles and rituals of indigenous people. The entrance fee is 15 dollars.

Museums

There are several museums dedicated to the history of Cambodia. For example the Angkor National Museum (daily 9.00-12.00, $12 entrance fee), the Cambodia Land Mine Museum (daily 7.30-17.30, $3 entrance fee) and the Siem Reap War Museum (daily 8.00-17.30, $5 entrance fee).

However, museums are less our thing and we have not visited any of them and can’t tell you if a visit is worthwhile or not. If you have been to a museum in Siem Reap, please write us a comment with a short impression of what it was like!

Pub Street

The city center is also the tourist center. Here you will find the Pub Street. On this street you will find countless restaurants and bars, fish spas and everything you are used to from tourist streets in South East Asia.

While the drinks here are very cheap, the food is rather in a expensive price ranges compared to the Cambodian standard. For tourists still affordable, for the locals already very expensive.

Restaurant Tip:

We had a really good meal at the Khmer Grill, super friendly staff, fine local food and in addition very cheap (about 10 dollars for an aperitif & two main courses incl. drinks). However, this restaurant is not located in the tourist area, because there you can easily pay double!

Accommodation

At the moment we are on a low-budget trip and didn’t have a good look at the hotels. But if you are a bit budget conscious and don’t have high expectations, we can recommend our hostel to you.

The Same Same Backpacker is very well located, about 10 minutes walk from the hectic tourist area, but also on a sandy street without street lighting. The room is quite small and not very clean, so we are happy about our light cotton sleeping bags, but for 3$ per night it is okay. New for us is the shower directly in the bathroom without partitions, or, according to Swiss standards, it is like having a toilet and a washbasin in the shower cabin. Also the fact to always shower with cold water is despite the warm temperatures …well…. The owners are very friendly and there is always something going on in the corresponding bar with billiard table.

Extra Tip:

If you have to work a little from time to time and are happy to have a good coffee with internet and power outlets, we can recommend the Bio Lab and Gloria’s Jean’s Coffee. Both coffees are very comfortably furnished, offer fine iced coffees and good food. However, these places offer high standards for Cambodia – with correspondingly high prices.