The talesofasia guide to travel in Siem Reap and Angkor

updated January 14, 2008

Siem Reap index page
Introduction
Getting there
Staying there
Eating and drinking
Temples
Other things to do and places to go in and around Siem Reap
Additional stories on the Siem Reap area

INTRODUCTION

You've heard about the accidental tourist? Siem Reap is the accidental tourist town. A small town that in fact has more residents than it appears to have, it's claim to fame is that it happens to be located a few kilometers from a huge temple complex that boasts several of the world's most significant ancient structures as well as dozens, perhaps hundreds of lesser monuments. These temples were mostly built between the 9th and 13th centuries and are certainly some of the most amazing monuments from antiquity on the planet. The centerpiece of this is Angkor Wat, the world's largest religious structure and the only man-made structure in the world that has the honor of adorning its nation's flag.

Siem Reap is both a province as well as the name of the provincial capital, though the government has plans to make an official name change of both the province and city to "Angkor" at some point, well, soon*. Siem Reap town has a French colonial center and then spreads out for a half dozen or so kilometers to the northeast and west. Most of the commercial activity is centered around the Old Market (Psah Chas), along the Airport Road, and along Route 6 to the east of the river from the stone bridge to Psah Leu. The Old Market area is sort of the foreigner ghetto as it contains the highest concentration of foreign-owned businesses, predominantly of the restaurant, bar, and craft/boutique variety and most businesses here cater to the tourist market in some capacity. The Airport Road area is the domain of large hotels the majority of which are lacking in any sort of personality, predominantly Khmer-owned and geared towards package tourists, mostly Asian. The commercial area along Route 6 is less tourist-oriented with many businesses serving the local community: hardware stores, furniture shops, repair shops, etc. However, don't take these divisions too seriously, there are numerous exceptions on every street in town.

(*In Cambodia, the word "soon" is defined as referring to an unspecified period of time not less than later and not more than much much later.)

Angkor Wat is approximately six kilometers from the town center and the temple closest to Siem Reap. The temple park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site officially designated as the Angkor Archaeological Park. There are many misconceptions as to who "owns" the temples and you can find more information about that in the Temples section as well as in the Additional Stories section.

See sections on Staying There and Eating for detailed sections of this map.

While the Angkor temples are the main attraction, like any major tourist destination, there are other things to see and do here and each year new businesses spring up offering new ways to separate you from your money. Some are worth every penny, others, well... they're there. The section on Other things to do and places to go will tell you more.

Siem Reap is developing rapidly and the demand for some services is exceeding the ability to provide them. Chances are you won't encounter any glitches but if something doesn't work out as you hoped, be patient. Many of the Siem Reap residents are new to this tourist thing and have had only but a few years to adapt to all this international attention.

Most visitors to Siem Reap have a very positive experience here. Yes, it can get annoying sometimes to have someone try to sell you the same t-shirt twenty times in a day, or have a simple walk downtown include a dozen motorbike taxi drivers offering you a ride to anywhere. But what do you expect? This is a small town in a third world country that sees over a million wealthy tourists each year spend millions of dollars in cash that is anything but spread around evenly. And Siem Reap is in the midst of a gold rush and the San Francisco 1849 mentality is definitely in evidence here. Many people, foreign and Cambodian, are jumping in with both feet seeking to exploit this new tourism boom for as much as they can, as quickly as possible.

That said, by and large Siem Reap and Angkor is a stress-free destination and much of what goes on behind the scenes is of no concern to the average tourist other than whatever exclamations you might make as you come in from the airport and see thirty hotels in various stages of construction. Whatever hassles you might experience will most likely be on arrival. If you come on a tourist bus from Bangkok you may have to deal with some undue pressure to stay at the guesthouse they sell you to, not to mention the dragged out journey, visa scam, and whatever other scams and hassles they've recently invented to nail you between Khao San Road and here. If you fly in and no one's meeting you at the airport, you may have to hassle with taxi drivers with their own ideas as to where you should stay and how you should get around. But beyond these two relatively minor things, you're not likely to be troubled, scammed, or otherwise mistreated.

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However, a few things are changing and crime is one of them. For years tourists and expat residents alike enjoyed what was clearly one of the safest destinations in the world. While still a very safe destination compared to many other places around the globe, and certainly any major western urban center, one can no longer let down their guard completely in the face of so many seemingly friendly and honest people. While it's true most people are friendly and honest, enormous amounts of money are finding their way into Siem Reap and it's beginning to attract a criminal element. Mostly it's two-bit wanna-be hoodlums from Phnom Penh, but whoever they are they can make a mess of your trip. If you're walking down the street, make sure your bag can't be swiped off your shoulder by a passing motorbike passenger. If it's late and you've been drinking, take a moto home, don't walk - especially along the river where the meth-heads congregate. Don't leave valuables lying about your room in plain sight. Don't carry more cash than you need and don't carry your passport around, no one is interested in it - so leave it at your guesthouse.

Still, Siem Reap is the world's window on Cambodia and the authorities do their best to make sure the view is nice. They don't always get it right but they do try and if you do have any real problems you may be surprised, hopefully in a positive way, at the response you might get from the tourist police.

This is not the Cambodia you read about in Off the Rails, or saw in some Khmer Rouge documentary, or were warned about by a friend of your father's second cousin. This is a Cambodia that is remarkably safe. Forget about the war, lawlessness, Khmer Rouge, kidnappings, etc. That's all for the history books now. Siem Reap and Angkor are well on their way to taking their rightful place as one of the world's premier tourist destinations.

And that leads to another point. Things are changing rapidly for tourism, too. The days of climbing the walls at Ta Prohm and smoking a joint when you get there are over. Angkor Wat at 5 pm is a zoo. The Bayon and Banteay Srei are logjams of humanity every morning. At some point, some of the smaller temples, Banteay Srei in particular, may become subject to timed visits for crowd control.

If a visit to Siem Reap/Angkor is in your plans, I suggest you do so sooner rather than later. The temples will always be magnificent, no matter how many visitors they receive, but the experience in visiting them is changing. While Angkor may becoming less of an "experience", the ease at which tourists can see Angkor will in the long run lead to greater visitor numbers which can be only of greater benefit to Cambodia and its people. Tourism in 2008 is still far and away the country's number one product and in Angkor it's a five-star offering. Thus, don't expect much sympathy from anyone living here, Cambodian or expat, about there being too many tourists, that things are too commercial, etc. If you care a hoot about Cambodia and its recovery from the insanity of the 1970s and 1980s, you'll understand how vital it is that they develop their tourism industry to the fullest extent possible.

Welcome to Siem Reap. Do enjoy.

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All text and photographs © 1998 - 2008 Gordon Sharpless. Commercial or editorial usage without written permission of the copyright holder is prohibited.