Airport

Located on the west of the city, Siem Reap Airport is about 20 minutes by car.

With the booming tourist trade at the Angkor temples, the airport is undergoing expansion. It is a modern if basic facility and relatively trouble-free.

There are taxis and motodops (motorcycle taxis) to take you from Siem Reap airport to your hotel for a small fee. Bargain if the price seems excessive, but not too aggressively — these guys aren’t making a lot of money.

Transportation

Two Wheels
As with Phnom Penh, you really need experience to drive here. Better to hire someone to drive you (about $7-10/day). However, there are rental agencies everywhere in Siem Reap.
Four Wheels
Cars and drivers are available for hire at ATT, but you are better off hiring a taxi driver to take you around, or a minibus through a hotel travel agent.

ATT Contact Number

Phnom Penh: 166 Norodom Blvd, tel: 016-909-090
Siem Reap: on the road to Angkor, tel: 016-636-363
Poi pet: on the main road, tel: 016-545-454

Touring the Temples

The Angkor temples are one of the few tourist attractions in the world that cannot possibly be overrated. They are spectacular and well worth traveling the distance to visit. You are pretty free to explore and clamber around (be careful though, since you are responsible for your own safety), but don’t climb up onto any religious icons or the local people will be very angry with you. These places are a national treasure and should be treated as such.

Watch your head for bat droppings and low stone doorways.

Dining

The town centre offers a number of pleasant eating opportunities for Asian and especially foreign (French!) food at very reasonable prices. Just walk around until you find something that appeals to you.

Way to go

You can fly in from Bangkok or Phnom Penh, or if you’re feeling adventurous, take a boat from Phnom Penh for about $25 — a six hour ride down the river and through the Tonle Sap, Southeast Asia’s largest lake.

Where to stay

Hotels vary from $3 guesthouses and everything in between up to a couple of hundred bucks for a top room at Grand Hotel d’ Angkor or the Sofitel. The place is packed with accommodation as everybody gears up one step ahead of the tourist boom.

Nightlife

Siem Reap is a very small town, with a goodly handful of friendly little bars (and one seedy disco) concentrated in the town centre. Great place for a pub crawl, though you really don’t want to be hung over while touring the temples.

Siem Reap map

Phnom Penh – A City of Occupations

Phnom Penh, founded alongside the Tonle Sap and Bassac rivers, has been the capital of Cambodia since the mid15th century, after Angkor was abandoned.

Most of modern day Phnom Penh was built while under the colonial control of the French, (who occupied it in 1864 as an extension of their interests in Vietnam). In its heyday, the city was considered one of the most picturesque in Southeast Asia.

Since gaining independence from France in 1953, decades of political turmoil have constantly transformed Phnom Penh. A domineering monarchy was deposed in 1970 by the military as the country was dragged kicking and screaming into the Vietnam War.

Reign of Terror

Under the direction of Henry Kissinger, the countryside was carpet-bombed to “root out” Vietnamese communists. This insane military strategy drove the rural population into the capital, creating an overpopulated metropolis of hungry people, and paving the way for the eventual Khmer Rouge takeover under Pol Pot.

In April 1975, (two weeks before the fall of Saigon) the U.S. forces abandoned the city as the Khmer Rouge moved in. Initially welcomed, the KR soon instituted harsh policies (somewhat similar to China’s cultural revolution), including forcing almost the entire population back into the countryside to produce rice. The city was transformed into a ghost town, and the site of countless political tortures and murders. Tuol Saleng, a high school that was converted by the KR into an interrogation/torture centre has been preserved as the Museum of Genocide – a chilling reminder of a truly horrible period.

The Struggle for Peace

In 1979, fed up with overambitious border attacks by the KR, Vietnam invaded Cambodia, taking over Phnom Penh, driving the KR into hiding in the countryside and plunging the country into 16 years of civil war. A $3 billion UN peacekeeping initiative resulted in the election of current Prime Minister Hun Sen, who made a concerted attack on the Khmer Rouge through military means and dubious amnesties, effectively eliminating them.

A City on the Mend

With country now stabilized, Phnom Penh is steadily being restored to former glories as the Cambodian economy recovers. Despite ongoing high employment, the streets are lively during daylight hours, and there is an unmistakable optimism in the air.

Among its growing attractions are its laid back atmosphere, and lovely (and inexpensive) French food served in terraced restaurants along the Tonle Sap river. The National Museum and Grand Palace have also been restored and receive a growing number of international visitors.

Siem Reap – A City Carved in Stone

From the 9th to the 14th centuries, (at a time when Europe was still struggling out of the Dark Ages),
the Cambodian Empire of Angkor encompassed most of present-day Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand.

The heart of this empire during its peak in the 12th century was the ancient capital of Angkor Thom (near present day Siem Reap), the site of the world’s largest temple complexes that was only rediscovered in 1861, overgrown by jungle.

This spectacular city was built over 30 years under the reign of Suryavarman II (1113-1150). The whole area covers 400 square kilometers and is brimming with the finest examples of Khmer art and architecture.

Visitors are always amazed at the sheer scale of the place. Within the Angkor Wat compound alone, you will find more than 100 stone monuments and temple edifices, each of which contains countless statues, sculptures and bas reliefs that have weathered extremely well over the last 800 years. To see the whole thing can take several days, as you get delightfully lost in its labyrinthine corridors.

The most important temples to visit in the area are Angkor Wat – especially at sunrise and sunset; Angkor Thom, the remains of the capital; Ta Prohm, a palace overgrown by jungle; and Preah Khan, which is also overgrown and in the process of restoration.

SE Asia’s Great Lake

The Tonle Sap is the largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia, covering 27,000 hectares in dry season (November to May) and 150,000 hectares during the rainy season (June to October). The Tonle Sap River reverses according to the season and the Tonle Sap acts as an overflow reservoir for the huge Mekong River. It is a beautiful and tranquil place to explore by boat and visitors to the area shouldn’t miss the opportunity to do so.

The Tonle Sap is more than just a pretty face though. It is vital to Cambodia’s already tenuous survival.

It produces 100,000 tons of fish every year – an incredible 80% of the population’s protein intake. Unfortunately, huge dam projects in China along with others in Laos and Thailand are affecting the flow of water and threatening the ecosystem of this magnificent body of water.

While most Khmer people are relaxed and friendly, there are a few nasty folks around. The country is very poor and has experienced a lot of warfare and death, so for some, life can be pretty cheap.

Nonetheless, with the proper precautions, there is no reason you can’t enjoy a safe holiday in Cambodia.

Phnom Penh late at night is not particularly safe for walking. Be sure to take a taxi if you have a late night. If you find yourself having to walk for some reason, stay to well-lit streets as much as possible. If by some unfortunate chance, you do get accosted, have some money ready (about $10 will do) and hand it over without resisting — your life cannot be bought back for any amount of money.

Siem Reap is very safe at night. It is a small town and the local businessmen are very keen that visitors feel safe and are safe. By way of example, you can walk around raging drunk at 3am, and nobody will bother you. Or alternatively, an arm-in-arm evening stroll need present no difficulties nor anxiety.

Angkor Century
The Olive Tree restaurant setting makes a perfect backdrop for romantic dinners, business occasions or simply for the enjoyment of fine meal.
At Angkor Century Hotel. Sivatha St. Tel: (855 63) 963777 , Fax: (855 63) 963123. www.angkorcentury.com

Angkor Green restaurant
Good Khmer food at reasonable price ($1.5-5). Also vegetarian, Chinese, Thai and French food. Tel: 012630006. N324 Sivatha St.

Angkor Village Restaurant
Traditional Khmer cuisine a la carte or set menu served in a charming and quiet atmosphere and a really pleasant place surrounded by water and lotus. Good wine list.
100 metres behind Bayon Hotel. Tel: (855 63) 963536

Bopha Angkor Restaurant
Very famous traditional Khmer food in town with an high standard of presentation. Tropical garden with plants and water-covered Bayon statues provide a romantic atmosphere. Refreshments, cocktails, Ice cream, crepes available on their river terrace.
On Vithei Achasva Rd (in front of the river). Tel: (855 63) 964928

The Red Piano

International food, pastas, steaks, etc. in a charming place. Headquarters of the Tomb Raiders movie team during their stay in Siem Reap in November 2000. Kitchen open till 10:15 pm.
Located 50 meters north of the old Market (Psaa Chas). Tel: 012 854150 – (855 63) 963240. www.asianexp.net

Zanzibar
A lo t of regulars living in Siem Reap and some tourists. Marc & Olivier, the owners speak French and English. Good music and more…
On Sivatha opp. Bakeng Night club near old market.

Believe it or not, exotic tropical diseases are not your biggest worry in Cambodia. The most common problems are diarrhoea, sunstroke, and dehydration. As for tropical diseases, malaria is the chief concern. Phnom Penh is malaria free. Angkor is malarial though more remote towns present a greater risk. Dengue fever during the rainy season can be fairly common. Both malaria and dengue can be prevented by covering up against mosquitoes and using insect repellent.

Before you go, make sure you are up to date with tetanus, diphtheria, typhoid, hepatitis, and polio inoculations.

Visit a travel clinic before you leave your home country.

Tap water throughout the country is not potable, so stick to bottled water. In restaurants, they should open the bottle in front of you. If not, send it back.

Ice is generally safe in the cities as well.

Hygiene is reasonable in the cities, but use common sense. If the cook (in the case of street food) is bodily clean — particularly their hands — then chances are the food is clean as well. For restaurants where the cook is not visible, the same type of thing applies. If the place and the employees are clean, then the place is likely okay. It’s nothing to worry about too much. If you do get a bug, it is very rarely life threatening and usually very easy to cure.

Telephone

The landline system is very limited and covers only Phnom Penh and the provincial capitals, though there is an extensive mobile system served by four networks. All telephone numbers are six digits with a three-digit prefix. Each province has its own prefix (Phnom Penh is 023, Siem Reap is 063, Sihanoukville is 034) and each of the mobile networks uses a different prefix. If calling between provinces or a different mobile network, you have to dial the prefix. If calling from outside Cambodia, the country code is 855 and the initial ’0′ of the prefix is omitted.

Public phone booths consist of someone with a handful of mobile phones, at least one for each network. You tell them the number you’re calling and you’ll be handed a phone. Rates are about 300 riels a minute. There are also international public phones around Phnom Penh. Be forewarned, Cambodia is one of the most expensive countries in the world to make an international call from, so Internet cafes do a booming business with Internet phones — there’s an annoying delay, but it is much cheaper.

Internet access

There are net cafes in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap with prices ranging from fifty cents to $2 per hour. The connection is pretty slow, and there is nothing they can do about it, so complaining will get you nowhere.

By Air

There are direct flights to Phnom Penh from several main cities in Asia
such as Bangkok (Thai Airways and Bangkok Airways), Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi (Vietnam Airlines), Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia Airlines), Singapore (Silk Air and Singapore Airlines), Hong Kong (Dragonair), Vientiane (Laos Aviation), and Guangzhou (China Southern Airlines)

You can also fly to Siem Reap from Bangkok (Bangkok Airways), Singapore (Singapore Airlines and Silk Air)

Land crossing

From Thailand, you can enter Cambodia by crossing Aranya Prathet-Poipet border or Trat-Koh Kong border.

Northeastern Bus Terminal (Mochit) offers bus service from Bangkok to Aranya Prathet. To go to Trat, you may take a bus at Eastern Bus Terminal (Ekkamai) in Bangkok. Upon arrival at Trat Bus Terminal, you can take a minibus or van to Hat Lek border for entering Cambodia. For more information about the bus service, please call 0 2936 2852-66 (Northeastern Bus Terminal) or 0-2391-8097 (Eastern Bus Terminal)

You can also enter Cambodia from Vietnam by crossing Moc Bai-Bavet border.