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

Transportation

Two Wheels
Unless you have experience driving in Southeast Asia, hiring a motorbike is not really recommended. In Phnom Penh they frequently get stolen (and you are liable, even if it was the owner who stole it back with a spare key!!), so keep it in your guesthouse at night. A better option is to hire a motodop (motorcycle taxi). They know their way around, usually speak a bit of English and are inexpensive.

But if you must: Lucky! Lucky! and New! New! are two rental agencies renting out 250cc and smaller 110cc bikes. 250s cost from $6 to $10 a day depending on the condition of the bike.

Four Wheels
You can hire cars from ATT car rental, though it is better to hire a taxi or arrange 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

Dining

The riverside promenade is teeming with restaurants with fantastic foreign (and Asian) food at surprisingly low prices. Great steaks and pasta and pizza can be had for the cost of an aperitif at a restaurant back home. Most have chalkboards outside advertising their fare and prices.

Way to go

You can fly in from Bangkok, Saigon, etc, or almost any major town in the country. If you are hankering after a bit of adventure, and are coming from Siem Reap, consider taking the six-hour scenic boat ride (about $25) through the Tonle Sap Lake.

Where to stay

Phnom Penh has a big range of accommodation from about $5 for a dingy guesthouse with shared toilet to modern luxury for up $200 or so, and everything in between.

Nightlife

The restaurants along the river make a nice spot for an evening drink, but much of the rest is pretty seedy stuff, where people indulge in sins of all descriptions — especially the discos.
One of the more respectable pubs is misnamed “The Cathouse”, with a friendly staff, comfy decor and low prices.

Phnom Penh map

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.

Upper end hotels and more posh restaurants in Siem Reap and Phnom Penh accept major credit cards — especially VISA (warning, the surcharge can be up to 7%!), but around town, cash is king. American dollars or Thai Baht are preferred over the local currency, the Riel, which is of so low value that you would need a stack of it to pay for a decent meal — it’s only good for tipping and motorcycle taxis, or a baguette from a street vendor. If you are carrying dollars, make sure you have a lot of ones, or if it’s baht, 20 baht notes are the most useful.

Banks and major hotels can also change travellers cheques or give limited credit card cash advances. To be safe, you are best off not relying on your credit card too much.

Note: There are no ATM machines in the country.

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.

You don’t have to drive it too hard with the Khmer people. Given their recent history, they don’t tend to be very savvy business people, and with high unemployment, there is a lot of competition, so the margins are often very low. If the price seems reasonable, take it.

International departure tax is $20 at Pochentong, $15 at Siem Reap. Domestic departure tax is $5. The national carrier is not operating at this time, so three private airlines handle the domestic flights, which are safe enough that you don’t have to worry about it.

Siem Reap Airways, which is part of Bangkok Airways, flies French-built ATRs between Siem Reap and Phnom Penh a couple of times a day. Royal Phnom Penh Airways flies Chinese built Y7s between Phnom Penh and Siem Reap/Battambang and Phnom Penh and Stung Treng/Banlung. President Airlines runs the same routes as Royal Phnom Penh using Russian-made Antonov 24s.

With accommodation, you get what you pay for. Rooms can be had throughout the country for as little as $3 up to several hundred. For the lesser amount, you’ll get a thin mattress and probably a shared cold-water bathroom. Great if you’re 23 years old and have no money, but for a few dollars more, the level of luxury jumps up considerably.

Twenty bucks will get you a pretty nice clean room with your own bathroom, hot water and a comfortable mattress. Going higher than that, like most things for sale in life it’s a matter of diminishing returns. Of course it all depends on how much money means to you. If your budget is set at $100/day for 5-star accommodation, you’ll live like a king, surrounded by obsequious smiling staff who will greet you at every turn.