Cambodia, Siem Reap - A Straight Review

[ultras67]

Ok, this will be a bit different.

 

No mention of Sanook - or at least the type thats normally discussed on the board. The information is actually aimed at a consumer site and is a straight review of Siem Reap.

 

This and other reviews Ive done are at

 

doog2k for the americans

ultras67 for everyone else

 

Enjoy

 

 

 

Siem Reap is the nearest town to the Angkor Wat complex. It is a long and detailed review but I hope it will be worth the read.

 

Getting There and Away

You can take a 1 hour flight into Siem Reap itself and when landing fly close to the complex itself or you can go overland - as I did, by public bus. The actual journey will be covered in a separate review. A Khao San Road / travel agent package is available but should be avoided at all costs, it can take up to 15 hours instead of 9. :onfire: Usually an air ticket can be picked up for around 7500 Baht.

 

The fixed taxi fare from the airport into town - unless you have organised a hotel with a free pickup - will be US$5, the airport is only about 6km outside of town. The departure tax is an outrageous US$20 for international flights and US$5 for internal.

 

If you are travelling onto Phnom Penn you can fly, go overland by bus or catch the express boat - which I did. This can be bought for US$22 including hotel pickup and will take about 4 -5 hours. The ticket price is US$25 plus US$1 for the transfer, but a bit of shopping around or bargaining will bring the price down. It is a much better way to travel than a non air con dusty bus.

 

Immigration

If you arrive by plane this is possibly where you first meet the official rip offs ( tea money - scams - bribery whatever you like to call it ). The Visa costs US $20, however, as with the overland trip you may be asked to pay a different amount maybe 1000Baht ( if you are coming from Thailand ). A nice profit of 150 to 200 Baht depending on exchange rates. Not got a photo, another dollar or two, no health certificate, another dollar or two will see that waived. Not all the scams are tried all the time but they will try at least one on you.

 

Money.

Like some other countries in the region, the local currency is so weak it's submerged by others. In Cambodia's' case the US dollar or the Thai Baht. Away from the border the dollar is king and the Cambodian Riel is used as loose change or for small purchases. The exchange rate is about 4000R to the dollar.

 

As for a daily spending, how long is a piece of string? You can easily get by on US$5 a day if you eat in local restaurants and refuse to get caught in the souvenir traps. Or you can spend US$70 plus. ::

 

Getting around Siem Reap.

The town itself is actually quite small but its beginning to bulge at the seams as the thought of tourist money comes to the forefront.

 

Getting around town is very easy, you can either walk, get a motodop ( motor bike taxi ), or a moto trailer ( a motorised rickshaw). Car taxis are still rare - if you want one, get your hotel to organise it. All fares should be negotiated before getting on or in the vehicle. For small motodop trips in town maybe 2000Riel or 3000Riel will be enough, for longer journeys, maybe US$1. In the evening, the price will almost double.

 

Getting to the temple complexes is also easy. Depending on your budget, you can go to the official tourist office or let your hotel organise it and get an air con car or minibus with guide to take you wherever you want to go - look at US$30 a day up. You can even hire a bicycle - although with the heat and humidity this is only for the fit. Self drive motorbike hire is an on off thing. Sometimes the police allow it, sometimes it is banned and sometimes it is banned but is available - just make sure you don't have an accident though or more tea money will be required. In April it was banned but available. Around town you will be approached by people on motor bikes - usually young men with quite good English - offering their services as drivers to the complex. They will wait for you outside the entrance to the ruins whilst you explore. An actual guide will cost extra. Expect to pay around US $6 a day for the Angkor complex. If you want to go further afield to Banteay Srey etc you will need to pay more. If there are two of you, he will know someone with a moto trailer. This in some ways is the best way to go as you are able to dictate your own schedule and go where you want, when you want.

 

Where to stay.

With the recent building boom there is now a wide range of hotels from the "backpacker" dorms at US$2 to the "international class" ( rip off ) from US$100 up to a whopping US$1900 a night - Grand Hotel D'Angkor. Its worth realizing that one nights room charge is sufficient to sustain a family for a year. A look in any guidebook or web search will provide a list to peruse. At the moment, there are good discounts going, so always ask for one.

 

I stayed at the IVY 2 hotel - the IVY bar and hotel is recommended by the Lonely Planet. - which is an easy walk to the centre of town. It is in a converted large home near the un-named market. The rooms are large, clean and come with a choice of ceiling fan or air con at a discounted rate of US$6 a night for a fan room. I find that the ceiling fan especially keeps me almost as cool as air con, sometimes air con can actually cause me respiratory problems. The upper floor has a covered veranda with hammocks for an afternoon post temple snooze. ( it is sanook friendly )

 

Eating and Drinking.

You will never go hungry as wherever you go there will be restaurants of all shapes and sizes from one woman operations selling fruit or barbequed pork to western places with wine lists and penguin waiters. Recommend are The Red Piano, Ecstatic Pizza, Le Gecko Mayonnaise and for a special treat The FCC ( Foreign Correspondents Club ). Other local places are liable to disappear and reappear overnight so I cannot list them. Bars to visit are The Ivy, Angkor What? Just avoid the Beer Lao - disgusting.

 

Shopping

As you might expect in a town with tourists there is plenty of opportunity to part from your money. Most of the "official" tourist souvenir stores are both expensive and boringly similar in offerings. Almost everything can be bought from other markets or in Angkor itself at a cheaper price - i.e. a Buddha painting in Angkor US$5, in an official shop US$9.

 

There are 4 markets in town, the old, Psah Chas - split between souvenirs and a wet market, the upper, Psah Leu - the main market for locals, the centre Psah Kandal - geared to souvenirs and the as yet unnamed one ( near Psah Leu ) - this is mostly souvenirs. You can now buy virtually anything you want in Siem Reap and it will need to be quite specialised for it not to be available somewhere in town.

 

Internet and Photography.

There are a lot of places to buy your extra film or memory cards, I managed to use 48MB in 3 days and fill my two memory cards. Fortunately there are plenty of shops that will transfer your pictures onto CD Rom. The bigger shops - Fuji ' Kodak stores - charge US$4 a disk but I found a lad in the Old Market who provided a much better, quicker ( 10 minutes not 90 ) and more personalised service for US$3. There are plenty of internet shops in town who charge from $1 an hour up. Quite a few were advertising ISDN lines but it didn't seem that fast to me.

 

Health Issues

Don't drink the water, full stop. Depending on your stomach, brushing your teeth will be ok though. There is plenty of pure bottled water around. Watch out for contact lenses especially in the dry season, the town can be very dusty and eye infections are common. I managed to catch conjunctivitis on, I think, my first day there. There are a couple of local hospitals in the town, however, they are not to be recommended especially if you have got your insurance - you did get insured didn't you ? The best bet will be the Naga International Clinic or International Medical Clinic. If you do fall ill and are a self prescriptor, the chemists will sell you anything over the counter.

 

Other Sights

There are other things to do apart from Angkor. There are Shadow Puppet performances at the La Noria restaurant every Wednesday, a mine museum. - which is not liked by the authorities for reminding people of the past and present injuries that are caused. There are also some reminders of the terrible times when the Khmer Rouge ruled this country - Wat Thmei being the nearest, with a horrific glass wall made from the bones of victims. Chances are everyone over 40 will have been connected to the Khmer Rouge in some way or another, either as a victim or participant. Of course, as it is a Buddhist country there are plenty of Wats ( temples ) to see, the most important being Wat Bo. If you do want to have a massage, I can thoroughly recommend the Seeing Hands 4 Massage. All the masseurs are blind or extremely sight impaired. The best recommendation I can give is, I fell asleep during it. Bliss! All for US$3 for an hour.

 

The People

Almost all the Cambodians I met were friendly and courteous as most people from Buddhist countries are. The only drawbacks were some vendors were a bit too eager to charge high prices and some of the fellow tourists. You know the type, the meal wasn't served fast enough, the air con isn't cold enough, "you are not eating at a local place are you?" and why don't they speak English? To them I say, if you cant cope with the real world, go back to wherever you came from and switch on the tv, but then you couldn't say you were here and braved the depravations could you?

 

Summary.

If it were not for Angkor, to be honest, this town would be a small provincial stop en route for overland travellers to Phnom Penn and nothing more. Even with Angkor or maybe because of it, most people only see Angkor and leave, all the other sights are left unseen and there are a few worth going to. It is a town really, that holds your attention for only an extra day after you have been Angkored out before wanting to move

[Torneyboy]

Thanks for the effort here

I have not visited so i found the report of great interest.

You can not beat personal experience in a country all the brouchers under the sun can not make up for a hands on report.

 

 

Will look forward to your update.

 

[dvarpala]

Great review - went there myself last year, reminded me of a truly awesome few days. Angkor Wat was one of those places that you just look at and it sinks in just how fortunate you are to get to see things like it.

The Toul Sleng museum and the Killing Fields in Phnom Penh took me back to hearing about the Khmer Rouge atrocities on TV/radio at the time they happened. Didn't know what to say or even think there...it's like my head just wouldn't accept it.