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 Traveller's Tales: Doing business in Siem Reap, Cambodia
Take note of the helpful information on business travel near in Siem Reap, Cambodia. You may read about their business tips and guides. Find out the local business customs and guide on business travel. Also, you might want to read our
Angkor / Siem Reap city guide,
and Phnom Penh city guide.
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| C Law |
31 December 2002 |
Stayed at Sofitel Royal Angkor - Siem Reap, Cambodia.
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Siem Reap uses USD in great deal, even local markets, cash advances are available only in the bank and they only accept VISA card for cash advances. Amex could only be use to settle hotel bills. Do not buy any souvenirs until you have check out the price & quality in the "Old Market" to compare and set your expectations.
Great place to visit with all the ancient buildings, temples. Just need to make arrangement with the hotel for an English or any other language speaking guide & driver and you can have your own private tours at your own pace, but, be prepared to walk a lot and climb all the huge steps to get in and out of the temples, worth the effort. Guides are available at USD20 per day.
In order to gain access to the area where the ancient temples/buildings are, you will need to pay an entrance fee of USD20 per day, or USD40 for a 3 day pass or USD60 for a 7 day pass. Worth to get the 3 day & beyond pass as they will help you take a passport size pix FOC (if you do not have one) and put on the pass. Makes great souvenir and you will need at least 3 days to visit all the major buildings/temples that have their own unique and distinct characters anyway.
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| S Funk |
25 November 2002 |
Stayed at Angkor Century Hotel - Siem Reap, Cambodia.
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I felt Siem Reap is a great holiday destination. There are many top quality 4- and 5-star hotels to choose from, it's convenient to get to from Bangkok, and the Angkor Archaeological Zone appears to be a well-managed facility. The Angkor area is very clean with good roads and big trees everywhere. There are pleasant shaded paths to walk around on through the temple areas.
I found Siem Reap to be a pleasant town with a nice French Quarter and many decent open-air restaurants. It's small enough that you can walk virtually anywhere. The thing I disliked the most was that things can be quite expensive (and overpriced given what must be a low cost of doing business in Cambodia) - for example, one of the places I considered visiting which was outside the Angkor area charged an incredible $20 for entry (I didn't go there as a result) and the cost for a 15-minute cab ride from the airport to town is set at $5 (I paid $1 to a "freelance" cab driver who ended up being my driver for 3 days at $20/day - a good value as far as I was concerned!). Also, the constant badgering by moto drivers as you walk through town (as many of us enjoy doing) is really annoying and can ruin an otherwise enjoyable stroll through a pleasant town.
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| P Saengswang |
13 September 2002 |
Stayed at Angkor Village Hotel - Siem Reap, Cambodia.
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Siem Reap is very different today than it was only a few years ago. Lots of new hotel construction, lots of tourists, and everything is priced in dollars. EXTREMELY expensive relative to everywhere else in SE Asia. That said, Angkor Wat, Angkot Thom, etc. are still magnificent. It is good for Cambodians that they are starting to build the infrastructure necessary to grab tourist dollars for their economy, but for you intrepid travellers out there - go now before it changes even further!
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| P Liang |
26 May 2001 |
Stayed at Angkor Village Hotel - Siem Reap, Cambodia.
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We got around by car. On the first day we arrived at 9 am and negotiated a half day rate of $15, then a full day was $20 and to go out to Kobal Spien we paid $30. The driver stayed with us from 7:30 am to 8 or 9 pm at night. He did not double as a tour guide.
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There are many quaint restaurants in Siem Reap now. We ate at the Blue Pumpkin, Liquid, La Noria. We enjoyed all of our meals.
While one could get away with using only US$, it is worth it to change some USD into Riels. Since the locals do not want US coins, everything is $1 or 2 for $1; but in riels it is cheaper. We changed money at the fruit market. The rate is standard. we only changed $20 for drinks, tip, etc...
It is now the beginning of rainy season. It rained for a few minutes every afternoon. We loved the rain. It was amazing how the mood of the temple changed from bright sun light to rain. The rain really added to the atmosphere. Most of all, the number of tourists there right now was incredibly low. I was last in Siem Reap in Nov 1994 and I was expecting many more tourists. At Angkor Wat we only saw 24 other people in the 3 hours we were there. Many other temples/sites were were the only people. Bantei Serei - we were alone, Roluos group - 5 other people, Ta Som - alone,... If you are more concerned about crowds than the heat; it is good to go either early in the morning or noon. The tour buses are not at the temples at these hours.
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