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 Traveller's Tales: Entertainment suggestions in Siem Reap, Cambodia
Sample the happening nightlife near in Siem Reap, Cambodia. You may read about their entertainment tips and guides. Find out about entertainment centres, recreation, theatre, arts and night life. Also, you might want to read our
Angkor / Siem Reap city guide,
and Phnom Penh city guide.
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| L Ly |
31 May 2005 |
Stayed at Angkor Saphir Hotel - Siem Reap, Cambodia.
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Siem Reap is much more westernized than I thought it would be. One could go and never eat Cambodian food because of the number of American/Western options. Pub Street is an area that has only western bars/restaurants, which is nice. But tourists should try and avoid spending all their time there as they would miss the real Cambodia.
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| T Thedy |
07 May 2005 |
Stayed at Ta Prohm - Siem Reap, Cambodia.
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There are many small pubs within one block of the hotel. They are located on what is known as the "Bar Street." Additionally, there is a nice disco just over the bridge from the hotel, named Martini.
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| M Banks |
06 March 2005 |
Stayed at Passaggio Boutique Hotel - Siem Reap, Cambodia.
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We had guide and driver for our three days which we organized before arrival which was helpful. We ate at the excellent Red Piano and the Ivy. We went to Dr. Beat Richners concert at the hospital on the Friday night...an interesting and thought provoking experience! The real highlight, other than the temples, was our wonderful massage at "Seeing Hands 4" which I would highly recommend. It was easy to walk there from the hotel.
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| S Dominy |
24 February 2005 |
Stayed at Bopha Angkor - Siem Reap, Cambodia.
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In Siem Reap, you do not have to worry about being located in the centre of town because everything is a short ride away. Central Market is good for nice gifts - beware that everything that looks old and antique probably isn't! We had a fabulous guide for the temple visits, Ponheary, who was a fascinating and knowledgable person to spend a few days with. Contact her on ponheary@yahoo.com. She speaks French and English. All her family members are also guides but I believe she is the best.
I was told 2 days was all you need to visit the Angkor area if you are not a temple buff. However, I wish we had at least 3 days as there are some wonderful sights further out which sounded very interesting. If you can't afford to stay at The Grand Hotel, Angkor, at least try to have a meal or drink there. The Fine Dining restaurant serves wonderful Khmer food. Even though it is probably the most expensive place in Siem Reap it is still very reasonable by Western standards (about US$40 per head with wine). They also do Apsara dance shows with buffet on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday nights. These require advance booking. Beware the Apsara shows at the cheaper restaurants - they tend to be amateurish.
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| A Mccullen |
30 January 2005 |
Stayed at Passaggio Boutique Hotel - Siem Reap, Cambodia.
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Moto-trailers and motorcycles are absolutely everywhere so you will have no problems in finding transport, though contact lens wearers, be warned - the roads are very very dusty! There are plenty of great restaurants around Siem Reap ranging from Khmer to Indian to French, or if you wanted to go local, you could always eat at one of the street stalls serving Khmer noodles, rice, and baguette sandwiches. We even saw fried beetles with garlic for those with a more adventurous palette! Although I only saw them being sold by one vendor on the East bank of the river, over the bridge from the Old Market.
There are loads of souvenir shops round the old market area as well as classy little boutiques that support local Cambodians like Rajana, Senteurs and Artisans D'Angkor which also had tours around their workshops if you wanted. The Khmer Kitchen is a gem - their amok is wonderful with the coconut milk made fresh (we could hear them grinding the coconuts!) and deservedly popular. It's tucked away in a small lane behind Bar Street so look out for its sign or you'll miss it! We also tried the Soup Dragon which serves a great pho (pronounced 'fur') noodle soup dish in the mornings and the Red Piano restaurant with international food and generous portions. Most of the restaurants have upstairs balcony seating, nice for the street views. The Blue Pumpkin cafe serves great pastries, breads and ice cream. If you wanted to visit some bars, there is 'Bar Street' with the very popular Angkor What?, Temple Bar, Buddha Lounge to name a few, and Linga bar just around the corner, a very trendy affair and SR's one and only gay bar.
One thing I would definitely recommend visitors go to is the Beatocello concert held every Friday and Saturday evening at the Jayavaraman VII pediatric hospital next to the Sofitel hotel. The founder and director, Dr. Beat Richner puts on informal concerts playing the cello (hence Beatocello) combined with talking about the hospital's activities. Their services are offered completely free and it is depends very much on donations. You can see that it is put to good use with world-class facilties having been built for the Cambodian children. Even if you can't give any money, you can give blood so I would urge visitors to support this project in either way.
If you hire a local guide, around lunchtime they will 'suggest' a Khmer restaurant for you to go to. As it was our first day, we thought why not? and were taken to a nice enough restaurant. We were the first customers, but one by one, we saw tour guides bringing in their guidees(?) until the whole restaurant was filled! It wasn't that the food was bad, it was alright but it was expensive by Siem Reap standards ($18 for three dishes) and we thought Khmer Kitchen and Soup Dragon were much much better. So insist that you go to a restaurant of your choice or just ask them to drop you off at the Old Market where you can walk around and pick for yourself where you want to eat. You'll spend less and get more authentic food!
There's a balloon ride that gives you a great view over Angkor Wat and Phnom Bakheng, $11 for 10 minutes but worth it! Would have been nice for sunset but book ahead because the tour groups often go for this option. There are also helicopter tours, I can't remember how much they were but it is very very expensive! Take a break in the middle of the day from touring the temples (we usually stopped from 12-2 or 3) because it was hot, hot, hot! However, if you can stand the heat, you'll be rewarded by an infinitely more peaceful wandering-round-the-temples experience! Have fun, we certainly did!
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| C Ryan |
23 January 2005 |
Stayed at Borei Angkor Hotel - Siem Reap, Cambodia.
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Compared with Phnom Penh Siem Reap is very laid back + friendly. Getting around is easy you can use your legs although it does get a bit hot walking everywhere! We used a tuktuk + our driver was Mr. Saleap - he is found outside Borei Angkor hotel, took us to the temples + basically everywhere else we wanted to go - look him up he is ultra reliable.
We liked Angkor What?, a bar where everyone crowds in good atmosphere everyone chatting away, dancing + having a good laugh - we also went to Laundry, a late drinking joint which unlike Martini had no women of the night!!
Restaurants we liked were Khmer kitchen + soup dragon.
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| A Dickman |
29 November 2004 |
Stayed at Borei Angkor Hotel - Siem Reap, Cambodia.
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Le Tigre des Papiers, Golden Temple Bar and The Red Piano plus the Ampor restaurant (try the chicken curry) all worth a visit.
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| J Stagg |
15 November 2004 |
Stayed at Mysteres d' Angkor - Siem Reap, Cambodia.
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Siem Reap is really the only base for a visit to Angkor, but has a bustling appeal in itslef. There are top end hotels with good (if not rather impersonal) facilities, and a good range of hostels and restaurants to suit all budgets. The massage centres run and operated by the blind are incredible value, and you can indulge in a couple of hours in expert hands for a good cause. The FCC bar is recommended for evening sundowners/poolside dining, and the Blue Pumpkin for great coffee and good quality pattisserie. Do not miss the old market for cheap and tasty street food.
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| W Susanto |
20 August 2004 |
Stayed at Borei Angkor Hotel - Siem Reap, Cambodia.
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Life in Siem Reap was utterly simple...temple trekking in the morning, return to downtown for lunch, swim and take a nap in the hotel, temple trekking again in late afternoon for sunset, dinner in downtown, and finish the day with bar hopping. Repeat this for the next 2 days. In addition to the temple trekking, you can also add a bit of fun by doing the elephant riding ($10 from South Gate of Angkor Thom to Bayon) and Hot-Air Ballooning ($11 for 10mins). All prices in Siem Reap are in US$ and always rounded to the nearest dollar. For Khmer food, Bayon Restaurant was my favourite. For pubbing, try the Deadfish Tower where you can use the internet for free and feed live crocodiles. For evening drinks, go to the Red Piano and Temple Bar. For massage, you can go to Chai ($25 for 90mins). Have fun!
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| D Plane |
07 May 2004 |
Stayed at Angkor Village Hotel - Siem Reap, Cambodia.
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FCC is good for lunch. Buy souvenirs from the Central Market, not from the large souvenir places along the road to Angkor Wat - we bought shadow puppets at the markets for US$10 each which were on sale at the other places for US$75 each, and a wooden buddha for US$14 at the markets which were on sale for US$140 at the larger establishments - they looked identical to me. We had a driver and guide for 2 days - I think a guide was good for one day but I would have liked to just wander on my own on the second day. The tour groups are alarmingly ubiquitous, and it was rare for us to be on our own at any of the wats or temples, which I found disappointing. The shadow puppet show on Wednesday nights at La Noria (with dinner) was really great. And the people, without exception, were friendly, charming and seemed genuinely interested in talking with us.
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