| L Ramirez |
11 September 2004 |
Stayed at Princess Angkor Hotel - Siem Reap, Cambodia.
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TukTuk is a cheap way to get around Cambodia. A travel around the whole town only costs $6. They can take you to the temples also.
Don't miss out on a dinner and cultural show. I forgot the name of the restaurant but it was close to the hotel. They had a buffet which was excellent and the cultural show was fascinating as well.
When shopping, always bargain. Try to bring the price down to half and usually the sellers will sell them to you. I bought an Angkor book for $5 eventhough it was listed for $24. I bought it at the street vendors next to the temple. When I tried buying it inside the hotel, the lowest they would sell me was at $10. It is always cheaper to buy at the market or street vendors.
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| C Usher-clark |
29 August 2004 |
Stayed at Borei Angkor Hotel - Siem Reap, Cambodia.
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Tourism in Siem Reap is growing exponentially with new large hotels being built in multiple locations. Go now before the town is enveloped! A 3 day pass to the temples was about right. We paid $6 for a tuk tuk at our disposal on the first day and $20 for a guide/$20 for a car on the second. A good guide brings the temples to life and is well worth the extra cost as it stopped us getting "temple syndrome" which so many talk about. See Angkor Wat at sunrise - 5.30a.m. Costs more to get to Banteay Srei as it is farther out hence more petrol. Went to the Kulen restaurant for an Apsara dance show - $12 per person with unlimited food buffet (excl. drinks) and well worth the money. By comparison we costed the Angkor Village/Apsara Theatre show at $22 per person! FCC good for lunch but more expensive - Red Piano does a good Cambodian curry; Khymer Kitchen was amazing and very cheap - worth hunting down that side alley for. The Blue Pumpkin inside the Artisans D'Angkor/Angkor Cafe is exceptional and very good value (cheaper than the other more "local" looking restaurants surrounding it!). Would recommend rainy season - so much quieter with about one sixth the number of tourists and it rained no more than an hour a day about 4pm so didn't distrupt our days at all.
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| A Morrell |
19 August 2004 |
Stayed at Passaggio Boutique Hotel - Siem Reap, Cambodia.
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The temples are more than impressive, and Angkor is much more than 'just a group of temples'. The variety in design, condition and setting means you should allow 3 days to take it all in comfortably. I was greatly impressed with the jungle that surrounds many of the temples, especially the huge teak trees. Our kids (ages 8 and 9) weren't bored either.
But if you're anything like us, you'll be looking for ways to avoid being caught in amongst the hordes descending from tour buses. With a bit of planning and a willingness to forego some of the 'standard' photo shots, you can end up having quality time at most places with only a few people around you (in low and shoulder season at least). For example, we arrived at Angkor Wat at 7:30am - the big tour groups hit it from 6 - 7am, We had the fantastic experience of having the temple pretty much to ourselves. The light for pictures may not have been as good, but I still got some great shots and what a wonderful experience. Also, don't let tropical downpours put you off. We toured Preah Kahn in the midst of a storm and our kids felt like they were in an Indiana Jones movie!
Lots of food choices. We found the Khmer food at the Borey Sovann great value and very friendly. Everything's in USD so you need plenty of that. The 3 day pass at US40 is good value (kids under 12 are free) but a pity the money primarily goes to an oil company rather than the upkeep of these magnificent structures. But the biggest sting in Siem Reap is the 'passenger service charge' at the airport - an obscene USD 25! A French company operates the airport and is intent on milking it for all they can get. Again, if this was going to the many needy Cambodians I wouldn't mind...
Overall, a great place to visit. Our 4 days there felt about right.
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| W Goh |
10 August 2004 |
Stayed at Angkor Century Hotel - Siem Reap, Cambodia.
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We paid for a 3-day pass but were templed-out by the end of the second day. I would recommend visitors to go to the furthest temples on their first day(Bantaey Srei for example) and slowly build their staminas for the grand finale - Angkor Wat. In my opinion, Angkor Wat's the only monument that withstood the test of time and the forces of nature and is the most complete one out of the lot. Having said that, the rest of the temples are also magnificent and well worth a visit.
If you are going to the smaller sites, steer clear of the stalls - the children will start following you until you bow to their requests to buy either t-shirts, postcards or film! Beware of their tactics too - they will first start a friendly conversation, then press a little souvenir or flower in your hands and when you're just about to leave, they will insist that you buy something from them because you have "accepted" their "gifts"! For dining, FCC's a must. The food is inexpensive and very good! The old market is also a good hunting ground for souvenirs and such. Check out Asasax Art Gallery - he is a noted Cambodian artist and his oil on canvas paintings truly exemplify Cambodian life and culture. We've given one of his paintings a home in Singapore!
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| K Stiern |
10 August 2004 |
Stayed at Angkor Village Hotel - Siem Reap, Cambodia.
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You have many good and cheaper restaurants in town where you can easily walk to from the hotel. Our favourite restaurant was the "Soup Dragon". There you can peacefully sit upstairs without being harassed by begging children and enjoy a delicious meal at a good price.
I can recommend our motor-cycle driver for the temple tours Mr. NAT who stands in front of the Angkor Village Resort and who speaks a good English.
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| L Boyd |
28 July 2004 |
Stayed at Bopha Angkor - Siem Reap, Cambodia.
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Visited Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom, Ta Prohm, and others. We wished we had allowed more time for Ta Prohm! We were very thankful that we had arranged online for a guide and a van before we arrived ($110 for 2 days' worth of van, driver, and guide). One tip: American CASH is all that works. It has to be in pristine condition, too--we had a $100 bill with a very small cut on one corner and no one would accept it.
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| S Chan |
28 July 2004 |
Stayed at Pavillon Indochine - Siem Reap, Cambodia.
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We've tried several restaurants and found that Khmer Kitchen is really the best restaurant in town. Great food at very cheap price!! Beng Mealea is a must-go temple that is buried in the jungles. Great sense of adventure there!!
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| G Barrington |
28 July 2004 |
Stayed at Salina Hotel - Siem Reap, Cambodia.
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Temples fantastic. If you can allow more than 2-3 days to see everything it is much better. Eating out at local restaurants good value, tried Red Piano, Soup Dragon and Blue Pumpkin which were great. Don't go to Koulen Restaurant for Dance and dinner. Caters for large tour groups and was very poor value and food was only warm. Went to Chao Pra Ya was much better for the same thing. Far superior buffet meal and dancing much better. Found costs to get around high so allow for this. We took with us US money in lots of small denominations and made buying easy.
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| C Chia |
27 July 2004 |
Stayed at Passaggio Boutique Hotel - Siem Reap, Cambodia.
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We both had a great time in Siem Reap. It's a nice peaceful little town where you could truly relax. Locals there generally are very friendly. We shopped quite a fair bit and felt that should have brought more USD. Thai Baht is widely accepted as well. We went up to the north - Thailand and Cambodia border Poi Pet; my view is really nothing much to see there if you are not a gambler as the casinos are built there. According to our guide, all the casinos are being built near the borders and not in the city/province where the people can easily access to; which I think is good as the country is really poor should not make it easy to gamble. We do not mind to visit Siem Reap, Cambodia again. Probably next time should take more days off to cover other cities as well.
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| M Hanaya |
09 July 2004 |
Stayed at Passaggio Boutique Hotel - Siem Reap, Cambodia.
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A beautiful place to visit but really all you would need is 2-3 days. Not much to do except to visit all the Wats (which are spectacular) and visit the old market. Highly recommend the speed boat to Phnom Penh or vice versa. What an experience!
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Traveller's Tales: Places to go and see in Siem Reap, Cambodia
