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 Traveller's Tales: Shopping suggestions in Siem Reap, Cambodia
Get the best advice on shopping in Siem Reap, Cambodia. You may read about shopping malls, souvenir items and best buys in the area. Also, you might want to read our
Angkor / Siem Reap city guide,
and Phnom Penh city guide.
Pages (4 of 4):
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| T Thompson |
03 January 2002 |
Stayed at Sofitel Royal Angkor - Siem Reap, Cambodia.
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Angkor Wat is fascinating and definitely worth the effort of traveling to Siem Reap. Our only regret is that we did not have more time to see other ruins in the vicinity. Although Cambodia has opened up to tourism only within the past few years, the Cambodians have learned quickly how to get the most out of the tourist's spending. Prices of food, souvenirs, books etc. are extremely elevated not only in the hotel shops but also in shops outside of but close to hotels. Tourists should visit the old market area for better prices as well as the opportunity to get closer to the local culture.
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| C Shaffran |
31 December 2001 |
Stayed at Angkor Village Hotel - Siem Reap, Cambodia.
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You can hire a car and driver for the day US$20....or hop on the back of a motorbike. Both are popular and according to the weather, one is preferable over the other.
Push bikes really dont make a lot of sense...even though the land is flat. It's quite a distance from temple to temple and not much to see along the way. It feels like a long boring slog. Fun on a the back seat of a
motorbike, dust free and comfy in a car.
Hotel restaurant is the best option and besides you're probably too tired to go dancing after a day walking around the temples.
But if you must, splurge on a fabulous classic Khmer dinner at the Grand. It's old and gorgeous and elegant and part of the Raffles group of hotels.
Go to the Old Market in town. Bargain. Some very nice scarves in cotton and silk, fake antiques, nice plates and bowls, and silver items.
Highly recommended are the top 5 temples....Angkor Wat, Bayon, Ta Prohm, Takeo, Preah Khan. Spend at least one long full day....from 7:00AM until 6:00 when Angkor Wat closes...where you can catch a memorable sunset.
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| P English |
18 November 2001 |
Stayed at Angkor Village Hotel - Siem Reap, Cambodia.
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Great place just go- we preferred the outlying temples than the main ones. Get there early and take two hours for lunch and a swim and then return when its a bit cooler. You get hassled a lot to buy things, just be good natured and there wont be a problem! The town is great too, Thrivin Thai restuarant does ok ish thai food.
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| M Hohmann |
18 November 2001 |
Stayed at Angkor Saphir Hotel - Siem Reap, Cambodia.
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Angkor was definitively worth the visit, even the more remote places. Besides making pictures, bargaining and negotiating is everything...
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| S Le conte |
24 August 2001 |
Stayed at Angkor Village Hotel - Siem Reap, Cambodia.
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Siem Reap was excellent and so worth the visit. We were there for 3and a half days and could have done with another 2 or 3. You do get a bit'templed' out but could do a day out on Tonle Sap for a break or just wondering around Siem Reap itself. We went to Angkor Wat (amazing and so vast), Bayon, Ta Prohm, Behkeng, the Roulos group and Beng Melea. The tour to the latter cost $70 (2 people) but was worth it. The 2 hour drive was horrendous (when booking check out the car you get - you need a 4x4 to get there and we had an old pickup....) We got stuck in the mud, got pushed out by local police and were stuck up to our calves in mud with a snake wrapping itself around our ankles!
Beng Melea is just fascinating, completely absorbed by jungle and landmines! You HAVE to have a guide there (we had to pay the police $5 per man - v. expensive as well as the guides ($5)) as the area is completely surrounded by landmines; literally centimetres from where you are walking and teenage boys doing the de-mining all around you. We tried to go to Bantrey Srey and the river of a thousand lingas but the bridge had collapsed that day or the night before (worrying) and so we couldn't get there unfortunately. Also spent an hour in a garage as our truck broke down!! The countryside getting there and back was superb - definite photo opportunities and experiences all around and even the stop in the garage was worth it just to see the way that pigs are transported (you hear them coming before they go past...).
The best place that we found to eat was the Red Piano, road parallel to the one at the back of the old market (same road as Angkor What? - a bar marked in the Lonely Planet. The food there was great and cheapest we found apart from market stalls. In the market you can barter by just walking away from stall holders and they often reduce to half the intial price. The local market was ok - a 30 minute walk away but if you've seen other markets - they are much better. The general hygiene was off putting (this was the rainy season and so some of the market was flooded).
Siem Reap is most deintely a place to go to. Get a hotel in or nearish to town (Angkor Village 5 mins from the centre). We also took a boat up from Phonm Penh for $21 each which was fantastic although the safety aspect was non-existent. We sat up on the roof and got completely soaked but it was much more preferable to being inside a boat that had no way of escape apart from a small door at the front....
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| M Glenn |
19 August 2001 |
Stayed at Angkor Village Hotel - Siem Reap, Cambodia.
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Our guide and driver (arranged through the hotel) took us to the usual tour destinations in the Angkor area. Each site was magnificent and offered us a unique perspective on the Khmer civilization. Our favorite sites were Angkor Wat, Ta Prohm, and Bayon.
At our request, our guide took us to the Art Conservacy of Angkor and to Les Artisans D'Angkor, a special vocational school that teaches traditional Khmer arts and crafts to young men and women. The students, upon graduation, return to their villages to practice their craft and sell the Khmer-style products (silk products, wood and sandstone sculptures, lacquer boxes, etc.). For us, these venues were one of the most rewarding parts of our trip, as it uplifing to know that the country of Kampuchea recognizes its treasures, both in artifacts and people, and is working hard to preserve its national artistic traditions and educate its people. These two organizations are definitely worth a visit!
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| K Sparber |
09 August 2001 |
Stayed at Angkor Village Hotel - Siem Reap, Cambodia.
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I hired a guide, driver and car for the three days I was there. Two days I went to the temples - very important to see this - on the third day I was all templed out and instead we went to the Tonle Sap River hired a boat and sailed out into the lake to see the Vietnamese boat people - a wonderful trip and very interesting. In the afternoon of the third day we went to a silk farm (very interesting) and to a handicrafts store where workers were carving stone and wood into handicrafts - excellent day all in all. In the afternoons and evenings I went into town to shop and browse and sometimes hired a motorbike to travel around.
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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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