Cambodia: Siem Reap 2010

Siem Reap was our first stop in Cambodia, most tourists come here to see the Angor Wat site. Now this is a very strange city. Some part of it is really run down however you can find the shiny new and expensive hotels all across town. We stayed at the Golden Temple Villa which was a really positive experience. Nice staff, extremely clean rooms, nice restaurant, and it only did cost us $15/night for an A/C, hot water, double bed standard room. The hotel claims to offer free wifi but it is dreadfully slow and almost useless most of the time. The connection however works better if you use their free internet cafe next to the reception.

The main tourist area of Siem Reap revolves around pub street. There are many restaurants, cafes, and clubs in this area ranging from local Khmer food to Mexican and Irish restaurants and pubs. Because of the huge competition many places have happy hours almost all day with 0.50 cent draft beer and free wifi. Some restaurants even give you a free drink and dessert if you have a meal with them. Surprisingly there is almost no difference between the prices of local food and western food.

The most annoying thing about Siem Reap is again the beggars and the tuk tuk drivers. This is the city where you will learn to say “No Thank You” every 20 seconds.

Children beggars do come after you to buy them food or milk in a supermarket… Do not ever do this, they actually never get the product the supermarket staff exchanges the product back for money… and then when you are discarding them they will tell you to fuck off. This is how it goes in Siem Reap you are as good as your money.

Tuk tuk drivers offering their sevices all over Siem Reap quite aggressively I suggest you better take a driver arranged by your hotel and do not deal with these guys. We did this and had a very positive experience.

The general rule about Siem Reap is that there are very few locals that offer you help and they don’t expect anything in return, keep this in mind and stay safe.