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 Traveller's Tales: Advise for travellers in Siem Reap, Cambodia
Heed our handy tips on safe travel in Siem Reap, Cambodia. You may read about travel warnings, health, what to wear, travel with kids, travel with pets, local weather, local government, medical information and traffic information in the area.Also, you might want to read our
Angkor / Siem Reap city guide,
and Phnom Penh city guide.
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| M Langley |
08 April 2002 |
Stayed at Ta Prohm - Siem Reap, Cambodia.
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In early April it was HOT, around 40 celsius every day and that made touring the ruins hard work for us temperate climate folks! Not an easy country to visit for me as the effects of war and unrest are so evident and yet the glory of the Khmer culture and the Angkor ruins are spectacular. The poverty of the people amidst a growing number of extremely expensive hotels is also hard to see.
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| M Eidelman |
18 March 2002 |
Stayed at Angkor Village Hotel - Siem Reap, Cambodia.
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Seim Reap is very hot 35-41 C in mid-march. Be prepared for this since it is hard in these temperature to endure to much temple trotting in one day. I think that unless you are a real history or anthropology buff, 8 hours of time using a car to get around is more that enough time to appreciate Angor Wat and the surrounding temple's glory.
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| G Karas |
09 January 2002 |
Stayed at Angkor Village Hotel - Siem Reap, Cambodia.
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No trip to SE Asia is complete without visiting
Angkor. Siem Reap is a very pleasant town,
although we were disgusted by the volumes of trash
floating in the river. It's also easily the most
overpriced city in SE Asia. In addition to the
hotels being way overpriced, the restaurants were
the most expensive in SE Asia, including, with
a couple of exceptions, most that we found in
Bangkok. We highly recommend a trip to the silk
farm outside of town, where you can see the entire process, from growing the mulberry and
works to the actual weaving. It was fascinating
and free!
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| C Severn |
02 January 2002 |
Stayed at Sofitel Royal Angkor - Siem Reap, Cambodia.
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Angkor Wat is of course a fantastic place to visit. A few comments - busy times seem to be early mid morning, say about 9-11am. Bayon for example was so busy when I visited that it spoiled the atmosphere completely, but it was almost empty at lunchtime, though admitedly hotter. Ta Prohm was beautiful and empty at 8am. Bantay Srei is small and mobbed by large groups so patience is needed to get a shot free of other people.
I travelled with two children under 2 years. Angkor Wat can be managed this way and even our one pushchair was ok, through make it a light one since there are quite a few steps in places. Other temples will need either a pouch/backpack for babies, or leave them with babysitters as we did about half the time.
The trip to Tonle Sap lake is an interesting diversion, though some goups seemed to be very crowded on their boats where we had a boat to ourselves for the same price.
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| T Brewer |
07 November 2001 |
Stayed at Sofitel Royal Angkor - Siem Reap, Cambodia.
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Since I had only 4 days, I stayed with visiting the temples. Plenty to see. I got around by motorbike after the first day as my original car driver lost track of me when he dropped me off the first day. I ended up walking extensively when I couldn't find him. I finally got a ride from a motorbike driver, who I hired as my guide for the next 3 days. He was excellent. The original car driver showed up at the hotel later that afternoon and wanted to get paid for the day! I paid him his $20.
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| M Cook |
24 October 2001 |
Stayed at Angkor Village Hotel - Siem Reap, Cambodia.
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The Angkor Temples were fasinating!! The infrastructure in Seim Reap is sad. During the rainy season the roads are more mud rivers than roads. Suggest that people should wait a few years to visit to allow the roads and sewers to improve. We saw signs of improvement on one road, but it will take time. Not much else worth seeing in the area except the Angkor Temples. Private guide ($20/day) and private car/driver (also $20/day) worked great. The people are very, very friendly. The food at the hotel was average. We enjoyed the food at a nearby restaurant (Bayon) where we had two big dinners which were less than $10/person.
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| M Buckley |
03 September 2001 |
Stayed at Angkor Village Hotel - Siem Reap, Cambodia.
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Decide when entering any temple complex if you want a guide or not. If not then just say 'no thanks' to the officials who often start chatting friendly and walking with you and before you know it become self-appointed guides (who will of course politely ask for a few dollars at the end).
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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 Herceg |
19 August 2001 |
Stayed at Angkor Village Hotel - Siem Reap, Cambodia.
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The English-speaking tour guide who Angkor Village Resort arranged for us (his name's Samady) was a wonderful guide. He was very knowledgeable in the history of the country, the city and in Hindu mythology, etc. and very helpful. I recommend that English-speakers look him up. The French restaurant called Only One (that is advertised everywhere and mentioned on almost all Siem Reap websites ) was not very good. Women, watch out for the rude little boys in the soft drink/souvenir shop area right in front of the main gate that leads straight to Angkor Wat. These boys are vulgar and up to no good - unlike all other children elsewhere in Siem Reap and rest of Cambodia.
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| J Gittings |
29 July 2001 |
Stayed at Angkor Hotel - Siem Reap, Cambodia.
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Other than the obvious about Angkor....
We suggest avoiding the standard tourist times. Angkor Wat at midday is empty, so is Banteay Srei, Bayon ditto in late afternoon. You may get hot but it's worth it. Allow enough days to explore less familiar temples.
Be aware that email access is difficult -- connections very slow -- from Siem Reap (or anywhere in Cambodia outside Phnom Penh).
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