Siem reap attractions. Siem Reap in Cambodia - information and guide to the city of Siem Reap. By train from Bangok to Aranyaprathet

Siem Reap in Cambodia is a popular but unremarkable city in the north of the Khmer kingdom. Sim Reap owes its popularity to the Angkor Wat temple complex, which attracts tourists from all over the world. Read about Angkor separate article, and today we will share our impressions of this city.

Siem Reap: street photos and impressions

Many locals move around the city not only on bikes and tuk-tuks, but also on bicycles, there are no traffic jams. There is no variety in cars. Traffic lights were noticed on a couple of streets, this is a rarity in Asia. With them in Cambodia a bit tight, but in the tourist areas of Siem Reap they are. We can only say about the roads that now they are paved, but many are being repaired.

Siem Reap street photo

Siem Reap: Tourist Quarter

In the city center everything is more or less clean and very decent. There are many cafes, guest houses and hotels. One of the best hotels Regency Angkor Hotel.

Hotels in Siem Reap

• Tropical Breeze Guesthouse
• Baphuon Villa
• Laysung Boutique
• Angkor Spirit Palace

All hotels in Siem Reap

Hotel in Siem Reap Regency Angkor Hotel

On one of the central squares they saw how they sell birds. They are so cute, although they look not very healthy in the photo.

It made me laugh that in Siem Reap there is a 6-Eleven store, an analogue of the Thai 7-Eleven. Only here the range leaves much to be desired. Nothing healthy and tasty is for sale, mostly chips, cookies, noodles, nuts, water, alcohol. At the same time, prices are very high for Asia.

6-Eleven Siem Reap

Siem Reap non-tourist

In Siem Reap, if you move a little away from the center, it is rather dirty, you often come across places where building material is scattered or everything is simply dug up. Although, I would not be surprised if all this “beauty” has been in this state for more than one year.

Gas cylinder filling station

Vegetation and green grass are difficult to meet. In the central tourist areas you will see it, but as soon as you turn into an alley and all this disappears, the landscape changes dramatically. You can walk down the street and see a beautiful building or unusual stone buildings in the Khmer style. Turning the corner, stumble upon old houses on stilts. There are many temples in and around the city.

Some Khmer temples at the entrance to Siem Reap

By the way, in Cambodia it is customary to build houses on stilts because of the threat of floods. Traveling around Cambodia, you can constantly observe the following buildings:

Stilt houses in Cambodia

Then go a little more through the slums and you again find yourself on a dusty and buzzing street from the movement of motorbikes with a bunch of tourists.

Siem Reap reviews

The atmosphere in Simrip leaves a feeling of unfinished business. It’s as if this is not a full-fledged city, but a transit point where everything is being built and repaired and never completed, where people transport huge carts (garbage?), and children run barefoot through the streets, play with bricks and look curiously at Europeans.

We got such reviews about Siem Reap. But, don't worry, everything in the tourist quarter is clean and very decent! We describe life in Siem Reap as a whole, since ordinary residents of the city do not live in hotels, but in such houses and barns.

The whole picture is complemented by the same type of houses. To meet a more or less decent house is rare. And then, when you see one, you think that it could be a hotel or a guesthouse.

Neighborhood Siem Reap

On the way to Thailand between the cities, we watched other views from the window of our bus. Endless fields, poor dirty villages and detached houses on stilts, tall palm trees with a round crown, such are found only in Cambodia.

Wonderful views of Siem Reap behind the city

Desert nature, palm trees interspersed with occasional houses. Scorched grass due to lack of rain. In winter, nature here is very similar to our autumn.

Excursion to Angkor Wat from Siem Reap

So, everyone comes to Siem Reap for the sake of ancient temple Angkor Wat. Is it worth watching? Definitely yes! Perhaps this is one of the greatest attractions not only in Cambodia, but throughout Asia. We would put Angkor Wat on the same level with. After Angkor, we are no longer interested in looking at other temples.

Siem Reap hotels

Hotels in Siem Reap are available for every taste and budget. Because people come here from all over the world. Tourists from poor Asian countries stay in cheap hotels and guesthouses. More affluent travelers from Europe and the United States choose hotels in Siem Reap of high standard, up to five stars. There are also mid-level hotels, costing $30-50 per night, where most tourists can afford to stay.

• Tropical Breeze Guesthouse
• Mantra Angkor Boutique Villa
• Baphuon Villa
• Laysung Boutique
• Angkor Spirit Palace

All hotels in Siem Reap

Siem Reap- a small modest city in Cambodia, which became world famous thanks to the ancient Angkor Wat. What can you see and do in Siem Reap besides visiting the temple complex, and where is it convenient to go from this city?

What to see and do in Siem Reap?

Siem Reap is a small and rather modest city in terms of sights, but its location next to Angkor Wat has made it popular among tourists. It seems that there are more vacationers here than the Cambodians themselves. There is actually nothing to see in Siem Reap, one evening after visiting the famous Angkor Wat is quite enough to bypass the city.

Siem Reap is the most touristic city in Cambodia.

1. Go shopping at the night market

The market starts at 17:00. It sells clothes, food, souvenirs, jewelry and all sorts of trinkets - in general, such a typical Asian market. If after Siem Reap you plan to visit other Cambodian cities, then it is better not to buy actively in this market. Spoiled by tourists, local merchants do not hesitate to install high prices goods and are very reluctant to make concessions.

The night market in Sihanoukville is an evening gathering of tourists.

2. Use cheap cosmetic services

In Siem Reap, you can get a very cheap haircut, make a face mask, go for a body or foot massage. Compared to Thailand, services in Cambodia are very cheap ( although in Thailand they cannot be called expensive). I decided to shorten my hair, and was, to put it mildly, shocked. For $3, they washed my hair, gave me a head massage, cut my hair and dried it. And moreover, they cut their hair even better than they did in the Czech Republic, where it cost 5 times more.

Get your hair cut, washed and massaged for only $3)

3. Try Happy Pizza

In Siem Reap, you can also enjoy “happy pizza” for quite affordable prices. In the city you will find far from one cafe offering a "special" meal. The prices are, of course, amazing. It seems that the ingredients for such pizzas in Cambodia are almost for nothing:

These are the low prices in Cambodia for "happy pizza".

4. Walk around the city center

It is better to go for a walk in the center in the late afternoon, when the streets of the city are lit up with colored lights. Cafes are open around, tourists are walking, Asian goodies are sold, and the whole atmosphere of the city favors a relaxed holiday.

Evening Siem Reap.

How to get from Siem Reap to other cities in Cambodia, as well as to Thailand and Vietnam

As I describe all the same budget travel, then I give an example as cheap get from Siem Reap to other cities. Of course, there is an alternative in the form of the same taxi, especially for a company of several people. But here I am only concerned with bus trips, because Railway in Cambodia is in a terrible state, and a taxi is not an economical option for independent travel.

1. How to get from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh

Phnom Penh is the capital of Cambodia, located about 300 kilometers southeast of Siem Reap. Phnom Penh is not an attractive place for tourists, so it is difficult to call this destination popular.

If you plan to travel from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh, then you have two ways to get to the capital of Cambodia:

• By bus that departs from Siem Reap several times a day. The cost is 8 dollars, it travels to the capital in 6-7 hours.
• Boat on Tonle Sap lake. Since this trip is a kind of attraction for tourists, its cost is higher - $30. While driving a boat on the lake, you can see settlements in stilt houses built right on the water. As for me, looking at the slums of poor Cambodians who earn their living only by fishing is still entertainment.

2. How to get from Siem Reap to Sihanoukville

We decided after visiting Siem Reap and Angkor Wat to go to the coast. The main resort town of Cambodia is Sihanoukville. I will tell about the city itself and our impressions in a separate post. So, from Siem Reap to Sihanoukville, you can get by night bus in 11 hours, and we chose this option. The cabin provides reclining seats, they seemed very comfortable to me:

This is what reclining seats look like on a Siem Reap-Sihanoukville bus.

Anyway, it was better than . The cost of travel from Siem Reap to Sihanoukville is 13 dollars, distance - 520 km. The map shows where we bought tickets, other travel agencies offered the same option, but for 15-16 dollars:

3. How to get from Siem Reap to Pattaya

From Siem Reap you can go to Pattaya and Bangkok. You take a bus to the border town, pass passport control, transfer to a minivan to Pattaya or Bangkok and get to the right place. General the cost of the ticket for the whole journey is 18 dollars, the distance from Siem Reap to Pattaya is about 400 km.

4. How to get from Siem Reap to Ho Chi Minh

You can also take a bus from Siem Reap to Vietnam. To do this, you need to get to Phnom Penh ( already wrote above), and from there for $12 to Ho Chi Minh City.

Although there are no memorable sights in Siem Reap ( Angkor Wat out of brackets), I liked the city. It is quite clean and well maintained., especially compared to Sihanoukville, where we headed after three days in Siem Reap. I will tell about our impressions of Sihanoukville in the following posts.

For travelers to Cambodia, the previous article about ancient Angkor and useful tips is much more important. But Angkor without Siem Reap is impossible like Kiev without Podil, so I’ll tell you about what accommodation to choose, where to dine, shopping and other entertainment in Siem Reap, how to get to this city from Phnom Penh or Bangkok and what to do in the pauses between inspection temples of Angkor.

All you need to know a tourist or traveler about Siem Reap is that this city is a kind of portal to the past due to its proximity to ancient Angkor. In short, this is an airport city, a transit city, a hotel city and a beer city, it sounds a little primitive, but it's true.

Why go to Siem Reap

See angkor wat and other temples ancient angkor, there is no other reason to go to Siem Reap. If it were not for the worldwide fame and popularity of Angkor, the city would have remained what it was before - little known locality Kingdom of Cambodia. Now Siem Reap- the first in tourist flow after the capital Phnom Penh.

How to get to Siem Reap

Method 1. Buy airfare. This is the easiest, most comfortable and most reliable way. For residents post-Soviet countries you need to fly to Bangkok, from there by plane to Siem Reap. Now the Asian low-cost Air Asia flies (from Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur), before you had to either use expensive BangkokAir or get buses or rent a car with a driver.

IN Siem Reap you can also fly from Kuala Lumpur, Ho Chi Minh City, Hong Kong, Hanoi. Several major international airlines also fly here - Korean Airlines, Delta.

Taxi from Siem Reap airport to the city costs 5 - 7 US dollars, you can pay in Cambodia everywhere in dollars, I recommend having banknotes with a face value of no more than 10 dollars and more small dollars.

Method 2. Bus. IN Siem Reap, Cambodia can be reached by bus from the capital Phnom Penh, from Bangkok With Mo Chit bus station, the ticket is bought there at the bus station. You can also buy a bus ticket in Cambodia (Siem Reap) at a street agency. From Koh Chang you can buy an excursion with a visit angkor, it includes an organized transfer. Excursions are sold in street agencies or directly at the hotel. IN Siem Reap you can get off anywhere, you don’t need to wait for the bus station, it may not be there. Just go out, catch a taxi or tuk-tuk and name your hotel.

Method 3. From the capital Phnom Penh to Siem Reap can be reached by boat on the river and Lake Tonle Sap. At first we wanted to get this way. But in the dry season (winter) there is no navigation, so we chose a car.

Method 4. Automobile . Simply rent a car with a driver and drive straight from your hotel. If you take a car in Thailand (Bangkok, Pattaya or Koh Chang, for example), then you will be taken to the border, then transferred to another driver in another car, who will take you through Cambodia. border Thailand-Cambodia in the area of ​​​​the city of Poipet, cross on foot. This is what we did when we returned from Cambodia and moved to Koh Chang in Thailand. The journey from Phnom Penh will take approximately 6 hours, depending on the number of stops. Road Phnom Penh – Siem Reap excellent. Road problems in Cambodia remained if you turn off the main highway. There are not many roads themselves, but they are being built.

Method 5. From Phnom Penh (capital of Cambodia) to Siem Reap you can fly by helicopter and see ancient angkor , Tonle Sap lake And floating villages, national park - Mount Phnom Kulen bird's-eye. The price of such pleasure is 4500 US dollars per person. Contacts of the company can be found in your hotel, in extreme cases, I can inform you additionally - write!

Public transport in Siem Reap (Cambodia)

I won't write much about urban transport because it doesn't exist as such. There are two options - tuk-tuk or taxi. It is inexpensive and for 2-3 dollars you will be taken to any place. As a rule, this is a transfer from a hotel on pub street or along the route hotel - Old Market, hotel - riverside (embankment). There is nothing else to do in this city. About transfer to Angokor and back I wrote in the article Angkor Wat. Useful information, photos, tips on the route and hotels

In hotels it is possible to take a bicycle, but to be honest, in conditions Cambodia mode of transportation is more than doubtful. Although I had the experience of studying one of the islands of thailand on a bike, but this is rather an exception to the rule.

How and where to choose accommodation in Siem Reap

Most popular place to choose accommodation V Siem Reap (Cambodia) among tourists - Old Market area, Here huge selection affordable housing, price range from 10 to 50 US dollars. Decent hotels with a swimming pool start from about $25 per day, for 40-50 you get European 3-star apartments with a good breakfast, a room with a terrace, a bar and a pool. There are also five-star hotels and bunkhouses for a couple of dollars, but for obvious reasons they do not fall into the zone of our interests.

IN Siem Reap (Cambodia) it is worth choosing a hotel according to the level of comfort-price, location is not important. To take a walk on pub street you can take a taxi or tuk-tuk, it costs 1-2 dollars. No need to look - they are on every corner.

We stayed at the Central Boutique Angkor Hotel

I also recommend looking on the site. Room Guru: Siem Reap - comfortable budget hotels Details about hotels and guesthouses Siem Reap (Cambodia) you can read on my new site dedicated to the choice of accommodation when traveling - Siem Reap, Cambodia - Hotel recommendation

Things to do in Siem Reap, pubs, prices for food and alcohol in Cambodia

In addition to visiting angkor wat, if there is a desire and strength left, the main evening entertainment is a walk and hanging out on a fun Pub Street. Nearby is also very touristy Passage street. There are restaurants with national dances, we are not fond of - I can not comment. The price of lunch in a tourist restaurant is 5-10 dollars for two. In local eateries - 4 dollars including beer. Khmer cuisine slightly different from Thai - it is not so spicy, less fried, and here other spices and meat, fish and vegetables are cooked differently. Worth a try - amok (amok), this is fish or seafood in coconut milk with spices, I recommend from meat - lak lok - beef in local sauce, very tasty. Traditionally a lot of chicken and fish dishes.

From the exotic, almost everywhere in Cambodia You can also try insects and frog legs. Insects are sold on the streets on carts with large trays - grasshoppers, ground beetles, swimming beetles. I ventured to try only small ones - grasshoppers, cockroaches and ground beetles. Well fried, they resemble potato chips. Frog legs very tender and similar to stewed homemade chicken.

From pubs and bars I can recommend X-Bar on pub street, from it beautiful view to the general party and the street of bars.

Wide range of services massage– from a foot massage with fish to a full body massage. After several visits to Asia, I have not become a fan of massages, but most tourists like it. Price - from 5 to 15 dollars, there are options and more expensive.

More shopping like entertainment. I especially enjoy walking not in shops, but in local markets, although I buy something very rarely. There are many products in the shops crocodile skin, the quality looks very good. main market Siem Reap – Old Market, located close to Pub Street, near Siem Reap river.

IN Cambodia the most low prices for alcohol than anywhere else in Asia, and all over the world (from those countries in which I was). It is also called "onedollarcountry" for low prices on almost everything. In hot countries, we prefer beer and here it is not bad, at the level of Thai, Filipino or Indonesian. Travelers praise the local rum and whiskey, but rather not for the taste, but for the cheapness. I didn't like it very much. Almost all fruits also cost around $1, mangoes - $2 apiece.

Except standard entertainment, V angkor wat you can fly to hot-air balloon, make a “flight of the gibbon” directly on the territory angkor park and take a helicopter flight Siem Reap above Lake Tonle Sap and Angkor. The cost of flying a gibbon is $59, the cost of a helicopter flight is from $90 per person for 8 minutes, the flight can last 14 minutes ($150), 20 minutes ($200), 30 minutes ($300) and 48 minutes ($430). dollars). Organizer company contacts are easily searched on the Internet, I can also provide additional information on request - write!

Local currency- riel, exchange rate - 1 dollar - 4000 riels. Eat exchange offices, but you don’t need to change anything - they accept US dollars everywhere, in markets, in shops, in taxis. Do not bother with a bunch of dirty crumpled bills and calculate these pennies. ATMs in tourist places there is, but it is better to have cash dollars in small denominations!

World-class attractions in Siem Reap no, there is a royal park, a small embankment, a museum, a couple of temples that you will not be interested in after angkor. All tourist traffic is concentrated around Pub Street, Old Market, embankment. The rest of the streets are darkish and completely uninteresting, two-story houses of a semi-barrack type, hotels behind high fences.

Is it dirty in Siem Reap? Everything is relative. There is no critical dirt in the city, although Cambodians throw garbage and banana skins right on the sidewalk, they are periodically removed. I caught myself thinking that Amsterdam gets dirtier. In general, tolerable and without blatant unsanitary conditions.

Big stores like Tesco or Big C, how in Thailand, there is no. There are small private shops where you can buy bottled water or alcohol. I saw a couple of average supermarkets in which there is nothing interesting.

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Siem Reap- This small town in Cambodia, located near the country's main tourist attraction - the Angkor temple complex. I have been interested in the Khmer Empire for a long time, and I was always amazed that they could build such grandiose structures like Angkor Wat - the world's largest Hindu monument of culture and architecture. And finally I decided to persuade my husband to go and figure it all out on my own. So we went to Siem Reap on our own from Thailand for the first time.

• Read more about

Personally, we have been to Siem Reap several times, and we are always curious to return to Cambodia. So we will describe more than once our impressions of how the city is growing in the neighborhood of Angkor and what is changing in it. In the meantime, let's start with how to see this city.

There are six easiest options for getting to Siem Reap in Cambodia:

1. by plane from Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh City, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong and other Asian cities;
2. by bus from neighboring countries - Thailand, Vietnam, Laos;
3. by taxi from the border town of Poipet;
4. by train from Bangkok to Aranyaprathet, and the rest of the way by taxi or bus;
5. by boat from Phnom Penh and Battambang;
6. by helicopter from Phnom Penh and Battambang.

And now I will tell you in detail about each method.

By plane

Flying to Siem Reap by plane is the easiest way to get to the city of Angkor. Airlines fly here with direct flights from all neighboring Asian countries and cities. You can only choose the one that is more convenient. By the way, Siem Reap Departure Tax is always included in the ticket price if it is an international flight. If you bought a ticket for a home flight, then before departure you need to pay $12. It is better to pay in cash.

Here is a list of all airlines flying to Siem Reap and departure cities:

• AirAsia (Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok)
• Air Hanuman (Pattaya)
• Asiana Airlines (Seoul)
• Bangkok Airways (Bangkok)
• Cambodia Angkor Air (Ho Chi Minh City, Phnom Penh, Sihanoukville, Bangkok)
• Cathay Pacific Airways - Dragonair (Hong Kong)
• Cebu Pacific Air (Manila)
• China Eastern Airlines(Kunming, Nanning)
• China Southern Airlines (Guangzhou)
• Hong Kong Express (Hong Kong)
• Jetstar Asia (Singapore)
• Korean Air (Seoul-Incheon)
• Lao Airlines (Luang Prabang, Pakse)
• Malaysia Airlines (Kuala Lumpur)
• Silk Air (Danang, Singapore)
• THAI Smile Airways (Bangkok)
• Vietnam Airlines (Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Luang Prabang)

We recommend watching in advance. Flights to Siem Reap at this link >> *
* airlines often arrange sales, do not miss the opportunity to buy a ticket

You can board a plane in your own country and, with a transfer in one of the Asian cities, fly to the second international Airport Cambodia. From Moscow, it is most convenient to fly to Siem Reap with a change in Bangkok. Transfer from Siem Reap Airport to the hotel is usually provided free of charge if the hotel is already booked, but will be taken to the airport for $5. A taxi from the airport costs $7.

Coming to Siem Rin by bus is also very easy. You can come from the border states with Cambodia. Most popular route to Siem Reap from Bangkok. There are also excursions from Pattaya to Angkor. Some tourists prefer to do this route on their own, arriving by bus.

• To Siem Reap from Thailand: buses that do not need to be changed at the border are operated by the Nattakarn Bus Company, which departs from Northern bus station Mo Chit in Bangkok. All other ways include different variations - how to come to the border from Bangkok to Aranyaprathet, and from there go to the Cambodian city of Poipet and go further to Siem Reap. We traveled this route several times and share our experience -, history and practical information About, ).
• To Siem Reap from Vietnam. Travelers in Southeast Asia can also get to Angkor Wat from Vietnam by driving to Cambodia by bus from Na Trang and Ho Chi Minh City. Ticket prices range from $18 to $25.
• To Siem Reap from Laos. There is another very non-trivial way- come to Siem Reap from southern Laos - from Pakse ($30) and from 4000 islands of Don Det ($35). Read the story of how we went this way the other way around and managed not to pay the border mafia not a dollar, read.

By bus you can get to Siem Reap from Phnom Penh - $7-15, Sihanoukville - $13-18, Battambang - $5, Kampong Thom - $7, Sisopon - $5 and Poipet - $5 and other cities of Cambodia.

Taxi from Poipet to Siem Reap

Arriving in Poipet by bus from Bangkok, most of tourists do not transfer to another bus, but try to find fellow travelers in order to save on a taxi ride. A taxi to Siem Reap for 4 people costs $25-45 depending on the impudence of the taxi driver. Official taxis from the center of Poipet carry for $25.

By boat to Siem Reap from Phnom Penh and Battambang

Passenger boat is one of the exotic ways to come to Siem Reap from Phnom Penh and Battambang and see Cambodia along the way.

• From Phnom Penh. This trip along the Tonle Sap river and lake is feasible from July to March during the rainy season and the cool season. The boat starts at 7.30 from Phnom Penh and arrives in Siem Reap in 6 hours. The cost of such a trip is $28-30.
• From Battambang– a similar way to get to Siem Reap will take 5 hours and costs $20-25.

By train from Bangok to Aranyaprathet

The railway in Cambodia exists, but does not function for the transport of passengers. However, you can take the train from Bangkok to Aranyaprathet. Then cross the border to Poipet and choose a further method of transportation - by bus or taxi to Siem Reap.

The train departs from Bangkok to Aranyaprathet twice a day - at 5.55 and 13.05. Ticket price - 45-200 baht. Travel time is 4-5 hours. But keep in mind that trains in Thailand are always late.

Helicopter to Siem Reap from Phnom Penh and Battambang

In order not to waste time and immediately go to the temples of Angkor, you can order a helicopter and fly to Siem Reap from any city in Cambodia. Charter flights are handled by Helistar Cambodia and Helicopters Cambodia.

The cost of a helicopter flight, accommodating 5-6 people, starts at a thousand dollars. From Battambang the flight costs $1600 and from Phnom Penh $4700.

It will be quite easy for tourists to orient themselves in the city of Siem Reap if you look at its maps in advance.

Open large Google map →

In different colors on the map are marked:

• Blue - the sights of Siem Reap, as well as a place to buy tickets to Angkor Wat;
• Orange - airport and bus stations;
• Purple - temples in the city and Angkor Wat;
• Dark brown - bank branches in the city;
• Light brown - gas stations, gas stations;
• Green color - a place for renting electric bikes (e-bike);
• Dark red - hospital and post office;
• Grey - border crossings with Thailand, Laos and Vietnam.

Siem Reap city maps

Since you need to spend some time in the city, the maps will not hurt anyone. But Siem Reap, or rather its tourist part, is quite small and it is quite easy to navigate there.

Map of the tourist area around the Old Market

Siem Reap, and especially its tourist part - the area around the Old Market - is not so big. However, you can use various types transport to move around the city both independently and with the help of a taxi.

• On foot. It's easy. As I said, the city is small.
• By bike. Many guesthouses rent bicycles for $1-3 per day.
• On an electric bike(E-bike). This newfangled introduction has already paid off in, and now it has also captured Siem Reap. Electric bikes cost $10 per day (you need a passport to rent). They are usually charged at night, but they can also be charged along the way - pay attention to the special green signs (by the way, they are also located along the Small and Large circles of Angkor). A full charge makes it possible to drive 42 km. In one hour, you can charge an electric bike for 5 km.
• On a motorbike. Since 2016, it has become possible to ride motorbikes in Siem Reap! We personally tried this way of visiting the temples of Angkor and were very pleased with the freedom of movement. Renting a motorbike in Siem Reap costs $10-20.
• By tuk tuk or remorka. Tuk-tuks can be found everywhere in the city. Decent hotels have their own tuk-tuk drivers who drive around the city for free. A tuk-tuk usually costs $1. However, always negotiate the price and destination in advance.

One of the main issues that worries travelers is the weather in. Now I will tell you when is the best time to go to Siem Reap. It should be borne in mind that, like in other countries of Southeast Asia, monsoons rule in Cambodia, and under their influence the Siem Reap weather. There are usually three seasons of climate in Cambodia - cool, hot and rainy season.

• cool season(November - January) is characterized by the coldest weather in Siem Reap and Cambodia. But this only means that rains will be rare, and the temperature will be kept at about 26-29 ° C. However, this is the most best time for a visit to Cambodia and Siem Reap. Many of the poorly accessible during the rainy season, such as Mount Kulen and the river of a thousand lingams Kbal Spean, will be open to the public.
• hot season(February - April) - this is the most difficult period of the year to travel in Cambodia. And the sweltering heat will be the main enemy. In Siem Reap at this time the sun heats the air up to 40 °C. There is no rain, and the rivers and streams dry up. The surrounding fields can also burn, and smog can stand in the air. Not the best time to visit Siem Reap, but possible if you can handle the heat well. Plus, there are fewer tourists. Never forget to take a supply of water with you!
• Rain season(May-October) is a good time to visit Siem Reap. And although rain is expected, and therefore cloudy (Mount Kulen and Kbal Spean will be partially inaccessible), usually bad weather does not last all day. As a rule, rains and thunderstorms occur at night or in the evening, which makes it possible in the first half of the day (from early morning to 16.00) to see the sights of Siem Reap and Angkor. At this time, the temperature is kept around 30 ° C.

The air temperature in Siem Reap and the amount of precipitation by months:

A hotel in Siem Reap should be chosen according to your own plans. There are a lot of places to stay in the city, as they say, for every taste and budget, and every year there are more and more hotels. All hotels in Siem Reap

There are several criteria by which you should choose a hotel or guesthouse:

• Are you a fan of walking in the evening, do you want to go around all the places and have fun in the company of other travelers? Settle closer to Pub Street (Pub street). One street name will tell you that it is noisy and fun here every evening, seven days a week. And the guesthouses are the cheapest. I left my things in the room, you walk all day and come only to sleep.
  We recommend choosing from the best options:
  – One Stop Hostel Siem Reap @ Pub Street- grade 8.9
  – Onederz Hostel Siem Reap- grade 9.5
  – Angkor Breeze Central Villa- grade 9.0

• If, on the contrary, you do not want to live in the thick of things and be away from the noisy market, choose quiet streets. The most comfortable hotels in Siem Reap are located a little further from the city center. There are restaurants almost everywhere, just in a slightly smaller concentration. Here are examples of hotels:
  – Oriental Siem Reap- grade 9.5
  – La Maison du Passant- grade 9.4
  – Homestay Chreav- grade 9.6

• If you plan to leave early every day - in particular at dawn to Angkor Wat or go to distant Khmer temples (for example, Banteay Srey or Beng Melia) at the best morning time, when the light is good and there are no people - then you should not choose a hotel with breakfast. But it’s better to think about how to eat on the road - stock up on food in the evening and eat while the tuker is carrying you, or stop by some cafe along the way.
  – Viroth's Villa- grade 9.5
  – Sambath Residence- grade 9.4
  – Sala Lodges- grade 9.4

• And if you like to sleep well and have a good breakfast, then be sure to choose a hotel in Siem Rim with breakfast included in the price. And preferably with a pool. By the way, even inexpensive guesthouses in Siem Reap, where the room rate is only $10-12, treat their guests to breakfast.
  – The Bayon Villa- grade 9.7
  – Central Indochine D'angkor Hotel- grade 9.3
  – Bunwin Residence- grade 9.3
  

Our hotel in Siem Reap. Very good number with amenities and air conditioning quiet place for $11 with breakfast - Oral D'Angkor Guesthouse. The owners are a British-Khmer family

• The restaurant in the hotel will be convenient if you do not want to walk around the city in the evening, but plan to relax in your room after a busy day. cultural program. Otherwise, it's easier to go to one of the countless restaurants in Siem Reap and dine there.
  – Chronicle Residence & Spa- grade 9.3
  – Sumeru Boutique Hotel & Spa- grade 10.0
  – Residence Indochine D'angkor- grade 9.3

• But the pool, if the budget allows, it seems to me, is almost a mandatory criterion. After all, just the opportunity to swim in hot Siem Reap after a tiring day will be the best end to the evening.
  – Dream Mango Villa- grade 9.7
  –Villa b. Maison d'Hotes Angkor- grade 9.8
  – Silver Palms Residence- grade 9.5

• And finally, if you want to stay in the most luxurious hotel in Siem Reap, we recommend that you choose from these:
  – Phum Baitang- grade 9.5 (Luxury 5* villa for outdoor recreation. Terrace, spa, swimming pool, garden)
  – The Privilege Boutique- grade 9.6 (unique 5* spa suites in the city)
  – Prince d'Angkor Hotel & Spa- grade 8.7 (spa hotel 5 * in Cambodian style, the best in the city).

Where to look for hotels in Siem Reap?

As I already said, cafes and restaurants in Siem Reap are apparently invisible: from those located right in the hotel, specialized expensive restaurants for wealthy travelers, eateries next to the market where you can get large and tasty portions for $ 1.5 and ending with canteens and cafes scattered through the streets of the city. central part Siem Reap, where tourists live, consists entirely of hotels and restaurants, and only occasionally come across shops, banks and government agencies.

• In Siem Reap you can taste any cuisine of the world. Literally everything is represented: Khmer cuisine, Thai, Italian, Chinese, American. Plenty of pizzerias and cafes serving sandwiches and burgers, there is KFC, Burger King - there is everything! Even vegetarians will be happy in Siem Reap - almost every eatery has a vegetarian menu!
• Do not forget that, as in any hot country in Southeast Asia, fruit shakes are popular in Siem Reap, and the price for them is very low - $ 1-1.5.
• And the famous Pub Street in Siem Reap, of course, speaks for itself - lovers of beer in the company of friends will not be disappointed.
• IN Lately in Siem Reap, many small shops and large supermarkets have opened, selling the assortment of food, clothes, and even souvenirs familiar to any European.

Nice restaurant in Siem Reap that also has a great selection of vegetarian options

And what about himself Siem Reap city? Behind last years the city became cleaner, the people richer. There are many more tourists and tukers on the streets. And the Chinese are the bulk of the tourists in Cambodia today.

But the first thing that catches your eye when walking around Siem Reap is the rows of new motorbikes! Yes, yes, now you can see Angkor on a motorcycle on your own! This is just great news for everyone who is so used to riding freely in neighboring Thailand, and in Cambodia was forced to hire a driver with a tuk-tuk.

Nevertheless, tukers still carry tourists on their remorks (tuk-tuks), and those who find it more convenient to see the temples of Angkor without thinking about routes will still be satisfied.

Tuk-tuks are used not only to show tourists Angkor. Cargo remork carries furniture through the streets of Siem Reap

The glory of Cambodia as a country of one dollar is confirmed. There are a couple of tuk-tuks nearby, of course, ready to serve tourists!

And here they are - motorbikes in Siem Reap!

Things to see in Siem Reap

Siem Reap is not such a rich city in attractions, especially compared to Bangkok. But the inhabitants of Siem Reap do not lose heart, because there are temples of Angkor nearby. And yet, if you have daytime to explore the city, then it is worth visiting some of the highlights:

After visiting the temples of Angkor, the first thing to do is to relax. But what to do in Siem Reap during the day and in the evening, I will tell you now.

Things to do in Siem Reap during the day:

In the evening you can go to restaurants or cafes, shop, visit night market. Also, evening leisure in Siem Reap can be spent by going to popular performances:

• Dance - highly recommended!

Night market in Siem Reap little different from daytime. But it is convenient precisely because it works in the evening. The same silver jewelry, T-shirts, paintings, food and other souvenirs. Salons offer massage of any kind right on the street. Foot massage with fish is generally one of the most favorite entertainments in Siem Reap for many tourists. You sit to yourself, drink a fruit shake, and the fish do their job.

Trading at the Siem Reap Night Market starts at nightfall

Various shows both decent and not very popular are still popular in the city of Siem Reap.

We are not experts in nightlife Asian cities, so we won’t be able to tell you about the details of nightlife, but such information is probably easily searched for in the relevant blogs and forums. But it can't be that someone gets bored here in tourist city. Everyone will find pleasure and leisure to their liking.

Numerous restaurants and bars are open where you can eat quite inexpensively, drink beer, cocktails, meet other travelers and agree, for example, to go to distant temples and split the cost of the trip in half.

All world flags in Siem Reap! But, unfortunately, we could not find high-quality flags that we bought a few years ago. Presented are poorly stitched and will not withstand washing

sacred souvenirs. With the purchase of Buddha statues, you need to be careful. For example, in Thailand there is a rule banning the export of Buddha images. It is necessary to carefully read the rules in force in Cambodia and neighboring countries, about which souvenirs can be exported and which are prohibited

But there are a lot of clothes in the markets of Siem Reap - mostly not of very high quality, unfortunately. But if the goal is to buy a pair of T-shirts and pants to wear while on vacation, why not?

The city of Siem Reap is also famous for selling cheap silver here. When buying, you must choose carefully to get a quality product of the highest standard.

And of course, in Siem Reap you can buy paintings to hang in your house upon arrival. The stories are all the same. You just need to choose a topic that is closer to you.

If you want to bring a souvenir from Cambodia, then you need to be prepared for the fact that market in Siem Reap most textiles and various handicrafts are of rather poor quality. T-shirts for three washings, the seams are barely stitched, the threads stick out. It will take a very long time to look for a quality thing, unless of course you are lucky the first time.

But what is really worth buying in Cambodia, as a unique and real souvenir, is black pepper from Campot pepper. If you are not going to Kampot itself, where everything will be cheaper, then it is worth buying it either in any supermarket (cheaper) or in tourist markets throughout the city (very expensive). We went to the usual city market for locals, where they sell vegetables, meat and other food. There, for a pound of not very high-quality pepper, they asked for $ 5. And for quality, they did not agree to take less than $ 6.5. But the pepper is very good, fragrant, spicy and fragrant! And the price is twice or even three times lower than in the store!

Pepper from Kampot the best souvenir, which can be brought from Cambodia, except for impressions, of course!

Siem Reap. Angkor - how to see, maps and prices

Every tourist goes to Siem Reap in Cambodia not for the sake of the city itself, but to see the temples of Angkor and the famous Angkor Wat!

angkor wat

• You can also see the most famous and colorful temples, including Angkor Wat. The length of the route is 30 km, in terms of time - from 4 to 6 hours for inspection.
• combines the Small Circle with other temples that are located near Siem Reap. The length of the route is 35 km. Time for inspection 5 - 8 hours.
• - miniature and unique temple. Many consider it to be the most beautiful in Cambodia and even put it in front of the Angkor Wat temple itself. It can be added to the Greater or Lesser Circle of Angkor.
• The very first temples of Angkor in Siem Reap, included in. Not the most popular among tourists.
• Standing aside from the routes of the Small and Large circles, but a very curious temple of Banteay Samre.
• The distant temples of Angkor - and. The pyramid can only be reached by car, and they take tuk-tuks to Beng Melia, but this trip will take half a day.
• - Preah Vihea or Banteay Chma are also worth attention.
• Natural and architectural wonders - Mount Kulen (it was here that Jayavarman II declared himself a god-king) and. They also need to be visited separately, or added to one of the standard routes from Siem Reap to Angkor.
• Ethnographic visit to the floating village

How can all these sights of Siem Reap fit into one itinerary - for a day or several days? We will write about all this in detail. And of course, we will discuss each route, including non-standard, personally invented routes that we tried on our last visit to Siem Reap. Read about Angkor itineraries.

Angkor is the main attraction in Siem Reap

Lately on central streets Siem Reap has a lot of points where you can rent a motorcycle (electric or gasoline). We took advantage of this option with pleasure and quite examined Angkor Wat and other temples on motorbikes. On the main street or next to Pub Street, you can go around several shops and choose your favorite scooter at a price that suits you. The cost for rent is $10-20. But you can bargain.

Gasoline is sold at a central gas station in Siem Reap or from plastic bottles on the shelves in different villages.

Here is a short video from Angkor (Banteay Kdei) near Siem Reap:

Tuk-tuk prices in Siem Reap in 2016:

Tuk-tuk prices in Siem Reap - how much does a large and small circle cost. Here are some prices you can look at

Angkor temple complex maps

In this section, we will present best cards Angkor, available on the net, which will help you deal with the sights of Siem Reap. And in our other articles we will give detailed map for each temple, so that it is more convenient to understand what kind of building it is.

The most convenient map for visiting the temples of Angkor and making a route

playful tourist map Siem Reap

Siem Reap - our review

We can say with confidence that it is getting better and cleaner, there are more hotels and restaurants. We liked that along with the influx of tourists, civilization is gradually coming to poor Cambodia, and Siem Reap is in the clear leader in this indicator. Since this morning, it's nice to go out onto the balcony and see coconuts hugged sunlight. What can be said as a conclusion about visiting Siem Reap compared to what was here before:

• Corruption in Cambodia is invincible, and you can only fight it with your feet, that is, without coming here;
• Prices in cheap cafes in Siem Reap have not changed, and in expensive restaurants they have even dropped slightly;
• Hotel prices have not changed either (from $5 to infinity);
• Tuk-tuk prices at budget guesthouses have not changed;
• But the prices for tickets to Angkor have risen. Since February 2017, the Angkor pass costs $37 for one day, $62 for three days, and $72 for a week. 2 USD from each ticket go to maintain a hospital for children;
• It became possible to travel around Angkor on your own on a motorbike or bicycle;
• Travel agencies have emerged offering new interesting tours, for example, to Pre Vihea.

In principle, you can exchange currency in Siem Reap for local riels - at a bank or at a hotel. But there is no real need for this, since in Cambodia the US dollar circulates almost like a second currency. National currency. Cambodian riels may end up in your collection when shops give you change that is not a multiple of dollars. It is possible and necessary to pay for your purchase in dollars and riels at the same time. Cambodian riel to US dollar exchange rate: 1 USD = 4000 riel.

• More about

First of all, you need to find and compare the prices of hotels with discounts on different booking sites. In order not to waste time, we use a convenient search engine - RoomGuru. He immediately seeks best deals on the Internet and shows the most profitable of them. It remains only to choose the right one and go on vacation!

Close to Angkor Wat and among the ruins ancient city Angkor Thom is the second largest temple in Cambodia - Bayon. It was erected in the middle of the XII century during the reign of King Jayavarman VII and is dedicated to the glorification of the Buddha.

A monumental temple-mountain appears before tourists, as if created by nature itself. Here and there fantastic boulders appear, resembling stone heads. bayon believe stone miracle, a striking vision for the human eye.

The monumental walls of the temple are guarded by lions with tired mouths, and the temple itself consists of three decreasing terraces. In the lower terrace, only pillars and stunning reliefs have been preserved, depicting not only everyday life ordinary person, but also historical personalities. The walls of the second terrace depict scenes from religious and mythological sources.

But the most important thing in this temple is its central tower, symbolizing the center of the universe or the world mountain. Initially, in the center of the tower there was a figure of Buddha, the height of which reached 4.75 meters. Unfortunately, only fragments of it have survived to this day. Around the tower there are 52 smaller towers, each of which is crowned with four human faces, facing the four cardinal directions. There are 208 such faces in total.

Thus, this bizarre, monumental and somewhat fantastical temple is a true masterpiece. medieval architecture Cambodia and the cultural and historical heritage of this country.

Crocodile farm

Crocodile farm in Sien Reap is not just an attraction for tourists where you can see exotic animals, but also a real farm, the purpose of which is to obtain the final product - crocodile skin.

The farm is located in the southern part of the city, on the road to Tanle Sap Lake. About 300 so-called Siamese crocodiles live here permanently. In nature, they prefer slow-flowing freshwater reservoirs, and here pools serve as their habitat. The farm was established in 1979 under the auspices of the Ministry of Agriculture as a zoo and existed in this form until 1989. Now it is private property, and crocodiles are not raised here for the purpose of protection and preservation of the species, but solely for commercial interests. However, this does not in the least reduce the entertainment of the visit, especially if you catch the process of feeding predators. However, for a small fee, you yourself can feed the crocodiles with fish, duck or chicken.

In the shop at the farm you can buy crocodile skin products: bags, wallets, belts. For those who are fond of the exotic, stuffed crocodiles are sold - a product, of course, specific, but if you decide on such a purchase, do not forget to take a receipt from the store. The fact is that when flying home from Thailand, a scarecrow can be confiscated - they are prohibited for export from the country. Upon presentation of a purchase receipt in Cambodia, there will be no problems with export.

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Lake Tonle Sap

Tonle Sap Lake is the largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia. The area of ​​the lake is changeable - in the dry season it is about 2,500 square kilometers, and during the rains, the river of the same name flowing out of the lake changes its direction of flow, and the lake spills up to 16,000 square kilometers.

Translated from the Khmer language, the name Tonle Sap sounds like this: "Big fresh water", but most often translated as " big lake". This incident is explained by the fact that the literal translation is not at all true - the lake is muddy and muddy. Travelers who come to these parts, as a rule, admire the Khmer and Vietnamese floating villages, and biosphere reserves with countless wading birds. They say that Tonle Sap is extremely fish place, where since ancient times the fish walked in huge shoals, and the Cambodians fished for their own food.

The inhabitants of this region spend their entire lives on the water. In this lake district you can find floating hospitals, police stations, restaurants, shops, schools, bars, cafes and even gas stations. Life is so arranged that from a young age the natives live with an oar in their hands. Because there is simply no other way to travel here.

The most outstanding fact of its modern history Cambodians consider the country's liberation from French colonization. The Independence Monument, opened in Phnom Penh on December 9, 1962, became a symbol of the acquired sovereignty. An exact copy of this monument was recreated in the city of Siem Reap.

The famous Cambodian architect Vann Molivann became the author of the building. The monument is made as a modern interpretation of traditional Khmer buildings. It is believed that the monument was built on the model Main Tower Angkor. It looks like a five-tiered pagoda with through doors-passages, built of terracotta stone. The total height of the structure is 20 meters. The edges of each tier are decorated with cobra heads - they say there are 100 of them here. Now the monument represents not only getting rid of the protectorate of France, but is also a symbol of eternal memory and gratitude to all those who died in terrible years civil war.

The unique style and excellent performance made both the Independence Monument in Phnom Penh and its exact copy in Siem Reap very attractive tourist sites. Both are especially good in the evening in the beams of spotlights. On national holidays, the monument is decorated with red-blue-white ribbons symbolizing the Cambodian flag.

Siem Reap Airport

Siem Reap International Airport (IATA: REP) is the largest Cambodian international commercial airport located in the city of Siem Reap. It is located 8 kilometers from the city of Siem Reap and serves mainly tourists who fly to visit Angkor - the main attraction of Cambodia. The airport accepts aircraft of class A310/320 and below.

Banteay Kdei Temple

Not far from Siem Reap, you can find the dilapidated temple of Banteay Kdei. The date of its foundation is attributed to the twelfth century, during the reign of Jayavarman VII. For unknown reasons, the construction of the temple was carried out very chaotically - projects were constantly changing, in connection with which absolute confusion arose in the architectural plan. In addition, the material used in construction turned out to be of poor quality, which became main reason present state of Banteay Kdei.

The name of the temple Banteay Kdei is translated as "Citadel of the sanctuaries". Presumably, the temple was built on the ruins of an ancient Buddhist temple. Today, planned reconstruction work is underway in Banteay Kdei. Already successfully carried out big job to rid the temple of the roots of trees.

Lolei Temple

Lolei Temple was built in 893, during the reign of Yasovarman I, King of the Khmer Empire. The temple was dedicated to the father of Yashovarman I - King Indravarman I. The main feature of the Lolei temple was that it was located on artificial island in the middle of barai Indratataka - a man-made reservoir (which has not survived to this day). The area of ​​the island was approximately 80 by 90 meters.

Today, the Lolei temple is a monastery. For this reason, many of the architectural features of the building were destroyed - the monks did not want to waste time on research and set about landscaping with their own hands. At the same time, everything that the monks thought was "unnecessary" was demolished, including terraces and pavements.

On the walls of the Lolei temple, you can see drawings depicting gods, monsters and snakes.

Are you curious to know how well you know the sights of Siem Reap? .

Ta Prohm Temple

Ta Prohm Temple was built by the Khmers at the end of the 12th - beginning of the 13th century. Its original name is Rajavihara. The temple is located about one kilometer east of Angkor Thom. It was founded by King Jayavarman VII - he conceived the temple as a Buddhist monastery and university.

Ta Prohm is dedicated to the Hindu god Brahma. The temple was discovered in the 20th century during the restoration of the temples of Angkor. Appearance The temple makes a great impression - the walls and roofs of the buildings of the temple are crowned with centuries-old trees that are woven into the stones with their roots. When the temple began to be cleared of trees, it became clear that it was the roots of the trees that were the main fastening element, without which the temple would hardly have survived to this day. After that, it was decided to leave everything as it is, because the trees adorn the walls of the temple to this day.

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