{"id":27,"date":"2014-07-26T08:11:58","date_gmt":"2014-07-26T00:11:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gautamkhattak.wordpress.com\/?page_id=27"},"modified":"2017-03-18T12:52:12","modified_gmt":"2017-03-18T04:52:12","slug":"asia-cambodia-siemreap","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.gautamkhattak.com\/wordpress\/asia-general-synopsis\/asia-cambodia-siemreap\/","title":{"rendered":"Cambodia – Siem Reap"},"content":{"rendered":"

Siem Reap, Cambodia <\/strong>by Gautam Khattak
\nLast updated:<\/strong>\u00a0June\u00a024, 2014<\/p>\n

Disclaimer:<\/strong> These are notes I\u2019ve written or gathered from various sources. I have not experienced all things in this document nor is it intended to be a definitive guide.<\/p>\n

General Tips<\/strong><\/p>\n

Currency:<\/strong> Riel \u2013But be aware, most everyone takes USD. To get small bills for most of the time I just paid for a bottle of water in US and asked for change in Riel. For reference a bottle of water is like $0.40<\/p>\n

Conversion Tool:<\/strong> http:\/\/www.xe.com\/ucc\/convert.cgi?Amount=1&From=USD&To=KHR<\/a><\/p>\n

(Update for current rates)<\/p>\n

100 USD = 403,500.00 KHR<\/p>\n

1 USD = 4,035 KHR<\/p>\n

10,000 KHR = 2.48 USD<\/p>\n

Tipping:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Tipping is not normally expected but it can go a long way since wages are very low. If you get a tour guide it is recommend to tip them, if they did a good job.<\/p>\n

Local Customs:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Transportation<\/strong><\/p>\n

From the airport you go to a booth and hire a taxi. It is about $6 to town I think. It\u2019s a fixed rate so as long as you go with the airport appointed taxi you won\u2019t get ripped off.<\/p>\n

Tuk Tuk \u2013 is an auto rickshaw or basically a scooter drawn rickshaw. In Siem Reap it is an easy method of travel. A Tuk Tuk to the airport is about $10US. Around town you should pay $1-$2. Ask your hotel what the going rate is from the hotel to downtown.<\/p>\n

If your hotel offers tour guide service they will probably offer up their shuttle as well. My guide had his own car, which we had to pay additional money for but it was private and air conditioned. Tourists are not allowed to rent motorbikes in Siem Reap.<\/p>\n

Tourist Destinations<\/strong><\/p>\n

There are dozens of temples in Cambodia, but after a few days you kind of get sick of them. I spent two days visiting temples and was content. There are a few more temples I would have like to have seen but<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t do much advanced research to know so I left it up to my tour guide. In hindsight I probably would have done 2 days of Temples, 1 day break (relax, spa) and then a 3rd<\/sup> day of Temples but even so, 2 days is enough. See \u201cItinerary I followed\u201d for details on the Temples.<\/p>\n

Shopping<\/strong><\/p>\n

Old Market has some shopping but nothing to get too excited about.<\/p>\n

Lodging<\/strong><\/p>\n

It seems like every building is a hotel in Siem Reap so there isn\u2019t a shortage of places to stay. I strongly recommend booking via www.Agoda.com<\/a>. I used that site for all my bookings in Cambodia and Vietnam and we got some pretty good rates as opposed to calling the hotel directly.<\/p>\n

Tara Angkor Hotel<\/strong>
\nhttp:\/\/www.taraangkorhotel.com\/<\/a>
\nI stayed at Tara Angkor both times I was in Siem Reap\u2026it is a great hotel. I booked it www.Agoda.com<\/a> for $40 a night for the first 3 nights, and then I extended my stay for about $60-$80 a night. You can definitely find cheaper hotels, in the $25 range, but this hotel was very good. It is on par with the bigger chains like a Marriott. It was very new, comfortable and clean and it is closer to Angkor Wat than the other temples so it saves you 10-20 minute drive. There is a gym (nothing to brag about) a sauna I used daily and a spa. Massages were fantastic and only $25. I do recommend this hotel. It\u2019s not as close to the Old Market Area so it\u2019s a little quieter but it\u2019s only a $2 Tuk Tuk ride from downtown so it\u2019s still convenient. Pisith’s wife (see Tour Guide section below) works here and she can give a pretty good discount ($40-ish for a regular room which was plenty big and $80 for the executive suite which was two rooms)<\/p>\n

Golden Temple Villa \u2013 Siem Reap<\/strong>
\nhttp:\/\/www.villa.goldentemplevilla.com\/<\/a>
\nIn the Old Market Area, this is more of a hostel than a hotel but it came recommended by Lonely Planet. I was going to stay here originally but Tara Angkor came so highly recommend by some folks I met in Saigon so I switched up my booking\u2026which was lucky for me because this hotel didn\u2019t even have a record of my booking (which may be an indication of the service).<\/p>\n

Golden Temple Hotel<\/strong>
\nhttp:\/\/www.goldentemplehotel.com\/<\/a>
\nThis is the hotel version of the Golden Temple Villa. It looked pretty nice in the pictures but was unavailable when I was looking to book. I still think the Tara Angkor is a nicer establishment.<\/p>\n

Le M\u00e9ridien<\/strong>
\nhttp:\/\/www.starwoodhotels.com\/lemeridien\/property\/overview\/index.html?propertyID=1825<\/a>
\nSince I\u2019m always looking out for Starwood properties I\u2019ll just say that there is a Le M\u00e9ridien in Siem Reap. I didn\u2019t get a chance to go there though.<\/p>\n

Dining & Nightlife<\/strong>
\nFood & Drinks are CHEAP in Cambodia! In my opinion the food is a combination of Thai and Vietnamese food but not as spicy as the former. The local food is called Khmer<\/strong>. If you eat in the Pub Street Area, you\u2019re going to be paying a little more for your food. Beer is probably going to cost you $1-1.50 and a dish will be marked up to anywhere from $6.00 to $8.00 a dish. Yes that is the rip-off price! If you go to the local joints (your guide would probably be happy to take you out) you\u2019re looking at $5.00 a dish and $0.50 a beer. OR you can get a 4L pitcher of Angkor beer for about $4US. Big smiles everyone!<\/p>\n

Fortunately our guide was willing to take us around town at night to eat dinner so we went to the local establishments. Unfortunately that meant I didn\u2019t really pay attention as to where I was or the name of the restaurants because nothing was in English and I didn\u2019t do any of the ordering. But when I was alone I stuck with the local Khmer food in the Old Market area (8th<\/sup> Street – Parallel to Pub Street). There are also A LOT of Western restaurants in the Old Market. Good rule of thumb is that if it\u2019s busy, the food is probably good\u2026if it\u2019s empty, keep moving to the next joint.<\/p>\n

When you visit the temples there is one restaurant the guides take everyone too. It is centrally located for viewing the Temples so I ate there on both Temple days. The food was good. I always ordered the Fish Amok and some egg rolls.<\/p>\n

Amok <\/strong>\u2013 This is the national dish. It\u2019s a curry but it is prepared differently in every restaurant I went to. Sometimes it\u2019s with rice, other times served with coconut or prepared in a banana leaf. Either way, it was delicious every time I had it. I typically always got the fish amok.<\/p>\n

I do remember having some amazing beef skewers at one outdoor beer garden place but unfortunately it wasn\u2019t even anything on the menu we just asked for it and the chef made them for us.<\/p>\n

We ended up hanging out with the tour guide so he took us out to clubs and stuff but again I don\u2019t know the names. Otherwise Pub Street in Old Market Area is where all the tourists go.<\/p>\n

Le Tigre De Papier<\/strong> \u2013 Pub Street & 8th<\/sup> Street. I ate hear the first night. I sat on the back alley side (not on Pub Street entrance). The food was OK, nothing that special.<\/p>\n

BUT directly across from Le Tigre was another Khmer restaurant that has a sign advertising how cheap the beer is. That place had really good food and half the price of Le Tigre. It might have been called Banana Leaf but I can\u2019t be sure but I recommend that place for dinner.<\/p>\n

iViva Restaurant<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0\u2013 Surprisingly the Mexican food here was pretty good! Located in Pub Street.<\/p>\n

Most of the nightlife is centered on Pub Street and for the tourists.<\/p>\n

Curry Walla<\/strong> \u2013 If you\u2019re looking for some Indian food, check out Curry Walla. It was a 5-7 minute Tuk Tuk ride from Tara Angkor. Nothing fantastic but my family wanted their weekly dose of Indian food.
\nSivatha Rd, Siem Reap, Cambodia
\n+855 63 965 451<\/p>\n

Helpful Links<\/strong><\/p>\n