The name of this town is an oxymoron, as it means "Siamese Defeat" in their language. It was afternoon when we arrived at the place to be in the whole South-East Asia during the 60's. 
After 30 years of run-down the past few years became once again a tourist destination, mainly due to the Angkor, the 8th wonder of the world according to Cambodians. Man can see some main asphalted roads, small bridges over the tiny river, lots of trees, numerous Guesthouses, mini-markets, open-air market, a plethora of handicraft shops, all of them signs of tourism. French bakeries, pizza restaurants (even happy ones), book stores, bars, art galleries and more luxurious hotels are the evidence of a colonial era. 30 years since the French were kicked-out of there is not that long after all!
In general th
e first impression of Siem Reap reminded me Luang Prabang (Lao PDR); it's not the capital city, but the most famous though, attracting tourists and travellers from all over the world. The truth is that Siem Reap is really worth of visiting as Angkor is an imposing monument place. Well, the place is full of tricycles (tuk-tuk) that take you everywhere but we preferably rented bicycles for our get-to-know ride. We were glad to visit the open-air night market, not so much for the souvenir shops, rather for the unique kind of massage that exists there. Fishes give you foot massage by eating the epidermic dead cells. Check the relative video here. Firstly, it feels a bit giggling, but soon when you get used to it, honestly it is such a relish. After 20 min when you try to walk yo
u feel like having replaced your feet, like an astronaut.
Needless to say that you should bargain in the night-market, but silk scarves, hammocks, wooden handicrafts and shirts are worth of buying. Prices are more bargainable in the picturesque stores next to the main square, where bakeries and local restaurants are situated. On the way to the night market the "Seeing Hands Massage" deserve your support, as they train blind people in the art of massage (6$ per hour). However, there are many scams and copycats taking advantage of blindness just to make profit.
In Siem Reap you may see many kind of weird dishes, but due to aesthetic reasons we did not taste any cockroaches, thick spiders or grasshoppers. I am not joking at all! We were brave enough only for the big red ants that were stir fried with some kind of meat. If you can overcome the fact that are ants, honestly they wer
e more tasty than then the meat; a bit crunchy and their head stick in the teeth gap .. he he .... Dining in a very local restaurant was a nice experience particularly for Dimitris, as I had some similar images from Lao PDR.
Most of the daytime we were in the nearby temples of Angkor and only twice we managed to save some energy to check the night-life. Piano or karaoke bars, posh with colonial deco, or couple of lady bars, cocktail or live music bars and only two normal bars are among your choices. The re-appearance of buckets and jars as a bargain for alcohol was a nice surprise, but even cocktails at the price of 4$ are affordable for western travellers. "Angkor What?" with nice music is our choice. A handful of westernised restaurants, italian pizza places, some local restaurants and tonnes of stands in almost every road, two french bakeries-patisseries are the choices a traveller has to eat.
Bonne apetite!
After 30 years of run-down the past few years became once again a tourist destination, mainly due to the Angkor, the 8th wonder of the world according to Cambodians. Man can see some main asphalted roads, small bridges over the tiny river, lots of trees, numerous Guesthouses, mini-markets, open-air market, a plethora of handicraft shops, all of them signs of tourism. French bakeries, pizza restaurants (even happy ones), book stores, bars, art galleries and more luxurious hotels are the evidence of a colonial era. 30 years since the French were kicked-out of there is not that long after all!In general th
e first impression of Siem Reap reminded me Luang Prabang (Lao PDR); it's not the capital city, but the most famous though, attracting tourists and travellers from all over the world. The truth is that Siem Reap is really worth of visiting as Angkor is an imposing monument place. Well, the place is full of tricycles (tuk-tuk) that take you everywhere but we preferably rented bicycles for our get-to-know ride. We were glad to visit the open-air night market, not so much for the souvenir shops, rather for the unique kind of massage that exists there. Fishes give you foot massage by eating the epidermic dead cells. Check the relative video here. Firstly, it feels a bit giggling, but soon when you get used to it, honestly it is such a relish. After 20 min when you try to walk yo
u feel like having replaced your feet, like an astronaut.Needless to say that you should bargain in the night-market, but silk scarves, hammocks, wooden handicrafts and shirts are worth of buying. Prices are more bargainable in the picturesque stores next to the main square, where bakeries and local restaurants are situated. On the way to the night market the "Seeing Hands Massage" deserve your support, as they train blind people in the art of massage (6$ per hour). However, there are many scams and copycats taking advantage of blindness just to make profit.
In Siem Reap you may see many kind of weird dishes, but due to aesthetic reasons we did not taste any cockroaches, thick spiders or grasshoppers. I am not joking at all! We were brave enough only for the big red ants that were stir fried with some kind of meat. If you can overcome the fact that are ants, honestly they wer
e more tasty than then the meat; a bit crunchy and their head stick in the teeth gap .. he he .... Dining in a very local restaurant was a nice experience particularly for Dimitris, as I had some similar images from Lao PDR.Most of the daytime we were in the nearby temples of Angkor and only twice we managed to save some energy to check the night-life. Piano or karaoke bars, posh with colonial deco, or couple of lady bars, cocktail or live music bars and only two normal bars are among your choices. The re-appearance of buckets and jars as a bargain for alcohol was a nice surprise, but even cocktails at the price of 4$ are affordable for western travellers. "Angkor What?" with nice music is our choice. A handful of westernised restaurants, italian pizza places, some local restaurants and tonnes of stands in almost every road, two french bakeries-patisseries are the choices a traveller has to eat.
Bonne apetite!
