Siem Reap

Siem Reap Day and Night

The rather small town of Siem Reap houses the infrastructure including the hotels of Angkor Wat visitors. 

The city is easy to visit because it is located in the northwest of Cambodia close to Thailand and a pleasant place to live because of the tourists which attracted to make the proper infrastructure. Siem Reap is an appanage to Angkor Wat since the temple precinct is closed at 6 pm all tourists stay there and most have a good time by any means.

Technically Siem Reap City is an appendix to Angkor Wat which is only 6.3 km to the north but to enter the Archaeological Park it needs a ticket for $ 37,- per day the prices where increased from $ 20,- to 37,- after the Chinese tourist invasion in 2017.

Here is the gateway to Angkor Wat and since the monument and temple precinct is closed at 6 pm the question is what to do at night in this rather small city. Actually small but a thriving Khmer city in the northwest of Cambodia every tourist visiting the country will pass here.

Bangkok to Siem Reap    
Siem Reap To Phnom Penh    
Dinner at the old market
Pub Street
Nightlife

The city still has a variety of French colonial style buildings in the center around the Old Market it seems that everyone who is on a tour to Angkor come to this nightlife quarter of Siem Reap. The place is clean and functions perfectly it is clearly visible that some foreign professionals are running the show not groups of amateurs as in Thailand. Close by is the small river and across more markets with plenty of consumer stuff and souvenir, jewelry and Buddha wall paintings, statues and many other things imported from China. It’s not so easy to find any native work anymore.

Although Siem Reap (which translates into “defeat to Siam” ) 

has a heritage stretching back the long time it was only resurrected in recent years as an appanage to Angkor because the tourists need hotels and places to stay, Angkor is closed at 6 pm. In the evening the center which is Pub Street at the old market looks a bit like Khao San Road in Bangkok but is much better organized, less chaotic and clean, why? Most of the places belong to western foreigners. 

When this was built up the local Khmer people had other problems, no money to invest and actually no real interest. Looking back it was somehow a good thing because they were able to do a lot in terms of modern infrastructure locals would not do but is essential to keep the city moving compared to Thailand this is a quantum leap although not immediately visible.