siem reap

[tweeds]

going to siem reap, cambodia, for a week from this sunday (with a butt-early flight ugh)--anyone have anything to recommend i check out? i'm going to visit the angkor wat, the floating village, and more importantly spend some time helping out at a children's hospital there, but apart from that does anyone know places i should look up while i'm there?

[poly800rock]

not really, its a weird place...but the locals know how to have a real good time. I would stay away from the lonely planets and just ask the locals where to go to have a good time...ended up singing karaoke in an empty field and going to some bizzare club when i was there..but all in all and amazing experience...and that's not even considering the temples and whatnot

[englandmj7]

Eh, save you a little searching:

http://superfuture.com/city/supertalk/showthread.php?t=8992&highlight=siem+reap

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/worldguide/destinations/asia/cambodia/siem-reap

Hotels:

http://thorntree.lonelyplanet.com/messagepost.cfm?postaction=reply&catid=24&threadid=1137336&messid=9788233&STARTPAGE=1&parentid=0&from=1

[tweeds]

haha you forgot to yell at me to use the button...irony is me. :s

thanks guys. i'll definitely stay away from the lonely planet places i think, except established hanging-out spots like the blue pumpkin (ice cream!), thirsty street and stuff, but i was planning on asking the hospital staff when i'm there for recommendations on how to spend the evenings for example. or where to shop. just wanted to get more input prior to the trip.

5 fucking am flight! hell

[englandmj7]

I didn't want to yell at you because you are going to work at a children's hospital....I think I would have died in a firey carwreck......no, but seriously, sounds like a fun trip.

[tweeds]

good way to spend time off really. im also looking forward to the dirt-cheap drinks. get smashed by night, do good by day--isn't that the life we all look forward to secretly?

[mizanation]

just don't get too drunk. don't want to puke on the kids. they don't like it, cuz it stinks.

[mizanation]

btw, have fun, TIP! talk to you when you get back!

[greentea]

watch out for the land mines! other than that have a good time!

[Cue]

i'll be there in three months, will be hunting for tips ... boom boom

and no - i will not use the search button

[tweeds]

haha Cue i'll post the lowdown here when i get back.

thanks guys see you all

[poly800rock]

i guess the real question is what are you into and going to cambodia? bring US cash as thats the easiest and there were NO ATM's when I was there, and a friend just came back and told me the same thing. Almost got stuck in cambodia. but yeah, what are you into? its the serious 3rd world so things like clubbing and shit are pretty bare....

[viahelsinki]

if you want to focus on the temples, the area is surprisingly large,and takes days to cover. i myself didn't sacrifice enough time and now i regret it. there are really slim clubbing prospects, i wouldn't go even searching for them. see if you can find a local guide, they know the best places for everything

[janneh]

i just came from there few hours ago, waiting in bangkok airport now to go home via doha to gatwick got 4 out of 8 hours left to wait tho. Anyway Siem Reap is nice, stayed in lotus Angkor hotel but only for 2 nights unfortunately because was the last part of my tour. My tour just got a day guide and our tour guide took us round all the temples although the temple surrounded by jungle wasn't included on the itinary our guide took us, apparently tomb raider was filmed there, it's worth a look! Climed to the top tier of angkor wot temple. was amazing for the views, coming back down was fun 2 lol. Go out on the town for a night, get to know the locals and have a cocktail, take a tutu (think it's called that!) back to your hotel! Maybe one day you could take a trip to the capitol or something! Sorry couldn't help more but wasn't there for long myself! It's a nice country though, would have liked 2 have stayed longer! The kids are cute and funny when trying to sell you things but after a while it might become a little wearing! Oh and there are atm's but very few, the only ones i saw were in the airport and one in the town. They accept US Dollar as well as their own currency Riel (4000 riel - $1) and in some places baht.

[greentea]

i guess the real question is what are you into and going to cambodia? bring US cash as thats the easiest and there were NO ATM's when I was there, and a friend just came back and told me the same thing. Almost got stuck in cambodia. but yeah, what are you into? its the serious 3rd world so things like clubbing and shit are pretty bare....

i was watching this segment on 20/20 about child prostitution in cambodia. how foriegn pedophiles go there and stuff.. so sad.

[poly800rock]

i was watching this segment on 20/20 about child prostitution in cambodia. how foriegn pedophiles go there and stuff.. so sad.

gary glitter?

[tweeds]

hey guys, i just got back. spent 3 days in a hospital back home because of acute food poisoning, got the water bombed out of me. lost like 4 kg in 3 days just from water loss. shit.

anyway apart from that siem reap is gorgeous. 1) it's real safe 2) the locals are nice to tourists if you don't be a bitch with them 3) dirt cheap drinks. i'm not really the clubbing sort (i prefer to be able to actually hear what my friends are saying) but i love alcohol so we really got smashed on a few occasions. shots are obscenely cheap.

okay i went to the usual places, as well as some more offbeat ones. checked otu the tonle sap lake with its floating villages--the part that the tourists go is a terrible trap though the kids swarm up to you in their washtub boats and beg--and the angkor area and all. the temples are gorgeous. even in their dilapidation and ruined state there's such a sense of serenity and dignity in the air. or maybe it's just me.

i also went out of the town with the doctors from the children's hospital. they do mobile clinics and they allow volunteers to go along, 2D 1N trips like hour and a half by rover or van to a village where they set up a clinic at a hall, treat the kids, prescribe medication, update their files on the general state of health in the village, talk and eat with the locals, then head out 4 hours by slowboat into the tonle sap lake to one of the more remote floating villages. again they set up shop, stay overnight, really have a good time, and in the morning they get to work healing the sick. or something. it was an amazing experience and i'm definitely going back to help out more. with more constructive ways of helping.

the hospital is called the Angkor Hospital for Children, and they're very friendly to visitors...stop by the office, it's run by expatriate management who've been in cambodia years and years, and the staff there are locals and overseas volunteers. met a couple of US college students when i was there...one dentistry student from columbia, another premed from san diego, another one doing a fellowship to study hep B, from stanford. really alot of random people stop by.

see if you can help them when you guys go over or just look in, take a few pictures to spread their work back home, say hi to the kids and stuff!

[mikee]

FYI (even though you already went) the site http://www.talesofasia.com is the best resource for Siem Reap. The online Siem Reap and Cambodia guides are pretty exhaustive and current. A lot of expats/backpackers hanging out at Angkor What? bar when I was there in '03.

[Heartworm]

There are ATM's in both Siem Reap and Phnom Penh now...

I didn't like Siem Reap at all. We saw Angkor Wat and left again as fast as possible. There are too many tourists, I suggest Phnom Penh instead.

[tweeds]

isn't phnom penh more dangerous in general?

[poly800rock]

There are ATM's in both Siem Reap and Phnom Penh now...

I didn't like Siem Reap at all. We saw Angkor Wat and left again as fast as possible. There are too many tourists, I suggest Phnom Penh instead.

that almost sucks there are ATMs..enjoyed the wild west feel to it, barely made it out of the country...

[PT]

isn't phnom penh more dangerous in general?

I had a blast in phnom pehn. It's kind of a crazy town, but, if you keep your guard up and don't go around flashing cash, you'll be ok. The drinks are cheap; Angkor beer is cheaper than a soda.

Orasay Market, Golden Market, some cafes across the japanese bridge, fruit vendors, all great things. Sihanoukville's beaches are tight as hell too. Less western than thailand.

[tweeds]

camby in general is less touristy than thailand i reckon, less crowded too and less irritating. it doesn't piss the hell out of me. drinks are cheap whether phnom penh or siem reap.

[mizanation]

sounds like you had a great trip (except for the acute food poisoning). good job helping the kids. you're a much better man than me.