14. Siem Reap - First Impressions
Transfer from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap
The tuk tuk pick-up from my hotel at 7:45am went smoothly. I was brought to a rather small bus station from where the 6 hour journey started. The ride on an overcast day was pleasant with nothing special to report on. The gallery below shows very typical scenes of the Cambodian countryside during rain season.
The bus dropped everyone off not too far from the city centre. In typical Chris fashion I declined all tuk tuk driver offers and draggede my luggage the 1.6km to my hotel along the picturesque Siem Reap River with lots of trees, greenery, benches and wooden platforms at its banks.
My first impression of Siem Reap was and still is very positive and that is despite the fact that it is the most touristy spot in Cambodia. Reason being of course the Angkor Wat temple complex that I will explore like the all the other 2.6 million tourists per year.
The city has only 130.000 citizens and downtown every second person you see is a foreigner. The positive impact of the tourism is that in general buildings and infrastructure are much better maintained, the cleanliness on the streets and also in hotel rooms (I can only use my own hotel room and the pictures I have seen online as a reference) is higher as well as the level of comfort and service while not being more expensive than Kampot or Phnom Penh. The pictures of my hotel room (35sqm) speak for themselves.
The biggest table/desk I had so far on my trip – ca. 180cm long means I can have a dedicated area for my laptop and one for food prep. After the first night I was told that they gave me a family room even though I had booked a deluxe double room (same size but with one bed less and presumably also without that stunning granite-imitation bath tub) and I needed to change. Since I wasn't at fault they scrambled to rectify the situation and now I am allowed to stay for 6 of the 7 nights in the family room (that cost USD$1.00-2.00 more than the double deluxe room) and only for my last night I have to switch to another room because the family room is already booked by someone else. The hotel called Antionos Villa Hotel has a pool (for swimming) and a pool table (for playing), offers free water every day and after initial problems I have unlocked the free wifi. The shower in my room has a glass divider which is a welcome change to all the other rooms I had so far where you flood the entire bathroom and splash everywhere when you take a shower. It is close to perfec. With some modifications I would move in here permanently...only downside are the gazillions of insanely noisy frogs or toads residing in the big puddle that is a flooded property in front of my window. They are going from close to midnight until almost 5:00am and if you aren't dead tired or a deep sleeper it might drive you craaaaaaaazy! :-)
View on the flooded property with the pesky noise makers
Summed up, I feel spoiled in Siem Reap. People are super-friendly and welcoming.I had already tons of interactions e.g. with a Cambodian teacher I met on the street who is aiming to build a school in his village offering education free of charge. I talked to plenty of vendors at the night market, to a guy from Kashmir who invited me into his carpet shop when I was looking for shelter from the heavy rain, with tuk tuk drivers who are everywhere, approaching tourists 24/7 in hope to convert them into paying customers, with restaurant staff teaching me some basic Khmer expressions and with a film maker from Liverpool at a bar counter when I was paying for my meal.
The restaurant called New Leaf Eatery (pictured above) where I met the film maker also offered all kinds of eco-friendly products, a photobook about Cambodian history aaaaaand a BOARD GAME (technically it is a card game) in which you are cooperatively building the temples of Angkor Wat. I visited the accompanying website, checked out play tutorials and the background info. It looks awesome, has a fantastic production quality and is very well priced at USD $13.00. I am so buying this game although it is heavy and will be a pain to travel with for another 4 months.
I have contacted the author that lives in Siem Reap and soon I will play the game with him and other people in his bar that is coincidentally only 250m away from my hotel also located directly at the river. I really thrive on all the amazing interactions I had so far in this city and love sharing my own positive energy with all those people.
The undeniable upside of the tourism in Siem Reap is that almost everyone speaks English. It is opening the door to easier communication facilitating chats that go deeper than the “where are you from?” question – which is still the standard opening phrase most of the time. ;-)
Vegan food can be found everywhere in Siem Reap and a lot of restaurants follow an eco-friendly/sustainability/health approach. You get offered brown rice by default or you have the option to swap white for brown rice, they provide serviettes instead of paper towels and if you want take-away food you can either bring your own container or you have to pay extra.
There are noticeably more families with kids in town and even though there is a pub street with loud music and neon lights, the inner city seems to be intend on coming across as family-friendly, clean and safe. Below are random images taken on different days and nights in the city centre and a bit further away (the shop with the cats) .
Is there something I miss here?: Yes, I haven't found a traditional fruit and veggie market yet for my DIY salads but given the abundance of vegan restaurants that I am keen to check out I anticipate that I will put my cook-at-home-activities on hold while I am in Siem Reap.
What's next? - Of course the Angkor Wat temple complex is on the cards. I will hire a bike for USD $1.00 and cycle the 8.5km to get there. The entry fee is high with USD $30.00-$35.00 for a single day, $65.00 for 3 days or $75.00 for a week but seeing the temples is a non-negotiable must-do for me. After 5:00pm, though, the entrance is free for some reason (Edit: The park closes at 5:30pm so you can’t really get in there for free) and I will definitely take advantage of that. The second visit I am considering will be a sunrise shoot. The park opens at 5:00am and I want to be at the park gate not much later than that.
