Siem Reap – More than just Temples!

It may sound weird, but nine months into our RTW trip and we are running out of time! After an “unplanned extension” in Hoi An, Vietnam, we actually discussed whether to visit Cambodia, or to bypass it “until next time”. In the end we decided that since we were in the region we should visit Cambodia, and so we focused our time in Siem Reap.

The city is a tourist haven in Cambodia, with lots to see and do. Like us, many are drawn to the city to visit Angkor Wat and the hundreds of other temples in the area. We were pleasantly surprised to learn that there really is more to Siem Reap than “just temples”. Here were our first impressions…

There are active and bustling markets happening both day and night, and you can buy almost anything imaginable though the goods are probably fakes…

Sunglasses, footwear, North Face gear?

How do you make a knock-off gramophone?

Ummm…I thought it was 7-11 !!

Like everywhere else in SE Asia, everyone drives a scooter.

Parking is, well, interesting…

And they start driver training at a very young age…

The night life in town is simply amazing. Between the bustling night markets and the deep bass thumping from within the night clubs on Pub Street there is something for everyone. Want a massage? Yes, lots of massage places too. How about a “fishy pedicure”?

There’s something fishy going on here…

It’s a foot-fest!

From our experience, this one will cause fits of giggles from even the most stoic customer!

We had some awesome fresh fruit shakes from a street cart on Pub Street, where they have a variety of flavours including Mango, Avacado, Soursop, Jackfruit and Durian just to name a few.

We spoke with a local who said that only a few months ago there was only one such cart…now you can find them on almost every street corner!

Sometimes a parade just breaks out. With the “Tripadvisor.com” owl!

I love a parade!

Owl’ll you top this one?

Apparently Siem Reap was voted as the number one place to visit in Asia and the number 2 place to visit in the world!

We saw creative ways to use umbrellas…

Every night the streets are lit up and the town is very festive, clearly to create a welcoming atmosphere for all of the tourists.

If you were to only stay in the downtown core, you would think that you had died and gone to New Orleans heaven! However, a mere 2 or 3 minute drive out of the downtown core provides a different picture.

Real living just outside the downtown core in Siem Reap.

Real living just outside the downtown core in Siem Reap.

Real living just outside the downtown core in Siem Reap.

Cambodia continues to recover from the many years of conflict that really were only resolved in the late 1990’s. The Vietnam War, incursions into Cambodia from neighbouring Vietnam, and the use of Cambodia as a pawn in the cold war between the US and the Soviet Union took a toll on the country.

One of the most horrific was the reign of the Khmer Rouge, who wanted to move Cambodia back to a purely agrarian society. They evacuated the cities and moved everyone to the country to be farmers, and sought to eliminate the currency. Intellectuals, philosophers, teachers and anyone educated mysteriously disappeared. All of this either went unnoticed by the rest of the world, or else a blind eye was turned to these atrocities. There is no true count of the number of people who were executed under the Khmer Rouge, but estimates range from 700,000 to over 3 million.

A generation was lost, and you can still see it today. We noticed that there really weren’t a lot of older people to be seen.

Despite the horrors inflicted on the population, the Khmer today are kind and have a warm smile to share with you. In particular, the next generations who have never known war, are kind, always with a smile and a cheerful “Hello! What is your name?” We met many of the children and they are giving hope to the future of the nation.

Over the next few days our intrepid team of bloggers will explore a number of topics to give a real sense of what we experienced. Yes, the scars of recent years are still fresh, but what we hope to leave you with is a picture of a people who are resilient, are trying to re-establish Cambodia’s cultural identity, and despite what they lack in material goods (by Western standards) – would give you the shirts off their backs. This is a beautiful, gritty country that is on the comeback trail!