The city of Siem Riep is the capital of the province of Siem Riep in Cambodia.

The city of Siem Riep is the capital of the province of Siem Riep in Cambodia. The city of Siem Reap is home to compound and also Chinese architecture located around the Old Market an also the Old French Quarter. The town also boasts of Apsara dances, silk farming, craft stores, fishing villages, a bird refuge close to a lake which is the Tonle Sap, and even a beautiful rice-paddy countryside. It also serves as the entryway city for Angkor Wat which is nearby.

Siem Reap is also a famous tourist attraction. It has quite a big number of restaurants and hotels. A lot the small establishments are found on the Old Market expanse, whilst the pricey ones are situated in the middle of Siem Reap-Angkor Int’l Airport and the urban area by National Road Six. But there is a vast selection of average costing restaurants and hotels located by Siyatha, as well as in the area of Phsar Leu.

The temple of Angkor Wat is the primary boast of the Angkor UNESCO World Heritage Site which holds the amazing remains of the civilization of the Khmer. The developing series of 5 towers in Angkor Wat climaxes a vivid impression of the central tower which is the symbol of the mythological Mount Meru. About thousands of feet of space on the wall are compensated with awe inspiring complex carving which depict Hinu mythology.

The Cambodia Landmine Museum is led by Aki Ra, who was a Khmer Rouge landmine layer young warrior. He set off by transforming the garden located in his home into a mine museum and of other weapons. Now, the museum is situated un a function built site around twelve miles from the Siem Riep in Bantay Srei’s direction.

Siem Reap is best known as the gateway to Angkor Wat and the rest of the Angkor Ruins, a UNESCO World Heritage site. The UNESCO site includes not just the temples but also hydraulic structures, canals, and reservoirs that together make up close to 400 sq km in what is arguably one the most important archeological sites in Southeast Asia.

There's more to your visit in Siem Reap than Angkor Wat.

Given the extent and breadth of the Angkor ruins and their importance to the former Khmer Kingdom, Siem Reap has become a tourist wonderland, packed with hostels and boutique hotels, day and night tours, and plenty of thumping beats from nighttime bars. But beyond those magnificent ruins, travellers often get in and out of Siem Reap without exploring a bit more of what the 'tiny' town has to offer. Here are my suggestions for rounding out your temple visits in the region.

1. Take a food tour!

Take a food tour! Lina and Steven are two expats who have made Cambodia home for a quite a few years. A food writer and chef, respectively, they are well-equipped to show you around town and stuff your face with delicious food. Cambodia’s dishes are not as well known as those of Thailand or Vietnam, but the Kingdom has a culinary tradition and history all its own. What better way to experience them than with a morning or evening tour, tasting dishes for three or four hours at a time.

This is Prahok, a fermented fish paste and common flavour.Photo courtesy Kirk K.

2. Visit the Landmine Museum

The Cambodian Landmine Museum and Relief Facility was established in the late 1990s by ex-child soldier Aki Ra, who, after years of fighting, returned to the villages where he had planted landmines and began defusing them by hand. From this beginning, an official NGO was established to clear landmines in villages throughout Cambodia. The museum raises money both for the landmine clearing, and to fund its newer school and dormitory for amputee children.

The museum raises money the landmine clearing.

3. Enjoy a traditional meal

Enjoy a traditional Khmer meal at the New Hope Vocational Training Restaurant, an initiative kickstarted by G Adventures. Providing skill-building opportunities to marginalized Cambodians from around Siem Reap, the restaurant also helps to fund the adjacent free community school and health centre. Run by locals, this restaurant is proof positive that travel can support positive change in local communities.

Enjoy a traditional meal of Khmer food at the New Hope Vocational Training Restaurant.

4. Visit honeybees

Bees Unlimited highlights the dying tradition of rafter beekeeping of the Giant Honeybee, Apis dorsata, still practiced by few near Siem Reap, and the efforts of some of these beekeepers to turn their harvesting into a sustainable business. They offer rafter beekeeping tours an hour away from Siem Reap, as well as bee tours within the city itself. While completely different than a day of temple-hopping, the tours are an interesting option to see the surrounding area and learn something new.

Beekeeping tours are an interesting option to see the surrounding area.

5. Spend the day exploring a floating village

Covering 2,500 square kilometers during the dry season but ballooning up to 12,000 square kilometers during the seasonal floods, Tonle Sap is the largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia. Spend a full day on an eco tour that showcases this unique area with Osmose, and explore the lake’s flooded forests, as well as a floating village.

Life on the floating village of Tonle Sap. Photo courtesy Anne R.

6. Take a cooking class

Full from your tour of Cambodia’s dishes? Learn how to make them yourself. In a city with so much tourist turnover, cooking schools have proliferated. For a reasonably priced and well-reviewed option, head to Le Tigre du Papier.

Cooking schools have proliferated in Siem Reap.

7. Attend a Beatocello concert

On Saturdays at 7:15pm, Dr Beat Richner, a Swiss expat affectionately known as “Beatocello”, performs a solo cello performance at Jayavarman VII Hospital. These concerts raise funds for charity hospitals in the city, and support his Kantha Bopha Foundation and its affiliated childcare projects. While there is quite a bit of talking in between songs, the concert is a good way to support a good cause and learn about the attempts to improve childcare in Cambodia.

Enjoy a performance by Dr Beat Richner.

8. Take a yoga class

One of the longest running yoga practices in town, Peace Café offers ashtanga classes daily along with meditation, monk chats, and vegetarian cooking classes. While yoga is not limited to Cambodia, of course, the café is a fun space to meet other travellers and expats, and get some exercise in the process.

Ashtanga yoga classes are offered daily at the Peace Café, along with meditation.

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Getting There

Whether you follow in the footsteps of adventurers of yore or plumb the dark depths of the Killing Fields, Cambodia leaves an indelible impression. G Adventures runs a number of departures in Cambodia encompassing a wide range of dates and activities to cater to different tastes. We’re thrilled at the prospect of showing you the Kingdom