How to spend a weekend in the gateway city to Angkor Wat
A trip to Siem Reap is once again possible, now travel restrictions have eased. And the city has been busy changing, fast. Among its recent and upcoming hotel openings are two restored heritage properties – the FCC Angkor by Avani and Raffles Grand Hotel d’Angkor.
And getting around is about to become easier, too: new roads will be completed early this year, as part of an infrastructure improvement project, and there are plans for a network of bike lanes, which will connect the temples with the centre of Siem Reap. Here’s how to spend 48 hours in this rapidly transforming temple town.
Day One
09.00: Start with a caffeine fix at The Little Red Fox Espresso, where the walls are covered with photos of Cambodian rock ‘n’ rollers. You’ll find it in Kandal Village and it’s one of Siem Reap’s most sustainable coffee shops – the owners, Adam and David, built a community recycling point outside, and used cooking oil from the kitchen is turned into biofuel.
Don’t be afraid to ask Adam for advice about the best spots in town for buying souvenirs – he curates shopping tours.
10.00: No trip to Siem Reap is complete without a visit to Angkor Wat, the largest religious monument in the world. You’ll need a pass to visit both Angkor Wat and the temples in what’s known as the Angkor Archaeological Park. Buy one at the ticket centre, a short drive from the centre of Siem Reap. They come in one, three or seven-day formats, starting at £28 for a one-day pass.
12.00: Restore those energy levels with lunch at Siem Reap’s Pou Restaurant and Bar, where top Cambodian chef Mork Mengly serves up refined twists on traditional Cambodian street food. Must-try dishes include the grilled chicken served with red tree ants – a common seasoning in Cambodia. Dishes are cheap, with main courses starting from about £3.
13.30: Years ago, Siem Reap’s Old Market was the best place for retail therapy, whether you wanted a pair of elephant trousers or a miniature plastic temple – that is, until Kandal Village appeared. Head here to browse independent boutiques, bars and restaurants that fill the leafy side streets behind the French Quarter’s Samdech Tep Vong Road.
Highlights include the lacquerware and jewellery-filled Louise Loubatieres and Saarti, for scented beeswax candles.
14.30: Nearby Tribe is owned by art-loving Londoner Nat Di Maggio, who’s got a serious passion for work by up-and-coming Cambodian artists. Pieces on display include hauntingly beautiful photos by local photographer Phirom, who sold his tuk-tuk to buy a camera. Wander down the once-neglected alleyway next to the gallery to admire a stunning piece of street art depicting two coconut sellers.
It was painted by Irish street artist Fin DAC, and was inspired by the two local women who own a coconut stall by the alleyway’s entrance. You’ll pay just a few pence for a coconut and they’ll happily pose with you by the artwork they inspired.
15.30: The restored Raffles Grand Hotel d’Angkor (from £341 per night, room only) is due to reopen later in the year. The heritage property explodes with 1930s grandeur, and guests will be whisked to their rooms in the original cage lift, which has been in service since the hotel opened in 1932.
As much as the pool will impress (it’s one of the largest in southeast Asia), the Conservatory with its marshmallow-like armchairs and vast expanses of polished wood, is dazzling. Head there for afternoon tea including scones with papaya jam and sandwiches made with bright pink beetroot bread.
Guests will be whisked to their rooms in the original cage lift
17.00: Take a wander along Pub Street, a bar and restaurant-lined thoroughfare that cuts through the centre of Siem Reap like a smaller, slightly dustier Las Vegas strip. But don’t be afraid to venture further afield – the flurry of development on nearby Sixteenth Avenue is part of a plan to create a more upmarket rival to this long-time backpacker hangout.
Late 2019 saw one of its first openings – The Twizt, a so-called lifestyle hostel with highly Instagrammable interiors (think chandeliers and brightly coloured dormitories) and a rooftop pool.
19.00: Quench your thirst at West Alley’s Bar 43, a new cocktail bar where there’s a focus on top quality spirits and unusual ingredients – rare Japanese whiskies and Guinness syrup (it sounds odd, but it works). Head to the soundproofed karaoke rooms on the second floor to channel your inner rockstar.
20.00: Finish the night with a sundowner at the FCC Angkor by Avani (from £96 per night), which opened at the end of 2019. Formerly the Foreign Correspondents’ Club, the framed newspapers and antique typewriters in the bedrooms are a tribute to the bullet-dodging correspondents who came here to write up their stories during the war.
Amenities include a beautiful saltwater pool and an exhibition space, regularly taken over by local galleries such as Tribe. You’ll find the gorgeous open-air bar in the plant-filled grounds. The cocktails are legendary, and there’s a fantastic selection of wines, sakes and craft beers, too.
Day Two
08.00: Thousands of people get up early to watch the sun rise over Angkor Wat, which means fewer people at other (equally spectacular) temples. A great spot to enjoy sunrise is 10th-century Banteay Srei, or Ta Prohm, where intricate carved faces peer out from the twisted tangles of knotted wood. Combine the latter with a visit to the nearby Banteay Srey Butterfly Centre. There’s a genuine emphasis on the preservation of natural habitats, and a commitment to improving the lives of locals through training and employment.
11.00: The often-overlooked Cambodian Landmine Museum, near Banteay Srey, provides a harrowing but fascinating insight into the process of landmine clearance. The museum was founded by Aki Ra, a Cambodian whose parents were killed by the Khmer Rouge. Aki Ra was forced to work as a child soldier, tasked with laying thousands of landmines. After the war he worked for the United Nations as a deminer, filling his home with defused bombs. In 1999 he started charging visitors $1 to see his collection, and the Cambodian Landmine Museum was born.
This small museum’s galleries take a no-holds-barred look at the devastation caused by landmines, a point hammered home by the mind-blowingly enormous displays of weapons Aki Ra has defused.
14.00: There are several social enterprise-based restaurants in Siem Reap, but the most famous is Spoons, which is a training facility for students from Egbok, a volunteer-based organisation set up to offer training and life skills to people from Cambodia’s poorest communities. Food is delicious and traditional – try the pan-fried red snapper served with beetroot dipping sauce, washed down with Kampot pepper-infused rice wine.
16.00: Time for some more retail therapy. Another example of a business paying an innovative nod to Cambodia’s troubled past, Ammo was founded in 2013 by British jeweller Madeline Green, who turns spent bullets into items of jewellery.
Consider signing up for one of her jewellery-making masterclasses – you’ll learn how to heat bullets using a blowtorch and bellows, before cutting the metal and engraving it using traditional stamping tools.
Try the pan-fried red snapper served with beetroot dipping sauce
18.00: As much as we love Pub Street, with its cheap pints of Angkor beer and marauding troupes of breakdancing buskers, exploring the side streets that lead off it will reap the biggest rewards. Finish your night at Miss Wong, a scarlet-hued, Shanghai-themed cocktail bar metres from Pub Street.
Local ingredients rule the roost there. Try gin-based China White, made with jasmine tea syrup, lychees and Cinzano Bianco.
Ask the expert
“Set an alarm and visit Angkor Wat at sunrise for an experience that is both eerie and magical. Seeing the temples as the sun comes up makes for an amazing scene as the light bounces off the trees and the monks arrive to pray.”
Nikki Hain, product manager for Cambodia, Premier Holidays
Book it
Explore’s eight-day Cambodia Highlights tour includes three days in Siem Reap. From £665 per person, including accommodation but excluding flights.
explore.co.uk
PICTURES: Shutterstock/Waj, mikecphoto
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