Welcome to Siem Reap, a center of tourist place in Cambodia! Siem Reap is the getaway to the Angkor Archaeological Park, Cambodia's eight wonder of the world, and it is a pleasant place to stay while touring the temples. Siem Reap is charm with old French shop-houses, shady tree-lined boulevard and a slow-flow river. The town is actually a cluster of old villages, which originally developed around individual pagodas and later overlaid with a French colonial-era center.
Note the colonial and Chinese-style architecture in the town center and around Old Market. Designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, the Angkor Archaeological Park encompasses dozens of temple ruins including Bayon, Banteay Srey and the legendary Angkor Wat whose artistic and archaeological significance and visual impact put in a class with the Pyramids, Machu Pichu and the Taj Mahal.
The General ViewThe Siem Reap province is conveniently situated 314 km northwest of Phnom Penh (a capital city of Cambodia), along National Road No. 6. It can be reached all year round from this capital city, from the border checkpoint with Thailand-Poipet Border, from Banteay Meancheay Province, Utddor Meancheay Province (Osmach Border), and Kampong Thom Province.
This province is accessible on directly from many of major cities in the region such as Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh City and many more...
From the capital city of Phnom Penh, the Cambodian national airline, the Cambodia Angkor Airways, operates many direct flight daily. The province can also be reached by speedboat along the Tonle Sap River, the great lake of Cambodia, from Phnom Penh and Battambang Pronvince.
Siem Reap is a major tourist hub in Cambodia. The most recognizable of the temples, Angkor literally Capital Temple was built by King Suryavarman II during the early 12th century. The Angkor temple complex is north of the city. Recently the city has been a great deal of expansion hundreds of hotels, hostels, inns, guesthouses, restaurants, shops, catering to both international and Cambodian tourists have opened to serve the influx of visitors.
The People & LanguageSiem
Reap covered 10,299km2 (3,976.50sqm) with the total population just over 1 million; the province captial is Siem Reap town is where you will probably stay during your visit. Our Check Inn Siem Reap is located just in the middle of the city center. The town is actually cluster of old villages, which originally developed around individual pagodas, and was later overlain with a French colonial-era center.
Khmer is the official language of Cambodia. The Cambodian language is derived from the Mon-Khmer (Austro-Asiatic) language family. It is renowned for being one of the largest set of alphabets; it consists basically of 33 consonants, 23 vowels and 12 independent vowels. Tourist may wish to learn a few spoken like "Thank You" stand for "Or-Kun", while "Hello" stand for "Sour s'Dey". However, English is widely spoken and understoond. French is the secon language after English; most elderly Cambodian speak French. The Chinese language is also widely spoken.
How to reach Siem Reap
Siem Reap is accessible by direct flights from many major cities in the region including Bangkok, Danang, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh, Paksé, Vientiane, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Singapore, Hong Kong, Kunming, Seoul, Rangon, Taipei, etc. From the capital of Phnom Penh, Angkor Air operates several direct flights per day to and from Siem Reap. There are also speedboats operating along the Tonlé Sap from Phnom Penh and Battambang Province.
Transportation
The best way to see the Siem Reap at a leisurely pace is to hire a car or a Tuk Tuk with a driver. You can of course drive yourself around, but it probably wouldn’t be as pleasant as having someone else to drive you especially on unfamiliar roads and through heavy traffic. Renting a motorbike is great for short distances within the city and for touring rural areas.
Tourists can travel to all parts of Cambodia by bus, taxi, motorbike, boat and aeroplane. Within the capital of Phnom Penh, Siem Reap Province and Preah Sihanouk Province, sightseeing can conveniently be enjoyed on a Reumork (Tuk Tuk). Buses are available from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap, Preah Sihanouk, Pursat, Battambang, Poipèt, Banteay Meanchey, Kratie, and Preah Vihear.
Boats are very popular means of transportation along the Tonlé Sap, Bassac, and Mekong rivers. These boats remove the hassle of meandering along the highways yet offer some spectacular scenery along the way. Cambodia Angkor Air, the National Flag Carrier operates to and from Phnom Penh and Siem Reap daily. In the capital of Phnom Penh and the province of Siem Reap, a Cyclo including a driver can be hired at a reasonable price; do agree on a price before the ride
Weather
Like most of Southeast Asia, Cambodia’s climate is hot and warm almost all year round. The climate is dominated by the annual monsoon cycle of rainy and dry seasons. The rainy seasons lasts from May to October, and the dry season from November to April. December to January is the cool months while the hottest period is in April. The average temperature is 27-28C.
The monsoon season may carry some rains but these quite often occur during the late evening and overnight and are unlikely to spoil your requirement.
Language
Khmer is the official language of Cambodia. The Cambodian language is derived from the Mon-Khmer (Austro-Asiatic) language family. It is renowned for being one of the largest set of alphabets; it consists basically of 33 consonants, 23 vowels and 12 independent vowels.
Tourists may wish to learn a few spoken phrases before or when visiting Cambodia. However, English is widely spoken and understood. French is the second language after English; most elderly Cambodians speak French. The Chinese language is also widely spoken.
National Flag
The flag of Cambodia symbolizes the country’s religious dignity and royalty. Two large blue stripes representing royalty, embrace an even larger red stripe which represents the nation. The image of the white temple represents the nation’s religion. Generally speaking, the colors and image on the Cambodian flag personify the country’s slogan: Nation, Religion, and King.
National Flower
Romduol, a small yellowish-white flower, is the national flower of the Kingdom of Cambodia. Since ancient times, Cambodian women have often been compared to the Romduol flower because of its attractive fragrance; a unique scent that is prominent in the late afternoon and can travel over long distances with the wind. With its sturdy stems that measure up to 30cm, the Romduol plant can grow to a height of 12 meters. These plants are being planted to enhance public parks.
Religion
Theravada Buddhism is the prevailing official religion in Cambodia and approximately ninety percent of the populations are Buddhists. Islam, Hinduism and Christianity are also embraced in Cambodia. Since Buddha statues and images represent the revered Buddha, visitors are asked to treat all such statues and images with respect so as not to cause offence to local people. In Cambodia, regardless of religion, the country maintains a harmonized state.
Customs and Tradition
Cambodian culture and tradition have had a rich varied history dating back many centuries. Over the years, the people of Cambodia developed a set of unique tradition from the syncretism of indigenous Buddhism and Hinduism.
Cambodians have been raised to respect their culture and are very traditional in their way of life. Tourists will see the well mannered Cambodian expressing a friendly “Chumreap Suor” when they meet one.
Chumreap Suor
Cambodians traditionally greet with a Sampeah, which involves pressing the palms together before the chest with a slight blow and greeting with a polite “Chumreap Suor”. Customarily, the higher the hands are held and the lower the bow, the more respect is conveyed. Except when meeting elderly people or government officials, between men, this custom has been partially replaced by the handshake. Women usually greet both men and women with the same traditional greeting. Although it may be considered acceptable for foreigners to shake hands with a Cambodians, it is more appropriate to respect the custom and respond with a “Chumreap Suor”.
Traditional Dance
There are many classical dance forms in Cambodia, of which a highly stylized art form was once confined mainly to the courts of the royal palace and performed mainly by females. Known formally in Khmer as Robam Apsara, the dancers of this classical form are often referred to as Apsara dancers.
This dance form was first introduced to foreign counties and best known during the 1960s as the Khmer Royal Ballet. The first royal ballerina was Princess Norodom BophaDevi, a daughter of King Norodom Sihanouk.
The Apsara Dance is particularly inspired by the style form around more than a thousand Apsara carvings in the Angkor temple complex. As evidenced in part by these Apsaras (celestial dancers), dance has been part of the Khmer culture for more than a millennium. A visit to Cambodia is only complete when one has attended at least one such traditional dance performance.
Khmer Wedding
Traditional Cambodian weddings are intricate affairs that consist of multiple ceremonies lasting three days and three nights.
The wedding begins with the groom and his family traveling to the bride’s home bearing gifts to the bride’s family as dowry. Family members and friends are introduced, and wedding rings exchanged. Customarily, three traditional song announcing the arrival of the groom and the next is on the presentation of the dowry followed by a final song to invite the elders to chew Betel Nut, an age-old Khmer tradition. Then it is the Tea Ceremony, at which the bride and groom offer tea to the spirits of their ancestors.
To prepare the bride and groom for their life as a married couple, their hair must then be symbolically cut to represent a fresh start to their new relationship together as husband and wife. The master of ceremony performs the first symbolic hair cut; the bride and groom’s parents, relatives, and friends then take turn to symbolically cut the bride and groom’s hair and give them blessing and good wishes.
The final is the most memorable segment of the wedding. Family members and friends take turns to tie the bride’s and groom’s left and right wrists with “blessing strings”. The praises and wishes of happiness, good health, success, prosperity, and long-lasting love are acknowledged and witnessed by the loud sound of the gong and joyful cheers. Then, they throw palm flowers over the new couple accompanied by a traditional song. After the couple is pronounced husband and wife, the groom holds the bride’s fabric into the bridal room accompanied by a traditional song.
At the close of this wedding ceremony, all of the guests are invited to a wedding reception accompanied by an orchestra concert. The Khmer wedding is a rowdy and joyous event. Nowadays most families reduce the three-day and three-night ritual to a one-day affair.
Food
Khmer cuisine includes noodles, soups, grills, stir-fried, curries, salads, desserts, lots of vegetables, tropical fruits, and of course rice which is the staple food for Cambodians. Cambodian culinary secrets are rarely written down; the recipes were instead handed down from mother to daughter. From an ancient origin has come a traditional cuisine of unsuspected treasures: a unique blend of flavor and color that enhance the natural ingredients used.
Cambodians perfected the art of blending spice paste using many ingredients like cloves, cinnamon, star anise, nutmeg, cardamom, ginger and turmeric. They add other native ingredients like galangal, garlic, shallots, lemongrass, cilantro, and kaffir lime leaves to these spices to make a rather distinctive and complex spice blend known as “kroeung”.
Although noodles are also popular, almost every meal includes a bowl of rice. A wide range of curries, soups and stir fried are usually served with rice. Being in a country that produces many rice varieties, tourists can enjoy the best aromatic grains and various types of glutinous rice. The latter is more commonly served with a salad or in desserts with fruits.
There are two other unique ingredients that give Cambodian cuisines their fabulous typical flavor. One is a pungent fermented fish paste know as “Pra-Hok” and the other, the “Kapi”, a fermented prawn paste. These require an acquired taste for most but they are beloved by some who used them in many dishes or even taken as a dipping sauce. Collectively, these ingredients have become an important aromatic combination commonly used in Cambodians cuisines.
Typically, a Cambodian meal is served with rice and at least three other dishes. It usually includes a soup or “Samlor”, served alongside the main dishes. Each of the individual dishes will either be sweet, sour, salty or bitter; these exist side by side in harmony, sometimes even within a single dish, to offer an original melody. Chili is usually left up to the individual to add. In this way tourists are subtly ensured that they get a bit of every flavor to satisfy their palates.