Cambodia

Most people I know that have visited Cambodia visit primarily for one reason, the awe-inspiring ancient temples of Angkor, but, although it’s the countries major attraction, there is much more to experience.

We arrived the city of Siem Reap in early April, a time that is not super crowded and not burning hot. We stayed in an amazing hotel, Rose Royal Boutique Hotel, that was conveniently located near pub street and the night market. It also has a pool, which trust me, you will want after spending all day visiting temples.

Amazing hospitality at Rose Royal Boutique Hotel

Amazing hospitality at Rose Royal Boutique Hotel and our favorite Cambodian beer.

We arrived with the plan to go to the Angkor National Museum or eat at King's Road restaurant complex, which has a great variety of cuisines at reasonable prices and a pleasant atmosphere. it's a great place for an early dinner.

Instead, we were pleasantly surprised to hear that there was a tour to visit a floating village near Siem Reap and since we’re always up for adventure, we went for it and were really glad we did.

We visited Chong Kneas floating village. It’s a fully functioning floating village on the Tonlé Sap River. You will find homes, schools, shops, a crocodile farm, a church and an orphanage on stilts or floating mechanisms that go with the movement of the river. We were charged about $20 USD each for the boat ride down the river which included a 2-hour tour of the city.

We stopped by various sections of the village, such as the church, a shop, a restaurant and some homes.

We also stopped by a crocodile farm, which was interesting, but overall looked like a crowded pool of crocs.

Our last stop was an orphanage, were we were asked if we wanted to buy a 50 pound bag of rice for the orphans. We’re suckers with a soft heart and said yes, to later find out that these aren’t true orphans, but kids trained to get money from tourist. Well, our conscience is clear and we tried to do the right thing.

Overall, I didn’t mind the experience. It’s something you don’t see often, and we did become friends with the boat guides and helpers who purchased beers for us and became friends. But, there are other floating villages, like Kampong Khleang where all the tourism money goes back to the village. I would recommend visiting that floating village instead.

In addition to floating villages, Siem Reap offers adventure tours and a great night out.

As our adventure tour we chose to zip-line where we glided through Angkor Archaeological Park and enjoyed beautiful views of the Angkor temples from the top of the trees through Flight of the Gibbon.

For our night out, we went to the rooftop of Palate Angkor Restaurant & Bar. This is an elegant restaurant located close to the Siem Reap River. This was a great place to rest our feet after a full day of exploring the temples while enjoying great drinks and traditional Cambodian food.

Palate Angkor Restaurant & Bar in Siem Reap

After the restaurant, we took a tuk tuk ride to the night market, something everyone should experience. At the night market, there is a vast selection of clothing, souvenirs, jewelry, massage parlors, bars and traditional street food, like scorpions, if you dare.

There you have it, a fun night out, shopping, dinner and adventure that you can do in and around Siem Reap in addition to seeing the amazing temples of Angkor. For details on these amazing temples, click here.

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Travel Blog - Reaching Wonders