Arrived at the bus company early in the morning (there are a few buses making this trip each day), and set of on the five hour journey after checking in and waiting for a short while (one is given a numbered coupon for ones luggage).

The journey went all right, even though the seating was a bit tight, „VIP“ bus is a little better. One is given a bottle of water, and they hand around a few snacks. The bus also has a WC. The bus stops at a restaurant in Kampong for about 30 minutes after about half the journey has been completed (quite good). The stewardess explained a few interesting things during the journey, she also told me personally that normally the busses are somewhat more comfortable (also those to Saigon, the company also provides a service on this route) and that during the evening she had a bit of free time, ok, not that direct, she tried to tell me carefully. Of course, I couldn’t be bothered at all with anything complicated, and the main thing was that I was visiting Siem Reap because of the girls. During the halfway stop, she offered to buy me the local speciality, fried giant spiders. I thanked her and turned the offer down .

The bus had hardly turned into the stopping place in Siem Reap when a huge pack of motorbike taxis turned up. Signs reading “500 Riel only” were held up. A lot of the bikes had a sort of a trailer with a roof. Great, so there would be no problem transporting my much too extensive luggage. I looked around for a driver I thought I might be able to trust, and found some young friendly bloke. During the journey he started the usual conversation, whether I preferred to stop in a different hotel (so that he could get a commission), how long I was staying for, and whether I was in need of a driver for a visit to the temple. I thought about the last offer, because I was indeed in need of a driver. Due to my first impression of him seeming to be confirmed (later as well), I booked him for the evening so that he could show me around some of the bars and the massage parlours. I gave him two dollars, because the 500 Riel (about 10 – 15 cents) would have been ok with it being offer, but was hardly enough to pay for the petrol for the journey.

This is the hotel I chose:

Angkor Saphir Hotel
#82 National Road No. 6
Siem Reap Town
Tel 092 9302619 – 016 37 25 35 – 063 96 53 39
Email: saphil@mobitel.com.kh

Overall, I was very satisfied with the place. A small restaurant (good for breakfast). The internet connection wasn’t working at the time, but there was an internet café about 50 metres further on down the road. The room cost 20 – 25 US dollars, all depending on the size. I took a large room, which unfortunately was up on the third floor. The trouble with this was that the air conditioning, which was not what one would call over-dimensioned, was only just able to keep the place cool. The service was very friendly, girls (of course) no problem.

Siem Reap is a nice, small, pretty clean, and peaceful little town. This is something I wasn’t expecting at all. One can see that the town is on the up and coming, they have spent a great deal of cash on the roads and infrastructure. No wonder, Angkor Wat and the other temples in the vicinity attract a great deal of international tourists who bring a lot of money along with them. The fact that a large hotel has been built smack bang in the middle of the historical grounds so close to the temple can be seen with different points of view. The big “run” hasn’t really started yet; the town and facility still have a lot of the original charm, well, as far as this is possible. The best thing to do is visit the place as soon as possible, who knows what it will be like in about ten years time.

Ok, the infrastructure is as it should be, although the days of having to take cash along with one… There are plenty of cash point, internet cafés, supermarkets, shops, and boutiques etc. For example, one of the glasses in my specs fell out, which left me without a clue what to do because it hadn’t been that cheap in the first place. I thought I would have to spend the rest of my holidays with my reading specs. I decided to let my driver take me to an optician, and what do you know! They were able to help me. He made me a new glass within 24 hours. Back in Germany, it would have cost me about 300 Euros (synthetic and bifocal). What did I have to pay here? A mere 50 US dollars including the price for the work. My optician told me later that the quality was ok. See what I mean…