This city is the capital of the province of Siem Reap in Cambodia and the most important tourist destination of the country thanks to the wonderful landscapes and places that there are in the city and around them. The region is full of remains of temples of the Khmer Empire that ruled in the region from IX to XIII century, being the most important the temple of Angkor Wat which is considered one of the men made Wonders. Siem Reap is the modern city nearest the famous Angkor Wat (around 6 Kilometers at north of the town). The city is also very near the Tonlé Sap Lake the largest body of water in the country.

Siem Reap Downtown

The name of the town has is origin in a bloody battle in the XVII century. Therefore the name Siem Reap means the “Defeat of Siam”, anciently the Thailand reign was known as Siam, the Siem Reap means “Defeat of Thailand”.

The climate in the city is quite hot during all the year mainly in summer when the greatest rainfalls occur too. The best period to visit the city is between February and May. Because of the tourism and the proximity of the city to Thailand; in Siem Reap there are three different types of currencies, the USA dollar, and the national currency (the Cambodian rial) and the Thai baht.

The city was a little town which was controlled by Thailand as well as the entire region until 1907 when returned to Cambodia again because of the French colonial influence. The region was quite abandoned until 1901 when the Ècole Française dÉxtreme Orient (EFEO) decided to restore the temples of the region mainly Angkor Wat. This fact was the start of the tourist activity in the city, which is today the main economical activity. The tourism in Seap Reap grew steadily until 1975 when the Khmer Rouge, a communist organization started a bloody civil war. Because of the violence almost all Cambodian population of the important cities was evacuated.

The tourism in the city was stopped totally during the government of the Khmer Rouge leaded by the dictator Pol Pot. The visitors returned to Siem Reap only after dictator’s death in 1998.

Currently the city is one of the main tourist hubs of the region thanks to the Siem Reap-Angkor International Airport. Besides, Siem Reap offers to the visitors a wide range of hotels including luxurious hotels of five stars. There also many good restaurants, which offer national and international food. Siem Reap like most tourist cities has an exciting nightlife; there are a great number of clubs and bars, where to spend a great night.

In addition to Angkor Wat the city offer also many other wonderful tourist places like Psar Chaaa a nice flea market where it can buy antiques and handicrafts, several ancient Pagodas, the temple of Ta Prohm, the Angkor National Museum which owns a excellent collection of items belonged to the Khmer kingdom or the Cambodia Landmine Museum. There is also a peculiar crocodile farm at south of the town. Siem Reap is a city that really worth visiting.