5 Fun Things to Do In Siem Reap

Yes, you’re going to Siem Reap to see the temples of Angkor. But take it from someone who has been visiting for over 20 years, there’s more to Siem Reap than temples. On this trip, we experienced great food and shopping, saw hero rats who save lives by sniffing out land mines, walked with elephants living their best lives in the jungle, had some well-deserved relaxation, volunteered with an incredible organization supporting education, and even experienced a traditional tattoo. Of course, there were also days of glorious ancient civilization exploration which will be detailed later.

Visit the Hero Rats of Apopo

More than 40 years after the fall of the Khmer Rouge, land mines are still a massive problem in Cambodia. Every year people are injured or killed after stepping on a land mind and it’s incredibly time-consuming, expensive, and dangerous to get rid of them. Enter the Hero Rats of Apopo! Apopo works in countries around the world to train animals using scent detection for humanitarian purposes like land mine detection and tuberculosis detection.

Scroll through the photos below to see the Hero Rats of Apopo.

These African Pouch rats, weighing in under 3 lbs each, are trained to clear an area the size of a tennis court of land mines in less than half an hour, something that would take a human with a metal detector over 4 days! How do they do it? Via sense of smell! These rats are well fed, taken care of, and loved by the team at Apopo.

You can go to their visitor center in Siem Reap, take a tour to learn all about what they do, see a demonstration, and even pet and hold one of the rats if you like. They are adorable!

Walk with Elephants in the Jungle at Kulen Elephant Forest

Who doesn’t love elephants? These gentle giants used to roam free in the jungles of South East Asia. Eventually they were domesticated and put to work logging or hauling tourists around the temples. In 2019 all that was banned and the remaining elephants were given a sanctuary about an hour outside of Siem Reap.

We booked a morning tour with Kulen Elephant Forest that included transportation to and from Siem Reap, spending several hours with the elephants, feeding them, walking with them through the jungle, and watching them enjoy bathing in their pond. We learned all about their lives and their individual personalities. At the end of our day there we shared a communal lunch with the other tour participants at their lodge.

Get a Traditional Sak Yant Tattoo

I know this won’t be for everyone, but hear me out. I got my first tattoo on this trip, at the ripe old age of 54! This experience is not something you’d find in a guidebook, nor is it meant to be taken lightly.

The tradition of the Sak Yant tattoo goes back over a thousand years and the artists at the Federation of Khmer Sakyantra take their craft very seriously. They have researched the designs and methods of the traditional “stick and poke” method and aim to keep the old traditions alive.

Getting a tattoo like this is a process. You don’t just walk into a shop and get one, there is an entire ritual involved. First, you have to abstain from eating (and doing) certain things in the 24 hours before. Then you have to bring an offering for the altar that includes fruit, incense, candles, and a small amount of money. There’s a shop in town which will package up all these items for you.

Scroll through the photos below to see part of the preparation.

Once you arrive at the studio, the ritual continues before and after the tattoo. Prayers are spoken and blessings are given. I had a vague sense of what I wanted before I arrived but decided to let the designs “speak to me”, and in the end, chose the earth element yantra for my left arm. Scroll through the photos below to see the actual tattoo process.

In all, it was a marvelous experience. There was very little pain, and zero “aftercare” and scabbing of the tattoo itself.

Do Good for Someone Else

Donate time and money.

One of the reasons I’ve been to Cambodia so many times is because of the Ponheary Ly Foundation. The PLF supports Cambodian children in school from kindergarten through university because, as they say, “school is the answer”. If you have been following this blog for a while, you know that we’ve been supporting the PLF for almost two decades.

On this trip, we chose to do some fundraising before we left the US so that we could contribute to a special lunch at one of the schools. With the PLF, we traveled from Siem Reap to the elementary school in the village of Koh Ker to help cook and serve lunch to the students. To say this school has long had a place in my heart is an understatement. Scroll through the photos below to see the lunch we helped serve.

My family has been going to Koh Ker School since 2007, and the work the foundation has done there has been nothing short of life-changing for so many students. If you’re interested in how things have changed throughout the years, go here to see our first visit in 2007, here to see it in 2010, and here to see it in 2014. I also visited in 2017 and 2020, but unfortunately, those visits are not online.

If you’d like to learn more about the Ponheary Ly Foundation and how you can contribute, please check out their website at www.plf.org.

Visit the Old Market

One of my favorite things to do when traveling is visit markets and the Old Market in Siem Reap is no exception. One part food market with all manner of fish, fowl, meat, and produce, one part housewares, and one part souvenirs, it has something for everyone. There are also cooked food stalls, lots of clothing, and if you want your hair washed, that’s there too! Scroll through the photos below for more.

Bonus: Eat and Sleep Well

Who doesn’t like to enjoy great food and stay in a nice place when they travel? While prices have gone up just like all over the world post-pandemic, there is still great value to be had in Siem Reap when it comes to dining out and accommodations.

Restaurants in Siem Reap

Siem Reap is spoiled for choice when it comes to dining options. There is every kind of cuisine; traditional Khmer BBQ, Thai, French, Italian, and even American-style “Brunch”. Below is a sample of some places we ate in Siem Reap and below that, scroll through the photos of the food!

• Olive de Saison– One of my favorite restaurants in Siem Reap is Olive de Saison. I’ve been going here for many years and it never disappoints. They have fantastic service and delicious French food.
• Khmer Kitchen– I’ve been coming here for over 20 years. They have reliable Khmer food right in the center of the Old Market area. Sit upstairs for a view of the market but away from the crowds.
• Treeline Urban Resort– We met for drinks and appetizers here at this trendy spot on the river a few times and it was always good.
• Thai Fusion– Really good Thai food, right off Wat Bo Road.
• Jomno Moden Khmer Cuisine– Moden Khmer fine dining. We ate here on our last night and everything was great; food, cocktails, and service.
• Endora– This is a French restaurant but we came here for brunch one day and had fantastic avocado toast with a poached egg and potato pancakes with smoked salmon, not to mention some great brunch cocktails.
• Brother Bong Cafe– right off Wat Bo Road and known for their pizza, Brother Bong also does an excellent brunch.
• Cambodian BBQ Damnak Meas- located on the other side of the river from the old market, this place was a very “locals only” BBQ spot. If you ever see grilled corn on a menu, order it!

Stay in A Great Hotel

Your money goes much farther in Cambodia than in the US or Europe. There’s no shortage of hotels to fit any budget.

After our “train to nowhere” in Phnom Penh and a 6-hour drive to Siem Reap, we arrived at our lovely Hotel, the Lynnaya Urban River Resort, right along the river and only one block from busy Wat Bo Road to the East and a few blocks from the Old Market area of Siem Reap across the river. This was to be our home for the next 7 nights.

The hotel has a lush jungle vibe with a gorgeous blue-tiled small pool shaded by a large banyan tree where we spent several hours “resting with cocktails”. Our rooms were in the two-story section of the building, and there are ground-floor rooms and bungalows near the pool and lobby. The bungalows appear quite spacious but do not have any views. Rooms on the first and second floor face the river with either a balcony or a large picture window with a day bed in front of it.

The rooms have a lot of cast concrete but don’t feel cold or impersonal. I loved the giant walk-in showers in the bathroom. Our rate included breakfast which was fine. The service was friendly and prompt and after a few days, one of the women who worked there knew automatically to bring us coffee with hot steamed milk as soon as we sat down. There’s a nice rooftop bar above the restaurant where we had delicious iced coffee on our first day. We never dined in the hotel restaurant other than breakfast so I can’t comment on that. I would stay there again; as it was an excellent value.

For something more luxe with historical charm, consider the Raffles Hotel Siem Reap. On our last day in town, we walked to the park next to the Royal Palace to see the bats that live in the tall trees. They tend to be active near sunset and we wanted to see them flying about. From there, we walked over to the Raffles Hotel to check out the famous Elephant Bar and see the public areas of the hotel which are lovely.

If upscale chic is more your vibe, consider booking a room at Treeline Urban Resort, another hotel along the river. We had cocktails and snacks here several times, and it looked lovely.

I hope you enjoyed these ideas of what to do in Siem Reap. Let me know if you plan on going or have any questions!

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