This photo journal, the first of the Siem Reap town series, features Wat Bo, one of the oldest wats in the province (other than Angkor) + a few photos of the nice hotel we used. Siem Reap is very walkable, so I walked to all of the sites I saw in our free time, & I saw lots, as usual ;o)

Introduction to Siem Reap: As enthralling as the temples of Angkor may be, there are lots of other things to see & do in & around Siem Reap to avert ‘temple-burnout’, & to help Cambodia by taking some tourist pressure off of the temples & spreading the tourism dollars a bit more widely. Spending time in Siem Reap & perhaps visiting Tonle Sap Lake are two ways to do that.

The proximity of the Angkor ruins turned Siem Reap into a boomtown in less than half a decade. This once quaint village has become the largest boomtown & construction site in Cambodia. Huge, expensive hotels sprang up everywhere & the number of budget hotels mushroomed. Property values soared to European levels & tourism became a major source of income for local people. The Siem Reap of today is barely recognizable from the Siem Reap of the year 2000.

Though some of the town’s previous ramshackle charm may have been lost to development, this same development has brought wealth & livelihoods to many of Siem Reap’s citizens. Unfortunately this has been at a cost & has resulted in poor living conditions in & around the town’s limits. Like most Cambodians, these people survive on poorly paid construction work or subsistence farming. Local wages have not kept pace with the inflated prices in Siem Reap’s markets. (As business has increased, so have the prices, which are often double or more what you would pay elsewhere in Cambodia.) If Cambodia is a country of contrasts, Siem Reap is the embodiment of those contrasts. Despite the massive shift in its economic fortunes, Siem Reap remains a safe, friendly & pleasant town. There is an endless choice of places to stay or dine, and a host of possible activities awaiting the visitor.

The Siem Reap-Angkor International Airport, which is only 7 kms from town, now serves the most tourist passengers to Cambodia, tourists who come to Siem Reap to visit the Angkor ruins. Siem Reap is also accessible by land from Phnom Penh & the Thai border, & by boat & bus from Phnom Penh.

(I'll cover a little history in the next journal.)

Excellent, comprehensive guide to Siem Reap http://wikitravel.org/en/Siem_Reap

Other good sources: http://idscambodia.com/about_cambodia/siem_reab.php

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siem_Reap