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Siem Reap is known around the world as the home of Angkor Wat, so most people visit the city to explore Cambodia’s most famous temples.
There are enough temples in and around the city to fill a week-long trip, but there’s only so many temple visits you can manage before getting ‘templed out’. So what else is there to do in Siem Reap beside Angkor Wat and the many temples?
Here’s 26 things to do in Siem Reap, besides temples.
Phare is Siem Reap’s Cambodian Circus, and it’s famous around the world. It’s a small and intimate performance, but it’s one of the best circuses you’ll ever visit.
There’s everything you could hope for from a circus, from gymnastics, to comedy, to death defying stunts. And each performance tells a different story, which is usually a Cambodian folk tale.
I went to see the Sokrias (Eclipse) Phare performance, which told a story of rejection, revenge and forgiveness. But there are 10 different performances and storylines, so if you want to pick a certain storyline it’s worth checking out the ‘our shows’ section of their website.
Here are some of the highlights from the Eclipse performance:
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdddhoSMC_k[/embedyt]
It’s not just the performance itself that makes Phare worth the visit. The story behind the circus is that it was created by two guys who returned to Cambodia after spending time as refugees during the Khmer Rouge.
They set up the circus to provide opportunities to those from disadvantaged backgrounds. So young people from vulnerable households can join the circus, master the arts and receive an education. So it’s a great way to give back to the Cambodian community.
2: Go shopping at the Old Market
If you’re used to western prices, the Old Market is shopping heaven. You can find just about anything for under $5.
There are silk scarves, hand painted bowls, harem pants and all sorts of clothes, and trinket-type souvenirs. Just remember to haggle! You can get some real bargains; you just need to barter a little.
And prepare yourself for a very social shopping experience. Once you’ve entered the market, you’ll have people calling ‘lady!’ or ‘sir!’ from every direction. Everyone wants you to buy from them, and with most of the stalls selling more or less the same things, the market stall owners will work hard for a sale.
3: Visit the night market
The Angkor Night Market sells much the same as every other market in Siem Reap, but there’s something a little thrilling about shopping at night. There’s beer, there’s great snacks, and there are endless souvenirs on offer.
4: Get a cheap massage
Massages in Siem Reap are so cheap I could hardly believe it. I’m used to seeing massages on offer for over a hundred dollars, but you can get a full body Khmer massage for $6 in Siem Reap!
There are different types of massage, and the ones with oil are more expensive, but still most are under $10 for an hour.
We had a traditional Khmer massage, and it was amazing. Just beware of Thai massages, they’re cheap but apparently they involve a fair amount of pain and cracking!
5: Pamper yourself with a manicure or pedicure
It’s not just massages that are cheap in Siem Reap, you can also get a manicure or a pedicure for a couple of dollars.
You can choose between 30 minute and 60 minute treatments, but both are going to be $5 of less, and the results are super soft hands and feet, and gorgeous nails.
6: Visit the floating villages
Visiting the floating villages on Tonle Sap lake is a great way to immerse yourself in Cambodian culture. You can travel by traditional wooden boat through the floating communities, and see fish farms and local markets.
Some tours even include a sunset on the lake, which makes for some great pictures.
7: Visit the rats that can detect landmines
Cambodia is still riddled with land mines that are left over from the Khmer Rouge, and slowly they’re trying to get rid of them all (because no one wants old, unexploded mines laying around). But they’ve found an unusual way of finding landmines quickly, and without the help of expensive tech. They use rats.
Rats can sniff out mines, and aren’t heavy enough to trigger them, so there’s a whole team of hero rats who are making Cambodia a safer place.
And you can visit these rats! The Apopo Visitor Center is open to the general public, and you go and watch the rats in action, whilst learning about Cambodia’s history of conflict.
You can book a museum tour that includes the Apopo Center here.
Siem Reap’s war museum is an eerie outdoor collection of the tanks, planes, mines, bombs and guns used in the Civil War. The field that houses the war display was once a killing field, which makes the museum a little more hard hitting.
You can walk freely around the museum, or join a tour run by one of the museum staff. The tour doesn’t cost you anything extra, they just ask for a small tip.
Generally, they’ll run the tours as and when there’s enough people, but it’s worth waiting until one starts. You’ll hear all about the Civil War, and Cambodia’s attitude to its past.
The War Museum are also doing their best to encourage people to learn about the past, in the hope that it will stop any future wars.
You can buy your War Museum admission ticket here.
9: Visit the land mine museum
The Land Mine Musuem is a great place to learn about the Civil War, and you can even see land mines exhibited.
The museum was started by an ex-child soldier, who returned to Siem Reap as an adult, and began removing the land mines that he had laid as a child. He removed them by hand, made them safe and then charged tourists $1 to look at them.
Nowadays though, the museum has come a long way, and it’s one of the most visited attractions in Siem Reap.
The museum also doubles as a Relief Facilities, where children are given food, lodgings and free education. And the money the museum raises goes towards creating schools and delivering free education to Cambodia’s children.
10: Take a trip to Phnom Kulen National Park
Phnom Kulen is quite a way out of the city, but it’s definitely worth it. You can hike up the mountain, and visit the temple at the top. You can also join the locals and go for a swim in the waterfall.
It’s one of Cambodia’s most beautiful national parks, and there’s plenty to see and do there. You could also combine it with a visit to the River of A Thousand Lingas.
The best way to visit Phnom Kulen is on a group tour, as you’ll have your admission fees, transport and lunch included.
Flight of the Gibbon might have closed, but Angkor Zipline now offers thrilling treetop adventures in Angkor Park.
There are different courses that include zip lines, rope bridges and even a leap of faith. There’s also a ‘honeymoon’ zip line for the couples. And most courses include a local lunch too.
You can book your zip line adventure here.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Me2fDml11Po[/embedyt]
It’s always good to learn a little more about your destination, and the Angkor National Museum is the perfect place to do just that.
There are exhibits and information about the different stages of Cambodian history, as well as Angkorian artefacts for you to browse.
You can buy your Angkor National Museum admission ticket here.
13: Grab a dollar smoothie
This isn’t something that’s going to keep you entertained for very long, but nevertheless it’s something you should do whilst in Siem Reap.
You’ll see hundreds of smoothie stalls around the Old Market area and the temples, and you have to try at least one during your stay.
If you’ve got time, you should definitely try a few different ones. There are so many different flavours, and they’re so refreshing and cooling.
Most of them are made with milk, but if you use Google Translate to ask for it without milk, you’ll get more of an icy slushy style drink (which is just as delicious, and vegan!).
14: Party on Pub Street
Siem Reap’s Pub Street is perfect for those that want to party. There are bars with free pool, free beer pong tables, and club-type bars with dance floors and blaring music. So whether you want to dance, play drinking games, or just enjoy a drink with friends, pub street is the place to go.
You can get beers for $0.50 and cocktails for $1.50, and if you walk up and down the street before going into any bars, you’ll be handed a load of leaflets for free drinks.
Even if you’re not a big drinker, it’s worth visiting this street at night just to see and soak up the atmosphere. The street is full of music, there are people dancing their way down the road, and with the night market spilling onto pub street, you can combine a pub trip with a shopping spree.
15: Get competitive at the Angkor Wat themed crazy golf
Angkor Wat Put is a crazy golf place that’s popular with expats, but just as welcoming for tourists. For just $4 per person you can play 14 holes, and most holes are temple-themed too. There’s also a bar on-site, so you can enjoy a few drinks whilst you play.
And there are prizes too! For every hole in one you get, you get a free beer, and if you make it onto the leader board you get a free t-shirt.
If you consider yourself a foodie, you need to go on one of Siem Reap’s food tours. You’ll get the chance to taste the flavours of Cambodia, and learn about the local delicacies.
There are different types of food tour, including vegetarian food tours, and even if you’re a little fussy, you don’t have to try everything if you don’t want to.
17: Take a cooking class
Another food related activity, cooking classes are a great way not just to taste the local cuisine, but also learn how to make it.
There are lots of different cooking classes in Siem Reap, you’ll often see them advertised in restuarants, but you can also book online too if you want to.
I went to a vegetarian cooking class at the Peace Café, and I couldn’t recommend it more. You can’t book online, you just need to book through them at least a day in advance. It was $20 each, but it was just us in the class, so once we’d made all the dishes we had an absolute feast to get through!
18: Go to a dinner and dance show
The Aspara dance is a famous dance from Cambodia, and a big thing in Siem Reap is dinner and dance shows. You pay a set amount for a buffet dinner, and whilst you eat you get to watch a live dance performance.
19: Snack on bugs at the bug café
If you’re brave enough, you can try a slightly more unusual local delicacy: bugs. That’s right, in Siem Reap you can snack and feast on all kinds of bugs, from crickets, to meal worms, to deep fried tarantulas.
And if you’re going to try it, there’s one place in particular you should go: The Bug Café. This café doesn’t just serve you straight up bugs, oh no, instead they create gourmet meals, but with insect meat rather than your normal pork, chicken or beef.
You can try bug burgers, ant spring rolls, bees egg soup, or if you’d rather go for some liquefied creepy crawlies, you can try a silkworm smoothie or a scorpion infused shot.
20: Visit the Cambodian Cultural Village
The Cambodian Cultural Village is basically like a huge park that encompasses everything Cambodian. Within the park you can visit the wax and taxidermy museums to learn about Cambodian culture and wildlife, and then you can wander around what is basically a mini Cambodia.
There’s reconstructions of Khmer towns and buildings from different periods in history, a floating village, sleeping Buddha and a waterfall to explore.
There’s also a zoo, which I didn’t realise, but I was quite shocked at how little space the animals had.
I always like to do at least one adventurous activity at each destination, and quad biking through Cambodia’s countryside was too good of an opportunity to miss.
You can quad bike through local villages, and rural countryside, and even visit a temple. I definitely recommend quad biking at sunset though, because the views are just incredible.
You can book your Siem Reap quad biking tour here.
Whether you’ve ridden before of not, horse riding through the countryside is a great day trip. You can master the skill of horse riding, if you haven’t before, and take in stunning views of rice fields, rural villages and temple ruins whilst feeling like a cowboy.
You can book your horseback riding tour of Siem Reap here.
There are loads of different ways you can explore Siem Reap by bike. Whether you want to cycle around the temples, or pedal your way through the countryside, perhaps to the edge of Tonle Sap, there’s a whole number of affordable tours you can join.
Cycling through your destination gives you the chance to stop at any point and explore an area further. It’s also quite liberating to feel the sun and wind beating down on you as you cycle. Plus, cycling is a great way to get a tan in Siem Reap.
24: Take part in a yoga class
Siem Reap is a very Zen destination, which means there are more yoga classes than you can imagine. Different restaurants and studios offer private and group yoga sessions for advanced yoga enthusiasts and beginners alike.
A yoga class can be the perfect way to meet new people, and unwind after a long day of sightseeing.
25: Chat with a monk at the Peace Café
This might sound like a bit of an odd one, but if you’re visiting Siem Reap, then you’re visiting one of the most Buddhist countries in the world, and it makes sense that you’d want to know more about it.
The Peace Café offer a ‘talk with a monk’ on set weekdays, and the idea is that you can ask them any questions you might have about Buddhism, and how you can adopt Buddhist values and practices.
26: Take part in a pottery class
Why not learn a local craft whilst you’re in Siem Reap? There are several different pottery classes in the city that will give you the chance to master pottery like a local, and take home a souvenir traditional Angkor-style bowl.
You’ll get to mould the bowls you make, and then carve a design into them. It’s the perfect thing to do in Siem Reap for those who want to unleash their creativity.
So to sum up…
There are enough Siem Reap activities in this list to create an almost-month-long itinerary, and I haven’t even mentioned any temples. So if you’re worried about getting templed out in Siem Reap, work in a few of these excursion and activity ideas to your itinerary and you’ll have the perfect balance.
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