wandering at the city

siem reap city is the capital of siem reap province, cambodia.

siem reap has colonial and chinese-style architecture in the old french quarter, and around the old market. in town, there are apsara dance performances, craft shops, silk farms, rice-paddy countryside, fishing villages and a bird sanctuary near the tonle sap lake.

siem reap today, being a popular tourist destination, has a large number of hotels and restaurants. most smaller establishments are concentrated around the old market area, while more expensive hotels are located between  siem reap -angkor international airport and the town along national road 6. there are a variety of mid-range hotels and restaurants along sivatha, and budget to mid-range hotels in the phsar leu area.

the name siem reap means the 'defeat of siam' �"today’s  thailand --- and refers to a centuries-old bloodbath, commemorated in stone in the celebrated bas relief carvings of the monuments.

siem reap was little more than a village when the first French explorers re-discovered angkor in the 19th century. with the return of angkor to cambodian, or should that be french control in 1907, siem reap began to grow, absorbing the first wave of tourists. the grand hotel d'angkoropened its doors in 1929 and the temples of angkor remained one of asia's leading draws until the late 1960s, luring visitors like charlie chaplin and jackie kennedy. In 1975, siem reap, along with the rest of the cities and towns in cambodia, its population was evacuated by the communist khmer rouge and driven into the countryside.

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

siem reap is a little city cluttered with tourist from all over the world. most of this adventure seeker stays in hotels and motels around the old market right at the down town, and hangs out at the cozy pub street also in this area. there you can find a lot of things from souvenirs shop and kiosk, massages,  restaurants, pubs, internet cafe etc.
i visited this area on my second day after getting burnt on my face for not using the sun-block. i chose to chill out at one cafe that was also  functioned as a t-shirt distro. i had a glass of local laotian beer, a glass of orange juice and tuna sandwich, tasted pretty good actually. then after while i decided to have a little adventure and went inside the old market, souvenirs kiosk were everywhere, and after went over some tough bargains i succeeded to wrap up two bronze statues of budha and another statue of cambodian king for 10 dollars. and just across the street i saw street vendor fruit seller, selling a strange fruits namely salac and bumbum. salac is a common fruit in south east asia, but here it has a different shape, texture and color. the flash was a bit softer compared to the one we have in indonesia, the shape is longer and tasted sweet-sour with stronger alcoholic flavor, delicious!!, while bumbum the fruit that looked like a tiny granny smith tasted sourer, i think it was some kind of plum.
my 2 days visit was definitely too short. hopes that i can make my way back to this lovely place and to the other surounding indochina countries.