- Siem Reap
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Cambodia
Blue Pumpkin is a cafe/bar in the centre of Siem Reap. Go all the way upstairs as far as you can until you reach the A/C enclave with the most divine sofas for a comfy and relaxing drink or bite to eat. Their ice cream shakes are to die for.
Psar Chaa area
It is a fab bar run by an English couple who each week on a Thursday host a quiz night. All of the proceeds go to five charities in Siem Reap.
They also serve great English food for those who have been away from home a while and crave sunday lunch, bangers and mash etc.
On the river in Siem Reap
If your budget allows, a great hotel to stay at in Siem Reap is the Foreign Correspondents Club (F.C.C.). Renovated from the old French Governor’s mansion, French art deco embraces modern chic. Contemporary, beautiful rooms, double rooms from $90, swimming pool, spa, room service, lovely staff, great good value restaurant/ bar serving classic Khmer food, contemporary European dishes and the best cocktails in Cambodia. Breakfast, which is included and is a vast amount, can be delivered to your room at your preferred time - from half four in the morning (to cater for the traveller who wants to see Angkor at Sunrise) until two in the afternoon.
Pokambor St
www.fcccambodia.com/angkor
063/760280
A swanky but cool cocktail bar in downtown Siem Reap that serves *huge* cocktails for only a few dollars each. Get there for the 6-8 happy hour and a group of 4 can easily get into the party mood for less than $12.
Bar Street
Tel: 016 962 026
This is an inexpensive (US$12 per room), simple, clean and very friendly guest house. Each room has en suite and air conditioning. It is a good place to unwind after a hard, hot day. There is a bar, a casual restaurant (with Western or Khmer-style food), a pool table (good for chilling out) and free internet for catching up with your emails and bragging to friends. It is close to town and they give you transport around town and to the airport. The modest profits from here go to support Savong's School - a volunteer language school that is also worth visiting.
D&D Angkor Villa Guest House,
No 6 Highway (Airport Road, near the Caltex Station).
Tel : (00 84) 855 12 531 037
www.angkorvilla.com
Fantastic decor, open windows overlooking the river, colonial charm and delicious food and drink.
Pokambor Avenue, next to the Royal Residence;
restaurant/bar : 855 63 760 283;
reservations : 855 63 760 280;
email: angkor@fcccambodia.com;
www.fcccambodia.com/angkor/
Siem Reap's premier restaurant. For a taste of what the colonial lifestyle might have been like before the guns started firing take a pew on the veranda in this old French villa . The menu is extensive, tasty and not that expensive, and Angelina Jolie can't be wrong about the cocktails (they even named one after her).
If you really like it, there's a guesthouse too.
No. 341, 50 m north-west of the Old Market, Svay Dangkom, Mondul I;
www.redpianocambodia.com
Fantastic views at sunset. Head upstairs to the roof and order 2 for 1 cocktails that come to 3 US dollars for 2 drinks. Watch the street kids harass the tourists, lots of fun... then don't forget to order heaps of spring rolls to give to the kids when you leave.
On the corner of the bar street, one block from the old market.
Earthwalkers is a fantastic, friendly, buzzing guesthouse. Run by a group of young Norwegians and employing brilliantly friendly, happy and professional Khmer staff, they have clean, comfortable rooms and great service as well as a welcoming and sociable bar and restaurant area. Tours to Tonle Sap, Angkor Wat and other spots can easily be organised, as well as onward travel - nothing is too much hassle.
One of the best things about staying at Earthwalkers is the chance to make a genuine difference in Siem Reap and further afield - Earthwalkers runs a fund dedicated to helping underprivileged Cambodians, and also co-ordinates voluntary work, as well as holding regular Apsara dancing shows by local children.
Siem Reap - Airport Road. Most tuk tuk and motorbike drivers in town know it;
www.earthwalkers.no, or book online via www.hostelworld.com.
Frequented by locals and tourists alike, the Angkor What? Bar in the heart of Siem Reap is both lively and welcoming. There are plenty of choices of beers and other beverages, and 5 cents of every dollar spent goes to the local children's hospital.
The walls are covered in magic marker, the drunken scrawls of the thousands of backpackers who have passed through, with messages ranging from the pretentious (song lyrics are prevalent) to the genuinely heartwarming, to the downright bizarre. Though space is now limited to add your own words, I seem to recall the ceiling above the (free) pool table having room left.
A fun place to meet fellow travellers and share stories and drinks with the always friendly bar staff. Recommended.
One block north of the old market
The Ivy Guesthouse is next to the central market and has an excellent restaurant (try the stilton burger) and bar with Angkor beer on tap. The rooms have modern air-conditioning and the ones at the front have a balcony to watch the bustling marketplace in action. Rooms have hot showers ensuite. The best place I have stayed in south-east Asia.
On the south-west corner of the central market place.
This is perhaps the best hotel in all of Cambodia. The new facilities and the local and international staff are nearly perfect as they move from soft opening to grand opening. The luxury duplex spa suites with breakfast and private pools are so good I never wanted to leave.
www.hoteldelapaixangkor.com/
Sivutha Blvd, Siem Reap, Cambodia
Tel: + 855 63 966 000
Fax: + 855 63 965 001
The fantastic Foreign Correspondents' Club. Stylish, beautiful, great food, very cold beer. The original in Phnom Penh is great, but this is even better. I wish I had done this.
Near the river, any tuk tuk driver will know it.
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