Siem Reap was formed of a number of small worship villages. The villages grew together and formed Siem Reap, nowadays a bustling tourism hub for anyone wanting to see the temples. Its population has grown rapidly in the past few years and now reaches nearly 100, 000 people.

Due to the development of tourism in the city, the standards have grown making it one of the most expensive places in Cambodia. Tourism has brought the city many foreign investment and labour.

But also many poor Cambodians or people with disabilities found their way to Siem Reap, making it a place where you can experience the very luxury of life or the very poor of life.

Siem Reap is the city starting point for excursions to the Angkor Wat. Only a few kilometers north of the city sits one of the world's most impressive temple grounds.

Take your time at the great temples, but make sure that you leave time to see the other things that the town has to offer.

Most visitors come only to see the temples and forget to explore the sights of the town itself or the beautiful surrounding countryside.

As a tourist town, Siem Reap also has some attractions of its own. Interesting places to visit are the markets, Psa Chas (the Old Market) or Psa Leu. Other attractions include the Cambodian Cultural Village, Artisan d’Angkor, Akira Landmine Museum, and the several Wats (Buddhist pagodas).

The city also has a lot of nightlife entertainment to offer, with several nightclubs, such as Martini and the more western style Zone 1 and not to forget “Bar Street”, the place where everybody ends up having a drink.

And if you have time to go further afield, you can visit the beautiful surrounding countryside as Siem Reap is set in countryside and at the foot of the extensive Tonle Sap Lake, a unique world phenomenon in that it actually flows a different way at different times of the year (owing to monsoon rains pouring into the Mekong much further downstream).

To learn about life on water, click here.