SEIM REAP & ANGKOR WAHT

Outside the Seim Reap Airport a driver was waiting with the Hotel Limo and I was whisked away to the River District of Seim Reap which appears to be the center of the tourist area as well. This all sounds kind of swank, but I was in Cambodia now. The Hotel Limo was a five year old Honda Accord. The driver was also the assistant manager at the Koh Ker Hotel where I stayed for 2 nights. The Koh Ker is an older hotel, 3 stories with no elevator. Employees and their families live on the first floor and so children are often playing in the lobby. It also means that there were women sweeping, washing or cleaning most of the daylight hours. The place is simple but very nice. It was VERY clean, insect free and friendly, not the kiss ass friendly that you get some places but genuinely friendly. The rooms are large but plain. I got the impression that the Koh Ker is pretty typical of hotels in the very small tourist area.

I will say very little about the Temples of Angkor because that is off topic for this board. In short they are awesome. If I were asked to count the greatest sights that I have ever seen in my entire life on the fingers of one hand Angkor would be on that list. It was THE high point of my whole 17 day, three country trip. After checking in to my room and taking a shower I cut a deal with the fellows behind the desk. A pass into the “Park” at Angkor costs $20 for foreigners. It is good from 4pm until dark and from 9am until 4pm the next day. For $35 the driver would take me to Angkor Park for a few hours after 4pm that afternoon, again the next day all day including the more remote sites such as the jungle ruins where footage for Indiana Jones “Temple of Doom” was shot, and to the airport the morning of my third and last day in Seim Reap. It was made clear that the driver was not a tour guide. After delivering me to the front gate of the various sites he would sit in the shade and shoot the breeze with the other drivers. Once inside I was on my own. The driver was a friendly fellow with good English and while driving around the country side from site to site he supplied me with a lot of good information, including where to go after dark, but he made it very clear that the price I had negotiated did not include being driven around town after dark because gasoline is very expensive in Cambodia. I only saw one Gas Station in Seim Reap. Traffic is 90% motobikes and most of the gas is sold by Curb Side Vendors in old whiskey bottles one quart at a time.
Everything a visitor might want after dark is with in 7-8 blocks of the intersection where Route 6 crosses the Seim Reap River, mostly along the river and up in “Old Town”. A descent map of the town can be found on the Canby Web Site. Seim Reap is best described as a town … I wouldn’t go any where near calling it a city.

You are right, Angkor waht is absolutely magnificent. I have been back couple of more times since my orginal trip. The first day that I was there I wanted to take it all in. I nearly suffered heat stroke as a result. From every day forward I would get to Angkor waht wile it was still dark, climb to to the top and watch the sun come up. I would then tour the other temples until about 10:00 AM. I would then climb the mountain (really a hill behind Angkor Waht) and watch the sun go down.

It sounds like you found most of the 'girl' action. There are also a couple of massage houses located by the Snooker/pool entertainment center.