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 A cluster of villages along the river of the same name, Northern Cambodia's Siem Reap (which means "Siam Defeated") is a gateway to Angkor Archaeological Park. The impressive park is home to the Khmer temple ruins of Angkor Wat. |
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Introducing Siem Reap
 Siem reap is the small gateway town to ruins of Angkor, located 250 northwest of Phnom Penh and 15 km north of Tonle Sap. Running through the centre of town is the polluted Siem Reap river. Traces of French presence have survived in a small quarter of colonial buildings to the southwest side the rest of Siem Reap was badly damaged by bombing and civil war. In the early 1979-0, during the Pol Pot era, people were fed to the crocodiles in Siem Reap. There is a "killing fields" memorial to victims of Khmer Rouge to the northwest of the town. In 1979the province was the scene of heavy fighting between the Khmer Rouge and the Vietnamese Army. Since 1990 the Khmer Rouge have staged sporadic attacks on the civilian population and Cambodian troops around Seam Reap. In 1993 they massacred Vietnamese fishing families at Lake Tonle Sap, precipitating an exodus of the Vietnamese to the Mekong Delta. To safeguard Angkor, the government has stationed troops, ringing the entire zone of ruins.
Peace has not been easy to come to Seam Reap, but there is normal life around Angkor: farmers transporting goods in oxcarts, village women clad in sarongs cycling to market, Buddhist monks in the flowing orange robe out morning strolls, kids lolling about on the backs of water buffalo in green fields. For tourists this is a chance to see rural life. For local, tourist itself, however small in scale, is seen as return to normalcy after years of savage war and upheaval. A number of new hotels, guesthouses and restaurants have appeared in Seam Reap in the 1990s, catering first to visiting UNTAC troops and later to the Angkor bound tourists who arrived in the wake. |
Geographical Of Siem Reap
 Cambodia has an area of 181,035 square kilometers, sharing an 800 kilometer border with Thailand in the north and west, a 541 kilometer border with Laos in the northeast, and a 1,228 kilometer border with Vietnam in the east and southeast. It has 443 kilometers of coastline along the Gulf of Thailand.
The most distinctive geographical feature is the lacustrine plain, formed by the inundations of the Tonle Sap (Great Lake), measuring about 2,590 square kilometers during the dry season and expanding to about 24,605 square kilometers during the rainy season. This densely populated plain, which is devoted to wet rice cultivation, is the heartland of Cambodia. Most (about 75%) of the country lies at elevations of less than 100 metres above sea level, the exceptions being the Cardamom Mountains (highest elevation 5,948 ft) and their southeast extension the Dâmrei Mountains ("Elephant Mountains") (elevation range 1,640–3,280 ft), as well the steep escarpment of the Dângrêk Mountains (average elevation 1,640 ft) along the border with Thailand's Isan region. The highest elevation of Cambodia is Phnom Aoral, near Pursat in the centre of the country, at 5,948 ft.
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Weather All Year Round
 Climate
Early to mid-May is about the hottest. The weather is hot and sticky. For those who love the heat, fantastic. Just be aware that the humidity creates the storm clouds, and anytime after lunch there will be a cloudburst. Its like water being poured out of a bucket!
The most popular time to visit is in December when it is cool but it is annoyingly crowded at the temple sights - shoulder to shoulder stuff. The crowd continues till May but tapers off. Although it rains a lot from July till October, it is still good (especially August) to visit as it is less dusty and more greenery, the temple moats are filled, the water in Tonle Sap is clearer - a much prettier sight. And, you don't have to travel so far to get on the boat at the lake since the increased water level means you get to the lake faster.
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Culture
 The Cambodian people are made up by a grand majority of peoples, called Khmer. This term can bring up negative connotations because of the violent Khmer Rouge regime; but nevertheless the people go back far before that ever came to terms, they have inhabited the land for centuries. Along the same name, Khmer is the official language which is, if you must compare, a mixture of Chinese and Sanskrit with some influences from the neighboring country of Thailand and even from French language, as there was a period that France colonized the land.
Religion naturally places a large role in the culture of Cambodians. The first religion is not well documented although we do know that the original tribes were highly religious, as is evident by the remaining temples. Later Hinduism, or Brahmanism came into play, greatly influencing the people and their architectural design to temples or wats.
The 13th century saw the coming of Buddhism and in today's Cambodia, some Christianity and Islam is even present. With all of these religions playing a role in the past, Cambodians are for the most part, Theravada Buddhists.
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