Temples Aside: 3 More Things To Do in Siem Reap

Date of travel: October 4-7, 2012

Alright, before we get into this, here's a roundup of my Siem Reap blog posts:

1. Temples-Aside: 4 Things To Do in Siem Reap

2. Gone Tomb Raidin' in Siem Reap

3. Makin' A Dream Come True in Siem Reap 

4. 6 Siem Reap Temple Tour Tips

5. Kickin' Off the Siem Reap Temple Tour 

6. Travel Expenses: Siem Reap, Cambodia

7. Review: Rithy Rine Angkor Hotel (Siem Reap, Cambodia) 

8. First Night in Siem Reap, Cambodia 

Well, what do you know, I've written eight posts about the things we did in Siem Reap. Just for kicks let's add three more in that to-do list, shall we? 

You might be thinking, "If I'm visiting the temples, why the heck do I still need to visit a museum?" I hear ya. Apparently, though, there are lots of reasons to check out the museum, awesome interiors aside. Most of the  stone statues from the temples have been moved here to protect them from looting and vandalism. If you do a guided tour of the temples, your guide will often point out empty spots where the so and so statue used to be. Or your your guide might mention that a certain temple was built during King so and so's reign. 

Well, the museum has got you covered. Its eight galleries tell the story of ancient Angkor -- the different Khmer empires, the notable kings, and the religions and beliefs. Most galleries have educational videos and walls filled with text, so I say, allot at least four hours when visiting the museum, lest you run out of time (like we did, we were there two hours before closing time, and towards the end of our visit, we were a little short of being pushed out by the museum people). 

Nope, nope, I don't have photos of the museum because then I would have needed to pay an additional $2.00 just to get my camera inside and snap shots in the public areas. You see, even with the photography fee, you still can't take photos inside the galleries. Also, as it was, I was already afraid to move around too much inside the galleries because I kept thinking what would happen if I broke an ancient relic or something. 

At the time of our visit, the entrance fee was $12.00, but if you book through their website (check the photos of the galleries as well while you're at it), you get a discount. There's also an audio tour that'll set you back by $3.00. 

Photo by Ponleau Leang

If this were Moulin Rouge, the girl in the right would have been Satine --the star of the show. 

We were keen on minimizing our food expenses on this trip, so the entire time we were in Siem Reap, we only ate out five times. We had late dinner at Le Tigre de Papier when we arrived from Manila, we had lunch at a nondescript restaurant near Angkor Wat during our temple tour, and we bought takeaway food from KFC in central Siem Reap for lunch at West Baray.

On our last day in town, to pass the time while waiting for our flight (after we had checked out of Rithy Rine Hotel at 1pm), we lounged around The Blue Pumpkin, then at Under Construction Bar and Restaurant (formerly Madam Beergarden). 

Here's what we had at The Blue Pumpkin:

Thin Apple Tart: $3.50

Chocolate Fondant: $3.75

Mexican Coffee: $2.25

Espresso Long Black Americano: $1.50

Ham and Cheese Quiche: $2.75