A couple of years ago the once dark and dingy Lane in Siem Reap looked like not much more than a decent prospect for a drugs score. Today it’s developing into a trendy little enclave, home to many an expat's favourite hangout, with an atmosphere a world apart from tawdry Pub Street only a few metres away. The changes came gradually at first, but they’re coming on so fast in the last few months that it’s giving me head spins, and that's before I even get to Miss Wong. Notwithstanding this flurry of activity, I get the feeling that many visitors never make the extra few steps it takes to go and explore it. So, to give you an idea of what's there, here's a rundown of what you can expect to find along The Lane.

Silk Garden.

Establishments on The Lane include the Silk Garden, a smooth and intimate garden hangout with reasonably regular live gigs, and four-years-young Miss Wong, a Shanghai opium den-styled cocktail bar and one of the few venues on the ‘You really, really mustn’t miss’ list. Further down The Lane, tiny boho wine/cocktail bar Little Pari now qualifies as positively old by comparison to her neighbours, though sets a standard for the maxim that class never ages.

All the others by comparison are absolute Johnny-come-latelies, with most of them only opening their doors in the last year or so. In that brief, dizzying, period of time everyone’s instantly favourite Italian, Il Forno, has expanded to occupy three buildings. The Giddy Gecko became the Nomad Shisha Bar, with an extensive range of flavoured shisha pipes, soft cushions and an ambient vibe. Blush Boutique next door is where you’ll find a selection of clothes, shoes, cosmetics and smellies. Meanwhile, La Boulangerie on The Lane is not strictly new, but an extension of the immensely popular bakery/café on Street 7 that is besieged every morning with homesick Frenchmen. Next door to Miss Wong, you’ll also find Yokohama, a Japanese restaurant and hang-out that is continuing to grow.

Almost on the med ... Not quite, but nearly almost.

I’m not going to talk about the ghastliness at the end of The Lane. Except to say that the market there is ugly, unimaginative and unnecessary and while I wouldn’t consider myself an overwrought aesthete by any stretch, it still makes me want to delicately put pained palm to pained brow and sigh “l’horreur, oh l’horreur!” I don't though, just in case you're wondering. There are plenty of other, better markets in Siem Reap, especially the Angkor Night Market, the oldest and still the best of the lot.

Hooked on hookah.

One of the latest additions to The Lane is Three Seasons, which opened a little over three months ago. It’s sort of a three-for-the-price-of-one clothes shop that stitches together the talents of young American designer Rachel Faller under her label KeoK’jay; the established Phnom Penh fashion label, Elsewhere; and, with Zoco, the eye of Spanish entrepreneur Nuria Lopez Conesa who brings in designs from around the region. The fashion sensibilities of each are different, but complementary. Faller’s look tends towards the young and urban, Elsewhere is a more mature label with classic design ethics, and Zoco clearly has an eye for colour and offbeat styles. They are all however strong, modern and feminine, and very well priced. There is also a small selection of men's clothing too.

Hot fashions.

I’m a little bit of a control freak so, even under Miss Wong’s charm, it’s hard for me to imagine ever getting drunk enough to consider karaoke a good idea. I find the enduring appeal of this peculiar form of entertainment a greater mystery than my pre-pubescent penchant for Shakin’ Stevens, and crueller on my senses than a Roman’s long weekend. But, human beings being what they are, i.e. largely deranged, karaoke’s reach is now global and my only hope is a set of earplugs and/or wire-cutters.

On the upside in Siem Reap, most karaoke bars are local so the chances of finding one’s evening besmirched by a half-naked Australian screeching “I will survive hey eyyyyyy” are mercifully limited. You can imagine my dismay then when I spotted the sign for a new bar called Marcello, which brazenly sports the words “European Karaoke”. Here in the air-conditioned and smoke-free bar, 5,000 songs we all know and love have been listed for massacre in English, French, Italian and Spanish. I’ll try to be charitable and not consider you to be in need of profound psychological help if you go, but don’t even think about asking for back-up. (And if you are a karaoke fan, Travelfish.org does cover it in Bangkok, Hanoi and Saigon.)

Silk Garden
T: 012 989 163

Miss Wong
T: 092 428 332

Il Forno
T: 078 208 174

La Boulangerie
T: 012 308 208

Yokohama
T: 092 637 053

Marcello
T: 017 674 762

Tags: Blush Boutique, Elsewhere, Il Forno, Karaoke, KeoK’jay, La Boulangerie, Little Pari, Marcello, Miss Wong, Nomad Shisha Bar, Silk Garden, The Lane, Three Seasons, Yokohama, Zoco

It’s not often that Siem Reap gets visiting bands, though the Dengue Fever gig at the Hotel de la Paix in November was a huge success. So we do get a little bit excited when we hear about new ones coming to town. And this Friday will see the Siem Reap premier of a Phnom Penh-based group, the Grass Snake Union Band.  We’re super excited.

Want some foot-stomping action? /Image by Dylan Walker Photography

Playing a fun and energetic mix of bluegrass, Americana and lo-fi music, the band bloomed out of a jam session early this year and then started to absorb other musicians too. With a range of covers and their own work, the six musicians have been strumming up quite a following down in Phnom Penh, and elsewhere too, following their first international performance in Ho Chi Minh.

Right now, between their day jobs and gigs and other things, they’re recording their first EP at the Boddhi Villa Studios in Kampot. The multinational band consists of TJ Brown on lead vocals and guitar, Jose Encinas on banjo, Daniel Talstra on fiddle, Borja Serrador on bass, Greg Lavendar on drums, and Alex Leonard on vocals, but who also has plans to learn the ukulele.

To get a taste of what they’re about, you can see them all crammed into one tuk tuk for their airing on the Tuk Tuk Sessions.

The Grass Snake Union Band will be playing in front of The Banana Leaf bar on Pub Street this Friday at 21:00. See you there!

Tags: live music, Snake Grass Union Band

Siem Reap may be small compared to nearby travel hotspots such as Bangkok and Phnom Penh, but the gay scene here is very well formed. A Buddhist country, Cambodia is generally pretty tolerant of homosexuality, though there remains heavy pressure on young men and women to follow the traditional path and settle down, marry and have children. Thus, while visitors can expect a genuinely open-minded welcome, it is still more difficult for gay Cambodians to step out of the closet.

This is so even though homosexuality has received the royal seal of approval. In an interview with the New York Times, a spokesman for the royal family said, “We’ve always been very tolerant about sexual preferences as some Khmer Royals are/were openly gays/lesbians”.

Big smiles all around at Miss Wong's.

While there are still no venues that cater specifically to lesbians, gay men can choose from a number of guesthouses that were created especially for them. The newest, and perhaps the most flamboyant, is Men’s, a hi-design boutique resort and spa that is 100% gay. As the name suggests, only men are allowed into the hotel, or use of the facilities including an 18-metre outdoor pool, gym, sauna and massage parlour.

Longer established is the Golden Banana. Originally a small guesthouse that opened in 2004, the business has grown and now includes a boutique hotel and boutique resort, both of which have gorgeous garden pools and are located a very short walk away from town.

In town, the Linga Bar was the first gay bar to open in Siem Reap, has a fabulous reputation for its cocktails, and is also a great place to people watch. Linga recently celebrated its sixth birthday with a sparkling display from Linga Bar’s stars, the performers from the Saturday night drag show that owner Martin Dishman is convinced is one of the best in Southeast Asia. The crowds that stop to admire the powerful strutting, preening and dancing queens seem to think so too.

More gay-friendly than gay-oriented, Miss Wong is a small bar that opened three years ago and is fast developing iconic status on the Siem Reap social scene. A night out that involves Miss Wong is just not like a night out anywhere else. The lush, red-walled décor creates a warm but classy atmosphere that is boosted by the friendly welcome and easy chat from Kiwi owner Dean Williams and his behind the bar team.  The cocktails are special, and have a strong Asian focus using ingredients such as ginger, lemongrass and chillies.

Other venues include Hotel Be, a super-stylish hotel, in the middle of town, opposite Linga Bar, and the Linga Spa, which offers a service entirely dedicted to the male body.  Lolei Travel Cambodia is a tour operator that knows the gay scene in Siem Reap and can tailor your holidays accordingly.

And if you are heading to Phnom Penh: here's our take on gay-friendly bars there.

Men's
Near Hotel Borann/Wat Po Lanka
T: (063) 963 503/(089) 787 600
www.mens-resort.com

Golden Banana
Phum Wat Damnak, Siem Reap.
T: (012) 654 638, (012) 885 366, (063) 761 259
www.goldenbanana.info

Linga Bar
Near the Old Market, Siem Reap
(directly across from John McDermott Gallery Annex and The One Hotel Angkor)
T: (012) 246 912, (012) 540 548
www.lingabar.com

Miss Wong
The Lane, Siem Reap
T: 092 428 332

Hotel Be Angkor
On The Passage, Old Market Area, Siem Reap
T: 063 965 321/012 755 311
www.hotelbeangkor.com

Lolei Travel Cambodia
#0432 Watdamnak Village, Salakomreuk, Siem Reap
T: (063) 964 732/ (012) 806 033
loleitravel.com

Tags: Drag show, Gay