When the New York Times asks why is everyone going to Cambodia?, you know a destination is well and truly on the map.
Home to Cambodia's crown jewels -- the sprawling Angkor Wat Historical Park -- Western Cambodia has seen a surge in tourists visiting the site. From 2004 to 2005 alone numbers increased by almost 50% to over 600,000. Numbers are increasing so quickly in fact that it appears that the Khmer government is finally going to fix the road from Siem Reap to the Thai border at Poipet... after a "non-specific" ten year delay.
Siem Reap, the launching base for visitors to Angkor has gone through a veritable development explosion. Five and six star hotels are seemingly dropping out of the sky, three star tourist factories line the Airport road like parking meters and a never-ending stream of new budget flophouses continue to appear on the scene. With enough western bars and restaurants to fully stock a medium-sized French town, Siem Reap is a bizarre sometimes disheartening amalgam of east meets west -- where tourists stepping over amputee beggars to get that prized table-with-a-view for cocktail hour are unfortunately all too common a sight.
Ironic that the fastest growing town in all of Cambodia is by far the least "Cambodian" place in the entire country.
The ruins are a must see, so you will need to stop by, but don't fall into the trap of thinking that aside from Siem Reap and Angkor Wat, Western Cambodia is nothing more than dust, dirt roads and ramshackle villages. There's more to see in this sprawling, fascinating part of the country.
This site was constructed out of 100% recycled electrons -- if you don't, you should recycle too!
All material copyright Travelfish Pty Ltd ACN 107 758 985 -- please don't steal our content
Thailand FAQ | Cambodia FAQ | Travel related links | Jobs with Travelfish | Press
For ZoneAlarm Users | Contact Travelfish | Privacy statement | About us
Advertise with Travelfish | How do I get my business listed on Travelfish?
Yahoo! FareChase
Last updated pretty recently ;-)
There are 74 visitors online, valmobabe, BruceMoon, Thaiman, and your boss!
Travelfish | Blog | Fourelephants | AsiaNewsDesk | BangkokMetro | Affiliates