Siĕmréab

There are a few markets that are worth visiting and you can find cheap/good food all around town, but the main reason for 99.9% of backpackers to go to Siem Reap is to visit the stunning temples of Angkor Wat and Angkor Tom!
Small and nice city, the streets in the center are very lively and the whole atmosphere is relax and safe. Angkor temples are obviously the main attraction but the museum is very cool as well and gives more information about the Khmer civilization.
The name of Siem Reap is a provocative rendering of Khmer-Thai century-old disputes, actually meaning something like "the defeat of the ugly Thai". "Ugly" is not particularly right. But in essence, that's what it means. Anyways, you don't go to Siem Reap to visit a swampy battlefield, but for the magnificent complex of Angkor temples, the jewel of Cambodia. Angkor has hundreds of Hindu and Buddhist and not only Angkor Wat! Between the 9th and 13th century, Cambodians have built one of today's most impressive archeological site, said to be the world's largest preindustrial agglomeration. It is expensive to get in, but surprisingly well-maintained, with bins and all. And no beggars. The con is the said prohibition of foreigner driving motorbikes, so you'll have to either ride a bicycle (not the best option for the far-flung temples) or rent a tuk-tuk. Bargain hard, as you're just one out of the two million wealthy toursits pouring in each year, raising prices up. 3 to 5$ is enough.
Ofcourse Siem Reap is the starting point for your visit to the Temples of Angkor. Siem Reap itself is a pretty nice little city. You'll get acquainted easily with its dirt roads, markets, small city center and a really big supermarket, where you'll be able to find produce and products you haven't seen in a while... Which is pretty welcome after eating street food for a few weeks! Bar Street (now called Club street), where all the restaurants and 'clubs' are, is the place to be at night. A lovely place to call your home when visiting the famous Tempels of Angkor.
The main reason to come to Siem Reap is Angkor Wat, which is without a doubt stunning! Get up bevore Sunrise (around 4.30am) and head to Angkor Wat. Get a day ticket and do everything in one day by Tuk Tuk or rent a Pushbike.
To tell you about my first feeling of Siemreab I have to go one step backward. We came from the untouristic Phnom Penh by a bumpy road on a bus full of Cambodian. The bus was frequently slowed by a children walking his cow around or farmers crossing. The bus stopped twice in small sheds where they serve insects and other typicall meals. The arrival is a deserted sand parking in the dark of the night. We arrived there feeling like Indiana Jones gooing for a tour in the historic temples. That was before the tuk-tuk dropped us for lunch in Pub Street. This is a street full of tourists where bar plays very loudly commercial house music and serve english beer (for more detail about Pub Street confer to Temple Street, Dublin, Ireland.) But then in the morning there is the temples. Probably the most Stunning thing I saw ever. Stunning by it's scale, its beauty, the details, the vegetation around .... Beats ten times Versailles Palace, the Rome Colliseum...
Siem Reap used to be a wonderful place due to its two most interesting places: the temples of Angkor and Villa Anjuna. But since Villa Anjuna got raided and shut down in march 2013, the town lost a huge deal of its magic. The temples of course are still worth visiting and even going to Siem Reap just for them. Your usual South-East-Asia-In-3-Months-Backpacker spends on day at the temples, one day on the lake, and every night on with getting drunk and laid in Pub Street. Well...what else is there to do actually? Let's see what uncle Oli can do for you...