Andreas Segovia. segovia andres
Excursions Angkor. Special offer!
More detailed information you can get on the site "Asia Travel" .Temples of Cambodia. Angkor.
Seem Rip is synonymous with Angkor. If people say "We are going to Siem Reap", it means that they are going to see the temples. Only the lazy have not heard about the temples of Angkor, and even the lazy have also heard. By some misunderstanding, the temples of Angkor are in eighth place in the list of modern Wonders of the World. And they should be on the second. It doesn't make sense to say who is on the first... :-)
Have you seen Egyptian pyramids? Do you think Angkor is the same, only Cambodian? No, no and NO! The pyramids are already in the past. Not in the sense that they are from the distant past, but in the fact that they have been so trampled that now they are essentially just stones. Angkor is not like that, Angkor "clings" even the most callous person. And for a traveler who shows at least a slight interest in the culture and history of mankind, the temples of Angkor are amazing! These stones, among other things, keep the spirit of almost the last millennium. Here, among these temples, the Great Khmer Empire was born, reached the peak of its power and fell under the pressure of the Thai barbarians. In the dark corners of the temples, where even the monks go with caution, the great Khmer kings still roam. If you listen and look closely, with peripheral vision and on the verge of hearing, then the Apsaras will appear to you in their eternal dance to the majestic music.
Do you want to see it all in one day? We do not recommend! Temples do not tolerate fuss. Two days? It's like having half your dinner, it's like watching a play before intermission and going home. It's up to you, of course! But we warned you!
And now briefly (on five pages) we will tell you what you simply must see. And you already decide whether to watch the grandiose performance in half or in full!
In 1112, Suryavarman II, the Sun King, became the ruler of Cambodia. According to legend, he could make the lotus buds bloom and make everything prosperous. During his reign, Cambodia became the most great power Southeast Asia, and Angkor reached highest point development in the history of its architecture. It was during this period that Angkor Wat was built. This is the most famous building in this ancient city. This temple was built during the second period of Angkor and is dedicated to the god Vishnu, since at that time Hinduism prevailed on the territory of the Khmer Empire. Therefore, the king ordered the construction of a temple in honor of Vishnu, one of the three supreme gods of Hinduism. Vishnu maintains the cyclic existence of the universe. According to legend, Vishnu falls asleep while lying on a giant coiled snake that floats on the waves of the universal ocean. Vishnu's dream is equal to one cycle of the universe or 4.5 billion human years. When Vishnu awakens, a lotus grows from his belly, Brahma appears from the lotus flower and begins to create the world. And at the end of the cycle, the god of destruction Shiva destroys this world. Vishnu will alternately fall asleep and wake up, and the Universe will be created and destroyed in an endless cycle.
Angkor Wat is made up of large stone blocks. right on the surface of the earth. More than 30 billion tons of stone were used to build 1,500 columns. Most stone blocks weigh 500 kg each, while the largest ones weigh 10 tons. No cement or other fastening materials were used in the construction process, but the stone elements are so precisely fitted to each other that the height deviation between the walls is minimal.
Angkor Wat is a giant symbol. According to Hindu ideas about the structure of the world, Mount Meru, towering in the middle of the ocean, is the center of the universe. This is the place where all the gods and goddesses live. Meru is surrounded by four smaller temples, the sun and moon revolve around the mountain, and at its foot an endless ocean stretches. Angkor Wat is built in accordance with these ideas, using abstract geometric shapes. Angkor Wat is the largest religious building in the world. It took 89 years to build, and 150 million people took part in the project. By the time the construction was completed, Suryavarman II had long died without seeing the result of the work.
Angkor Wat can be roughly divided into 3 levels, which represent the lower world, the world of people and the heavenly world. Each of the worlds is reflected in the architecture of Angkor Wat. The first level is surrounded by a corridor, the walls of which are decorated with elegant bas-reliefs. In the center of the building is a sanctuary. The height difference between the altars of the sanctuaries is 10 meters. The highest altar is at a height of 65 meters. This is the top of the sanctuary, there are 5 stone pagodas, the central one rises above the rest. It symbolizes the center of the heavenly world. The concept of three worlds is presented not only in the architectural design of Angkor Wat, but is also more clearly depicted in the bas-reliefs that adorn the walls of the corridors. At the first level, the wall, like a long scroll, reveals to us spiritual world Khmer. It is carved with scenes from Everyday life Khmer, as well as scenes from various legends of Hindu mythology. The eastern part of the wall depicts the legend of the drink of immortality - amrit. The asura gods and demons made a truce to get magic drink. To do this, they wrapped the lord of the Nagas, the giant snake Vasuki, around Mount Meru and began to pull him in turn, thus churning the milky ocean. The whipping process lasted more than a thousand years, the moon appeared from the waters of the ocean, behind it appeared the goddess of beauty and happiness Lakshmi, who became the wife of Vishnu, the deity of wine and hops Sura, wonderful White horse and finally the god of healing with a bowl of amrita in his hands.
On the northern wall is depicted the battle of Vishnu with the heavenly devil. Half of the western wall is dedicated to the Hindu epic Ramayana, while the other half illustrates the Mahabharata. The south wall depicts scenes of clashes between the Khmer and the invaders, since the Mekong Delta has always been the subject of encroachment.
Moving along the walls, one can observe how the carving technique improved. The length of each wall is almost 800 meters, it takes from 2 to 4 hours to inspect. The bas-reliefs tell us about a great and brilliant civilization, forever preserving stories from its life. Another wall with bas-reliefs surrounds bayon temple. The theme is devoted to the daily life of the Khmer people: people go to the market, cook food, hunt, treat diseases, dance and sing, worship the gods. In total, there are about 11 thousand images of people.
Bas-reliefs on walls and columns are best preserved in Angkor Wat. Basically, they depict the celestial maidens of the Apsaras, their poses are beautiful and fabulous, they seem to be floating on lotus flowers, calmly and majestically. The variety of hairstyles that adorn the heads of apsaras is surprising. There are 36 different styles.
A careful study of these images and descriptions left by Judogoan allows us to recreate clear picture ancient Angkor. According to Judogoan's observations, the houses of the king, officials and rich people were buildings on wooden piles, or even just thatched huts. Although the king wore gold and silver jewelry He walked barefoot like other people. As for ordinary people, there were no tables, chairs and dishes in their houses. They cooked their food in depressions made in the ground, and used coconut shells or tree leaves instead of plates. They ate with their hands and slept on mats thrown on the ground. Such was the simple life of the ancient inhabitants and builders of Angkor. Centuries passed, these people died, only sanctuaries and temples made of stone remained. As a result of complex archaeological excavations, it was not possible to find any traces of the fact that people lived in this area. Only a small number of household items were found. Some representatives of Western civilization even doubt that Angkor was built by the Cambodians. There is a feeling that everything that we see came from nowhere. But they are wrong. Collected for a long time scientific evidence confirm that the great Angkor was built by the ancestors of the Cambodians. George Kurkis, an expert on Cambodia from France, spent several years comparing the faces of Cambodians with faces carved on the walls of ancient Angkor, and concluded that there is a physiological similarity between them.
Construction of Angkor Thom was started in 889 by order of Yasavarman the first. Subsequent kings also erected a large number of buildings in this city. Two centuries later, when Suyavarman the second decided to build Angkor Wat, there was no place for him within the boundaries of Angkor Thom, and the temple was moved outside the city. Today, nothing remains of most of the buildings, except for foundations and piles of broken stones. But many temples managed to survive, including one of the most famous - Bayon, located in the central part of the city. In Khmer, the word "tom" means "big". During the reign of Jayavarman the seventh, Angkor Thom was already a large city, and its population reached a million people. Having taken a walk through the ancient ruins, you will definitely feel the spirit of this place. The neatly arranged buildings are masterpieces of architecture, although many of them have already turned into ruins. There is only one form of time left here, and it is called Eternity.
Jayavarman the seventh was another king of the great Khmer empire. Unlike his predecessors, he did not profess Hinduism, but Mahayana Buddhism. During his forty-year reign, the country became the most powerful empire in Southeast Asia. He expanded the boundaries of the old Angkor Thom and ordered the construction of many magnificent temples. The world-famous Cambodian smile - all four states of mind: compassion, sorrow, joy and equanimity are simultaneously read on one face. Temple bayon resembles a labyrinth of many mirrors in which gigantic heads are reflected. These huge stone sculptures are located close to each other, like blossoming lotus buds. They smile at each other, as if fascinated looking at their reflection in the mirror, only occasionally glancing at the little people below. The bayon is built in the shape of a square, each side of which is 80 meters long. The main pagoda is located in the center and has a height of 43 meters. In total, the temple has 54 large pagodas of different heights. Each pagoda is crowned with 4 stone faces facing the four cardinal directions. All these 216 gigantic bas-reliefs were supposed to represent Avanatihishvara, but many believe that this is the face of Jayavarman the seventh. During the day, the stone faces look the same, but when night falls, under the magical light of the moon, the expression on their faces begins to mysteriously change. The sculptors who created it amazing miracle, remained unknown. The first rays of the sun, the chirping of birds against the background of the singing of the monks create a unique atmosphere of early morning on the banks of the Mekong.
25 km northeast of Angkor Thom is the palace of Queen Banta Shri, famous for its exquisite carvings. It was built in 967 by order of King Jayavarman 5th. However, the temple was not built in honor of the queen, the locals named it so because the bas-reliefs depict many goddesses and apsaras. But in fact, the temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva. Built during the second building period of Angkor, it experienced strong influence architectural styles Hindu temples.
Ta Prohm Temple was built by order of Jayavarman the seventh in honor of his mother. Today, this place resembles a merciless battlefield between the gods and nature. Its walls are overgrown with cotton trees and seem to be covered with a silver sheen. Trees, creepers, moss, rain, lightning, wild animals, the scorching sun and the coolness of the night attacked the temple for several centuries. The roots and trunks of cotton trees climbed the walls and penetrated deep into the cracks between the stones. They framed windows and doors, gouged roofs, sprouting in the heart of the temple, dividing, enveloping and absorbing it. The finale of this battle was the gradual growth of Ta Prohm into the ground. The jungle and the temple are intertwined into one, and nothing can separate them. This natural miracle did not destroy the temple, but rather breathed into it new life.
Tonle Sap Lake and Floating Villages
Tonlé Sap is the largest body of water in the Indochina peninsula. Its area is about 2700 square kilometers, and this lake is located in the central part of Cambodia.Everything in this lake is unusual and surprising. But the most amazing, of course, are the people living on this lake. The phrase "live on Lake Tonlsap" should be taken literally: people live in the truest sense of the word on the water.
Floating villages are quite widespread in different countries of Southeast Asia, but only in Tonle Sap do they reach such scope and significance. The inhabitants of Tonle Sap live not in simple pontoon huts, but in real floating villages. Not only houses and shops "stand" on the water, but also schools, sports grounds, temples and even police stations. Residents of Tonle Sap, from an early age to old age, move mainly by water - in small boats and in large houseboats, which often even have small plots of land where vegetables are grown. After the decrease in water, many grow rice on the fertile muddy soil of the surroundings, but, of course, water provides the main food for people - these are fish, shellfish, and aquatic plants.
Of course, there are cafes on the lake and viewing platforms for tourists who often come to admire the unique aquatic community. The journey along the "inland sea of Cambodia" usually starts from Battambang or Siem Reap, from where the dams are laid. Small boats sail from them, carrying tourists deep into the lake. Everything is interesting on the lake - a floating crocodile farm and biosphere reserves, where you can observe a rare variety of birds, mangroves and lotuses, but most importantly - the very lifestyle of the "natives" of the lake. Houseboats and shops in themselves are exceptionally exotic for a European. And the children rushing to the floating school in tiny boats and even basins, and the old women delivering food, deftly handling the oar?
There are legends about the origin of these villages that they are inhabited mainly by Cambodians and that this is a thousand-year tradition. However, there is a simpler explanation. When a war broke out in neighboring Vietnam in the middle of the last century, many residents were forced to leave their homes. In the prosperous pre-Pol Pot Cambodia, according to the then laws, foreigners could not settle. Only those who were born there could live on the land of Cambodia. However, there was no mention of the water surface in the laws, and the refugees settled on Lake Tonle Sap. And the settlements became floating, and not just water, due to the variable size of the lake. There are several villages on the lake, although usually only one is spoken of, the largest, with more than five thousand inhabitants and which is a popular tourist attraction. Tourism brings a significant income - however, not to the residents themselves, but to local businessmen (as a rule, these are Chinese). However, something also falls to the share of the “water peasants”, and it turns out that earning money by demonstrating their usual (and unusual for tourists) lifestyle turns out to be more profitable than cultivating land by growing rice and vegetables. Not without reason, in the early 90s of the last century, the attempt of lake residents to move to settlements on the ground, built for them by the Japanese, failed. By official version, the settlers simply could not adapt to the land way of life, however, there are opinions that life on the shore turned out to be much less profitable than on the water, and some people believe that the Chinese who run the tourism business also had a hand in returning the inhabitants to the lake .. .
Whatever the reasons for the settlement of the lake surface, water settlements live and, by the standards of Southeast Asia, are pretty good. The main thing is that people themselves are satisfied with their lifestyle. They build solid boats, among which there are already a lot of motor boats, floating houses and houses on stilts (the latter, as a rule, belong to ethnic Cambodians, in contrast to the Vietnamese "floats"). In the dry season, pile houses rise above the shallow lake, like watchtowers, and residents, in order not to climb the stairs to their dwelling several times a day, as a rule, wait out this period in temporary “buildings” on the lake.
The village of Kampong Pluuk can be considered a "transitional form" between land and lake life. In the dry season, part of the village is above the water level, and you can move along it not only by boat, but also on foot. The land ends in the middle of the main street, gradually turning into a swamp, and then into a reservoir. Otherwise, Kampong Pluuk is an ordinary fishing village. Normal, of course, by local standards - a Buddhist temple and a branch of the People's Party of Cambodia, of course, are typical only for these places. The architecture is also unusual - both eclecticism and national color. Buddhist monks and people in traditional clothes also definitely indicate that around is the real Southeast Asia, and not, for example, Far East. Although the nets hung out to dry, boats pulled ashore, fish drying in the sun and ubiquitous fish scales can be found, probably, in any seaside village, and boats in their design really resemble Far Eastern bats.
Around the village extends the mysterious mangrove forest bearing the same name.
In the rainy season, it completely goes under water, in the dry season, the trunks rise several meters above the surface of the lake, and you can sail between them on a small boat...
The picture of lake life is so different from the usual Europeans that at first it causes something like a culture shock. It seems that one cannot help but feel sorry for the locals, cut off from the benefits of civilization and forced to get their food from under the water every day. However, quite a bit of time is needed to feel the beauty of the surroundings and a special philosophical mood. Life flows like water, moves slowly like a houseboat, has its floods and dry seasons. All life is water, but the shore... where is this shore?.. And why does a lake dweller need it?
Phnom Kulen - temple and waterfall
Phnom Kulen is a sacred mountain (or mountain range) in Cambodia, which is also a place of pilgrimage for many tourists. This is a kind of reserve almost 50 kilometers from Siem Reap, where you can relax from the hustle and bustle, admire wildlife, swim in cool waters.According to legend, history Khmer Empire starts from this mountain. There, in 802, Jayavarman the second declared himself king, since then the history of the Khmer empire began. At the top of the mountain there is a Buddhist temple and an 8-meter statue of a reclining Buddha. Pilgrims from all over the world gather here, as Phnom Kulen is considered a "place of power" in Cambodia.
In front of the temple there is a small pool, in the center of which is a lingam. Until now, a Hindu rite is performed here, which is performed only by men to enhance their masculine nature (you need to scoop up water from a reservoir, pour it on the lingam, and then put your head under a stream of water).
The main attractions of Phnom Kulen are the river of a thousand lingams and a waterfall. At the bottom of the river, lingams and yeni (male and female) are carved, in addition, you can see the figure of Shiva and his wife. It is believed that the river symbolizes the Ganges, which flows majestically in the Himalayas. The river ends with waterfalls, large and slightly smaller. In the pool, which is formed by the waters of the waterfalls, the Cambodians themselves bathe and, of course, this is an obligatory ritual for tourists. The water in the river is considered to be prayed, so every visitor strives to swim in it (it is very cold!)
Angkor National Museum
The museum tells about the history of Khmer culture and civilization, shows the history of the temples of Angkor. It is very modern and interactive, equipped with last word technology. The museum is huge and consists of eight galleries, each dedicated to a different theme: Khmer civilization; religion; great Khmer kings; Angkor; Angkor Thom; the history of the stone; vintage costumes; Hall of a Thousand Buddhas. If you are not at all familiar with the history and culture of the Khmer state of the Angkor period, then you should not miss this museum in any case.
Admission: 12 dollars. When booking tickets on the museum website http://www.angkornationalmuseum.com/ you can get a discount.
Working hours:daily from 8:30 to 18:00.
How to get there? National Museum located at Boulevard Charles de Gaulle, 968.
Landmine Museum
This museum was founded by a former Khmer Rouge soldier named Aki Ra, who later became a sapper. With the help of exhibits, which are demined bombs and mines, the museum talks about the problem and great danger anti-personnel mines, which in large numbers remained in the lands of Cambodia after the civil war. Also you can see short film about the life of Aki Ra.
It may not be worth going so far (the museum is located 31 kilometers from Siem Reap) just for the sake of the museum, but if you pass by (on the way to the Banteay Srei temple complex and Phnom Kulen), why not drop by and donate to help victims of anti-personnel mines a couple of dollars.
Admission:the entrance is free. Donations that you can leave at the museum will go to help landmine victims.
Working hours:Daily from 7:30 to 17:30.
How to get there?in 2007, the museum moved to a new location, and is now located 31 kilometers from Siem Reap.
Crocodile Farm
The Siem Reap Crocodile Farm is home to over 1,000 crocodiles. You will not see any shows with Thai-type crocodiles here, but if you have never seen live crocodiles, it is worth a visit. Here you can also buy products made of crocodile, cow and other animal skin at prices lower than in Thailand.
Admission: 3 dollars.
Working hours: from 7:00 to 19:00.
How to get there?The farm is located on the road to Tonle Sap Lake.
Military Museum (Siem Reap War Museum)
There is a military museum on the way from Siem Reap to the airport. Under open sky large samples on display military equipment who participated in real hostilities, and inside the museum there are many small exhibits. The collection of large equipment includes helicopters, planes and tanks, including Soviet-made ones, but, unfortunately, everything is in very poor condition. Some of the equipment, apparently, was transferred here directly from the battlefields after they were hit. Some of the exhibits are overgrown with grass. In general, the impression of the museum is that it is abandoned and no one takes care of it.
The museum is quite interesting to visit. But if you are not a fan of military equipment and history, most likely you will be disappointed after visiting.
Admission: 3 dollars.
How to get there?The museum is located a few kilometers from Siem Reap on the way to the airport.
Cambodia Cultural Village
In this theme park-museum you can get acquainted with the way of life and culture numerous nations Cambodia. In fact, there are as many as 11 unique villages in the rather vast territory of the park, belonging to different cultures residing in the kingdom. In each of the villages, in addition to exhibits, you can watch traditional shows and performances, including: wedding ceremonies, acrobatic and circus performances, games, dance shows, elephant shows and more. Here you can see the traditional Apsara dance. It even has its own museum. wax figures talking about historical events and outstanding personalities from ancient times to the present. Of course, there is a traditional restaurant in the village.
This place is definitely worth a visit. Only one thing is bad - to see everything here, you need at least half a day, and there is always not enough time in Siem Reap.
Working hours: from 9:00 to 21:00.
Admission:The entrance fee for a standard ticket is $11. Children free.
How to get there?The village is located 3 kilometers from the city center.
This is the busiest and most touristy street in Siem Reap. Along the street there are many bars and restaurants, and in the evenings all the tourists rush here. Often the street is so full that it is even problematic to find a free seat in the bar. But it doesn’t matter: if you didn’t find a place, you can safely find where to sit on the next street.
How to get there? Pub Street is considered the center of the city, although geographically it is the southern part of the city. You can get to it on foot or for 1-2 dollars by tuk-tuk from remote hotels in the city.
Siem Reap the most touristic, most visited city in Cambodia. It is here that tourists who come to look at the famous, which is located a few kilometers from the city, stop.
Map of the location of Siem Reap and the Anchor temple complex
The city was founded in 802, and was named so only in the 16th century, in honor of the liberation of land from. Siem Reap means " Victory over Siam”, and Siam is called neighboring Thailand.
Until the beginning of the 20th century, Siem Reap remained just a small village and began to develop only when, in 1908, French restorers began work on restoring the temples of Angkor. Then the first tourists arrived in Siem Reap, hotels, restaurants began to open in the village, and tourist infrastructure was created. During the time of Pol Pot, during the Khmer Rouge regime, the city fell into decline again. New coil The development of Siem Reap began in the 90s of the last century, when Angkor Wat again hospitably opened the gates for tourists from around the world.
Tourist Pub Street in Siem Reap Now Siem Reap is a city with a population of about 200 thousand people, most of who is employed in the tourism sector. All conditions have been created for tourists in the city: there are many comfortable hotels and cheap guesthouses, shops, markets, tour desks, spa salons and even a whole block with bars, restaurants and the famous Pub Street. In Siem Reap, all conditions have been created so that tourists in the morning and in the afternoon can see famous temples, relax in the pools or spa treatments during the day, and in the evening enjoy shopping and gatherings or dancing under live music in bars.
Evening in the city center Important: We are tourists, not backpackers, we do not aim to save as much as possible, we love comfort. All information in the article for average tourist.
How to get to Siem Reap
1. By plane
7 km from Siem Reap there is an international airport where flights from, Kuala Lumpur, Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, and other cities arrive. Siem Reap Airport is small and can no longer cope with the load, so soon they plan to build a new airport, 60 km from the city for international flights, and leave this one for domestic flights. In this case, a taxi from Siem Reap airport to the city will cost not 5-8 dollars, as it is now, but much more. By the way, if you book a hotel for at least 2 nights, the transfer from the airport to the hotel is usually free of charge.
If you are traveling to Siem Reap from Bangkok, you can buy a ticket either for a direct bus from an agency or take the bus to the border, cross it, and then take a taxi to Siem Reap. If you are on, you can buy an organized transfer to Siem Reap, or you can cross the ferry to the mainland on your own, get to Trat, and from there go to the border between Thailand and Cambodia.
Buses Bangkok - Siem Reap If for some reason you have not booked a hotel in advance, it is not a problem. Contact any tuk-tuk in the city, indicate your preferences (price, quality, availability of a pool, location) and it will take you to hotels for 2-3 dollars and you will find a suitable option for yourself!
Do you need a pool in a hotel in Siem Reap? I think that yes, after long walks in the frying of the temples, it is so nice to swim in the pool! Yes, and for the back it is useful to swim after a long walk.
In which area of Siem Reap to choose a hotel? I prefer to stay closer to the city center, within walking distance of Pub Street, but not in the very epicenter of the fun. By the way, the proximity to the temples (the entrance to Angkor Wat) is not important for the hotel, anyway, you will go to the temples by tuk-tuk or taxi, it will take about 15-20 minutes to get to the entrance to Angkor Wat from anywhere in the city.
On long term in Siem Reap you can find an apartment for 300 dollars a month.
Popular and rated hotels in Siem Reap
Special offers for hotels in Siem Reap
City of Siem Reap
The city of Siem Reap stands on the banks of the Siem Reap River of the same name, along which a small embankment runs. In the evening, it is beautifully illuminated, people go for a walk, sit on benches or rest on the grass, drink fruit shakes or coconuts.
Everything is so beautifully lit up at night. You can also see a piece of the sunset 🙂 There are no skyscrapers in the city, and in general you will hardly see buildings higher than 3-4 floors here. Basically, the streets are filled with colonial houses - the breath of France affects.
There are several interesting modern temples in Siem Reap (but after visiting Angkor Wat we didn’t want any temples anymore!), the National Museum, a pretty royal park with a fountain and statues of lions, an art center.
The city has a post office where you can send postcards to family and friends. Tip: buy postcards in advance in a store or on the street, they cost 2 times more at the post office!
Sending postcards home, got it? 🙂 There are many ATMs and banks in the center. We even found an exchange. But changing dollars to the local currency (riels) does not make sense. All prices are in dollars. As of February 2015, they considered 1 dollar = 4000 riel.
All tourist life is concentrated in a triangle near Old Market Old Market in the south of Siem Reap, near the river.
Map-scheme of the central, most touristic part of Siem Reap How many interesting things are sold in the market: fruits, souvenirs, and spices. But most of all we were interested in curtains of fish and loaves of sausage. They were afraid to buy, who knows how they store it all in such heat!
We haven't tried this fruit yet... 
Fruit piles in the old market 
Spices and dried fruits 
Fish curtains. Ah, I want... 
sausage 
That's what got our attention! But afraid to buy Near the famous street of bars - Pub street(street number 8 on google map - many streets in Siem Reap are numbered). After 7 pm, traffic is blocked on it, and it becomes pedestrian. But still, motorbikers and tuk-tukers go there.
There are bars and cafes on Pub Street for every taste! You can sit on the first floor, or you can go up to the balcony on the second floor.
A standard restaurant in Siem Reap on Pub Street consists of two floors: you can sit downstairs or go up to the balcony. But it seems to me that the bottom is more fun 🙂 
How many nice restaurants on Pub Street and neighboring streets! 
Mexican cuisine is also presented 
And local, Khmer There are so many nice places, you just want to hang out somewhere until the morning. Hey, where are my girls? 🙂 We'd be rocking here, especially given the low alcohol prices (but more on that later).
There are many nice bars on Pub Street that beckon you to come in, drink a cocktail or juice 🙂 
Fun bar in the thick of things. What a nice glass for drinks 🙂 
You can sit on these comfortable sofas But we didn’t like the noisy street of bars more, but the street nearby, which is marked on the tourist map as The Passage. There are also plenty of places to dine here. And the prices are a little lower.
Passage in Siem Reap - another street with bars and restaurants 
What surprised me in Siem Reap: all cafes - restaurants are filled with tourists, in many you just can’t find a place like that! Where are all these people from? And why is the cafe in Thailand almost always empty?
Watch the video - feel the atmosphere of the bar street in Siem Reap 🙂
What else to say about the city? After Thailand, Siem Reap seemed very dirty to us, but then, having arrived in Siunukville, we realized that Siem Reap was clean 🙂 Still, they at least somehow look after the order, remove garbage, sweep roads. Siem Reap is quite safe, there are a lot of police officers, and there are also tourist police, yet the city is visited by millions of tourists from around the world, so the Cambodians are trying to at least put things in order here (and about what is happening in the seaside resort of Sihanoukville, I will definitely I will tell in one of the following articles).
Things to Do in Siem Reap
How can you have fun in Siem Reap? If you still have the strength after visiting the Ankor temples, you can come up with a rich program for the evening 🙂
First we go to massage. We will visit a spa procedure or do a foot peeling with fish - just stick your feet into the aquarium and the fish will gnaw your old, unnecessary skin (something I have not tried this pleasure ..., they say it tickles). From 2 dollars.
Prices different types massage in Siem Reap 
Prices for massage, manicure and pedicure in Siem Reap 
And again massage 🙂 
Then we'll drink a fruit neck. 1 dollar.
Now let's go to shopping. In Siem Reap, there are a lot of shops with crocodile leather products. And little crocodiles nearby. Who wants to go home like this? Expensive.
Lots of crocodile leather bags. I can't even imagine how much they cost! 
And here are the crocodiles 
50% off select crocodile wallets Or let's go to one of the markets for souvenirs and clothes. Cheap.
One of Siem Reap's markets on the opposite side of the river from Pub Street 
One of the markets in Siem Reap 
Let's visit national dances with dinner . 12 dollars.
In Siem Reap, you can combine business with pleasure: dine and watch dances. This event takes place in this building (entrance next to the elephant) Well now it's time to move on bar street! We choose the most comfortable/beautiful/noisy (underline as appropriate) bar and have fun until we have enough strength. And you can go to a disco or a casino. There are plenty of them in the city!
Food and cafes in Siem Reap. Prices for food and alcohol in Siem Reap
Well, now let's talk about the most pleasant thing, about food 🙂 When we were traveling from Thailand to Cambodia, we thought that the food here was tasteless, that we would starve, but it turned out to be the opposite. How delicious they know how to cook in Cambodia!
As I said, for dinner we went to the Passage (between 8th and 9th streets).
This is where we used to have dinner in Siem Reap 
Sometimes we sat on the ground floor, sometimes on the balcony. But the view from the balcony is not very… First of all, we tried amok (amok), a national Khmer dish - fish, chicken or shrimp stewed with onions in coconut milk with egg and spices, served in palm leaves. It turned out very tasty!
Khmersoke national dish - amok pot with curry in Cambodian I liked it too. Unlike the curries of other countries, here the vegetables are well stewed (otherwise in Thailand they like vegetables undercooked, well, yes, there are a lot of raw foodists there 🙂) and there are potatoes. Also delicious.
Although I do not like curry soups, I liked the Cambodian curry. Even more Lok Lak- pieces of meat (most often beef), baked with onions and sauce. Served with cucumbers, rice, egg and mustard sauce.
Lok Lak with pork Here are the averages food prices in Siem Reap cafes in the Pub Street area (I post a photo of the menu):
Main courses and salads $3-4, huge pot of soup $4.75 
Salads 2-5 $ 
Spring rolls - $ 2.5 
Soups from 5$ 
Amok and curry for $3, tasting set of four types of amok $18 (large portion for two) 
All sorts of other goodies: lok-lak, ribs and other meat - $ 5 
Interesting dishes about $5 (I was interested in rice with shrimp in pineapple, it's a pity that I don't eat rice! 
I never dared to try local desserts In addition to the main menu, usually in each cafe we were given a special menu. That's where we ordered food from. Our beer dinner cost us $7-$10 for two.
In addition to the main menu, they always brought special menus with more low prices. From him we ordered amok, lok lacquer and curry for $ 2.75 One evening we went to try the frogs. I already once ate frog legs in Kyiv, then Yola took me to some bar on Mikhailovskaya precisely in order to eat frog legs. But then they didn’t impress me at all, they stank of fish to me. Here, in Siem Reap, we purposefully looked for frogs in a cafe. Found in one of the cafes near the Old Market. Ordered, the cost of 3.5 dollars for 3 pieces. We tried. Tasty! Even very tasty 🙂
Here, in a cafe near the old market, we tasted frogs 
And here they are: 3 frogs - $ 3.5 
Let's try frogs. Tasty! By default, rice is brought to all dishes (it is included in the price of the dish).
Another "national dish" in Siem Reap is happy pizza. Happy pizza, this is a regular pizza, which, at your request, can be made "happy", i.e. add marijuana to it. We didn't try, we were afraid.
Speaking of food in Siem Reap, it must be said that in Cambodia very cheap alcohol . Draft beer in almost all bars costs $0.5 per mug and $2 per decanter. The beer is pretty good. It's certainly not my favorite dark Leff, but it's still much better than Thai bottled.
I must say that in Cambodia it’s cheapest to drink beer in a cafe: we don’t get drunk with water, a small can of cola or sprite costs $ 1.5, it’s scary to take tea and coffee (most often they brew it with tap water), so for now we are in this country at dinner we always drink beer. At first it was strange, because for 2 months we hardly drank alcohol at all, well, except for New Year and Christmas and a couple of times beer with shrimp at home on the veranda, but now they are used to it 🙂 Yes, it’s definitely time to leave Cambodia 🙂
Cocktails and wine are also worth a penny. How do you like the $1.75 majito?
Special prices for alcohol in the bars of Siem Reap. Mahito for $1.75, margarita for $1.5 
In Siem Reap, we noticed such a feature: the prices for food in beautiful cafes in the center and the prices for food in street cafes (such as macaroons) are identical. Only once we ate in a street cafe for only $ 3 - we just took the two cheapest dishes (noodle soup - $ 1.5 and rice with meat - $ 1.5). Other dishes in this cafe cost the same 2-4 dollars as on Pub Street on a special offer.
Prices in the street cafes of Siem Reap are almost the same as in the beautiful cafes on Pub Street 
But once we managed to eat in such a cafe very cheaply. $3 for two! 
We also found very cheap dishes on the menu for $ 1.5 
and more expensive ones for 2.5 - 3 $ 
Menu from a street cafe in Siem Reap On the street, you can buy a spring roll for as little as $0.75. But I didn’t like it, it’s not that crispy rice flour pancake that is prepared in Thailand, which we often bought near ours. So, a pancake in Siem Reap is made not from crispy, but from some kind of viscous dough. I couldn't even eat it, I had to throw it away 🙁
But I didn’t like banana pancakes in Siem Reap 🙁 locals they eat all sorts of fried and boiled cockroaches, insects, snakes. In Thailand, I thought it was a lure for tourists (there, even on Khaosan Road in Bangkok, there is a sign near fried insects informing that photos of all these sweets are 20 baht), but then it turned out that the locals buy this living creature. We did not dare to try, although we are going to for a long time.
Locals are happy to eat all sorts of fried insects, snakes and cockroaches! Fruit prices in Siem Reap are as follows:
- Coconut, 1 piece - $ 1
- Bunch of small bananas - $1
- Mango, 1 kg - $ 2
- Big watermelon - $1.8
- Pineapple - $0.75
Do not forget that fruit prices are very dependent on the season. Cambodians are very proud that they have all natural fruits, unlike Thailand.
Prices for products in stores
But the prices for groceries in stores in Siem Reap did not please. There are no large supermarkets like Tesco Lotus or Big C in Cambodia. There are several supermarkets in Siem Reap, for example, Angkor mini mart is very popular with tourists, but we liked the grocery store on the first floor of the Laky Market shopping center more.
Many tourists praise the Angkor mini mart supermarket, they say that there is an excellent selection of cheeses and other European products, but we did not think so There are no 7-leven and Family Mart stores in Cambodia. In general, there are no such convenient shops where you can get coffee, a hot sandwich or other fast food. In Siem Reap, a couple of shops "fakes" in Thai 7-leven
Shop 6-leven. Funny 🙂 
And this store was the closest to our hotel, but the prices in it seemed to us the highest Some food prices in Siem Reap shops
- Water, 1.5 l - from $ 0.5
- Ice cream cone - from $ 0.8
- Cookies – from $0.75
- Yogurt - $0.65
I was struck by the prices for juices in packages and cola, I had to drink beer. We did not find cheap wine (for $4-5, as many wrote), the average cost of a bottle of wine is $10. strong alcoholic drinks cheap, but I don’t remember the prices, we don’t drink them.
Large selection of wines in the shops. average cost$10 per bottle 
But such a drink with a cobra inside can be bought for $ 8.5. I wouldn't risk drinking it... I also expected to find cheap cheese in the shops of Siem Reap. And he is there at the same price as in Tae, and even more expensive! (I'm talking about moldy cheeses). Sausages, cold cuts, meat, chicken - all this is also more expensive than in Thailand.
After visiting grocery stores in Siem Reap, we concluded that it is still cheaper to eat in a cafe. Fortunately, there are plenty of them, and delicious!
On this delicious note, I will probably end our tour of Siem Reap.
Conclusions. Siem Reap is a good tourist town. At first we had a shock when we came here after Thailand, and then nothing, we got used to it 🙂 And I even began to like the city, especially the bar street. And when we arrived at the seaside in Sihanoukville, we looked around and began to think that we should have stayed in Siem Reap. We liked it there more 🙂
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BIOGRAPHIES OF GUITARS - COMPOSERS (classics)
SEGOVIA ANDRES
SEGOVIA Andrés (1893-1987) was an outstanding Spanish guitarist and teacher. As a child, he studied piano, violin and cello, while at the same time he independently studied guitar. Helped him to listen folk music, playing flamenco and learning music literature. In 1909, the first concert of Segovia took place, but world fame came to him in 1924, after a concert in Paris. The game of A. Segovia is marked by exceptional virtuosity and depth of interpretations; he expanded the technical and expressive possibilities of the guitar, introduced classical and modern music into the repertoire (many works in his own arrangements), raised guitar performance to a high artistic level. For Segovia, the works of H. Turina, H. de Manen, A. Roussel, M. Castelnuovo-Tedesco, S. Scott, E. Vila-Lobos, A. Tansman and others were written and dedicated to him.
Segovia is one of the few concert players in whose performance the critics could not find any shortcomings. On the contrary, each subsequent performance of the artist revealed new virtues of his game, which is associated both with his outstanding talent and intense daily work to improve your skills.
Three times, in 1926, 1927, 1935-1936, he came to the USSR and with constant success gave concerts in Moscow, Leningrad, Kyiv and Odessa. Segovia performed not only with concerts, but also met with local guitarists, listened to their game, spent methodical conversations and open classes. This also affected the development of guitar art in the Soviet Union: after the tour, many professional musicians began to look at the guitar as an instrument worthy of serious study. The result was the opening of guitar classes in music schools (then technical schools), as well as in separate music universities. Segovia brought up a brilliant galaxy of guitarists - D. Williams, D. Brim (Great Britain), A. Diaz (Venezuela), H. Thomas (Spain), K. Parkening (USA), M. Gasbarroni (Italy) and others. Activities of Andres Segovia acquired such scope because already at the very beginning of its musical career he considered the guitar as one of the components of the entire musical culture as a whole. With his help, the old was revived and was born new literature for the guitar, he interested professional musicians and composers in the guitar, which led to a rise in interest in the art of playing the classical guitar. His musical activity is considered and evaluated as an outstanding event of the 20th century. In Venice, Segovia was awarded the most honorable prize - "Life Dedicated to Art".
Active activity concert artist did not prevent Segovia from teaching guitar in Santiago de Compostela, at the Chidzhana Academy of Music in Siena, at the University of Berkeley. At the same time, he enriches his repertoire with guitar transcriptions of works by famous composers, as well as pieces for lute and vihuela.
A special merit of Segovia in the field of repertoire is the fact that he managed to convince many composers to abandon the established negative stereotypes in their views on the guitar and turn them to writing compositions for this instrument.
Andrés Torres Segovia (Spanish Andrés Torres Segovia, c 1981 with the addition of the title Marquis de Salobreña, Spanish marqués de Salobreña; February 21, 1893, Linares - June 3, 1987, Madrid) is a Spanish guitarist who is considered the father of modern academic guitar.
Since childhood, Segovia dreamed of making the guitar as recognized as an instrument in the field of academic music, like the piano or violin. He began learning to play the guitar from childhood with his relatives, inspired as a model virtuoso technique flamenco guitarists. As a teenager, Segovia moved to the city of Granada, where he took guitar lessons, and at the age of 16 he gave his first concert in Madrid, performing transcriptions various works made for guitar by Francisco Tarrega and his own arrangements by Johann Sebastian Bach. Segovia's early performances were lukewarm, partly due to the fact that his playing technique differed markedly from that of Tarrega and most of his students: following Miguel Llobet (from whom Segovia may have had a few lessons) he played using more than just pads fingers, but also nails, which makes the sound stronger and sharper (there is a point of view that this difference is due to Segovia's desire to take the guitar out of living rooms and salons into large concert halls).
Since the mid 1910s. the performing skills of Segovia won more and more recognition for the academic guitar in Spain. In 1919 and 1921 his first tour took place in South America, and in 1928 - the first trip to the United States. Constantly expanding his guitar repertoire (this was one of the main merits of this musician), Segovia transcribed for the guitar a wide range of works by various authors - including such outstanding and complex works as "Legend" by Isaac Albeniz and > Bach. At the same time, Segovia turned to contemporary composers with a request to write for the guitar, and over time, Spanish, as well as European and Latin American composers (F. Moreno Torroba, J. Turina, M. Castelnuovo-Tedesco, M. Ponce, etc.) started to respond. The creative collaboration between Segovia and Heitor Villa-Lobos turned out to be long, he wrote a number of works for the famous guitarist, starting with the famous "Twelve Etudes".
Since the mid 1950s. Segovia taught a lot - first in Siena, and then in Santiago de Compostela, where he also contributed a lot to the creation of a local music festival. Among his students are many outstanding modern guitarists (D. Williams, D. Brim, A. Dias, K. Parkening, etc.)
In 1958, Segovia won the Grammy Award for Best Recording of Solo Academic Music.
In 1981, King Juan Carlos I of Spain, in recognition of Segovia's services to Spanish culture, elevated him to the nobility with the title of Marquis. In 1985, Segovia was awarded the most prestigious award in the world of academic music - the Ernst Siemens Prize.
Until a very old age, Andres Segovia continued the concert and pedagogical activity. Lasted over seventy years creative way this great artist!
