☺☺☺
Next to Blue Pumpkin, Old Market Area, Siem Reap
☎ 063 963 830 / 012 326 546
Recommend:
'Small Art School' Cambodian printed postcards US$2
Thursday, May 22, 2014
LE MERIDIEN ANGKOR SPA, Le Méridien Angkor
Info:
☹
Le Méridien Angkor, Vithei Charles De Gaulle, Khum Svay Dang Kum, Siem Reap
☎ +855 63 963 900 ext. 5136 (Online reservations)
Opens daily 10:00-22:00
Website
Comments:
We found a special offer from the Le Méridien Angkor website - Release Package for 1 hour and 20 minutes for USD40++ per person (i.e. service charge USD2, VAT USD4.20) that included body massage & reflexology - so we decided to try this one out.
Unfortunately, out of the 3 massages we had (the other two were at Bodia Spa, and one reflexology on Pub Street), this was the most disappointing one. Overall, it doesn't seem like Siem Reap masseuses in general have much technique at all but at least at the other two places they were putting in effort in the techniques they did know how to use. However at Le Méridien, I noticed that once I dozed off half asleep the masseuse seemed to be just standing there and massaging only one area very very lightly (and I mean, abnormally lightly). It wasn't until that I showed a little movement that I wasn't asleep that she moved to another area and massaged a little bit harder. The pressure was very much different to when she started the treatment off and asking me if it was okay.
Now at one point I did think that I was being a little sensitive until after the treatment, one friend told me that he had the exact same experience that I did. My second friend said her masseuse was good though and was massaging her quite hard, so I guess two of us were just unlucky to get a bad masseuse.
Aside from the service, even the spa place itself was disappointing - the reception area was surprisingly small Considering the huge area the hotel occupies, the space it allocated for the spa and pool were relatively tiny compared to the large garden space (or more like just green grass with no paths to walk around on) it had.
☹
Le Méridien Angkor, Vithei Charles De Gaulle, Khum Svay Dang Kum, Siem Reap
☎ +855 63 963 900 ext. 5136 (Online reservations)
Opens daily 10:00-22:00
Website
Comments:
We found a special offer from the Le Méridien Angkor website - Release Package for 1 hour and 20 minutes for USD40++ per person (i.e. service charge USD2, VAT USD4.20) that included body massage & reflexology - so we decided to try this one out.
Unfortunately, out of the 3 massages we had (the other two were at Bodia Spa, and one reflexology on Pub Street), this was the most disappointing one. Overall, it doesn't seem like Siem Reap masseuses in general have much technique at all but at least at the other two places they were putting in effort in the techniques they did know how to use. However at Le Méridien, I noticed that once I dozed off half asleep the masseuse seemed to be just standing there and massaging only one area very very lightly (and I mean, abnormally lightly). It wasn't until that I showed a little movement that I wasn't asleep that she moved to another area and massaged a little bit harder. The pressure was very much different to when she started the treatment off and asking me if it was okay.
Now at one point I did think that I was being a little sensitive until after the treatment, one friend told me that he had the exact same experience that I did. My second friend said her masseuse was good though and was massaging her quite hard, so I guess two of us were just unlucky to get a bad masseuse.
Aside from the service, even the spa place itself was disappointing - the reception area was surprisingly small Considering the huge area the hotel occupies, the space it allocated for the spa and pool were relatively tiny compared to the large garden space (or more like just green grass with no paths to walk around on) it had.
ARTISANS ANGKOR Cambodian Fine Arts & Crafts
Info:
Main Showroom & Workshops: Chantiers-Ecoles, Stung Thmey Street, Siem Reap downtonw (2 mins. from Old Market)
☎ (+855) 63 963 330
Opens daily 07:30-18:30
Siem Reap International & Domestic Airports: International Departure hall and Domestic Departure hall
Main Showroom & Workshops: Chantiers-Ecoles, Stung Thmey Street, Siem Reap downtonw (2 mins. from Old Market)
☎ (+855) 63 963 330
Opens daily 07:30-18:30
Siem Reap International & Domestic Airports: International Departure hall and Domestic Departure hall
Angkor Silk Farm: Puok District (20mn from Siem Reap downtown)
Opens daily 08:00-17:30
☎ (+855) 63 5555 768
Opens daily 08:00-17:30
☎ (+855) 63 5555 768
Angkor Café: In front of Angkor Wat entrance way
Opens daily 08:00-17:30Website
Features:
Cambodian silk products (scarves, clothes, bags)
Recommend:
Princess scarves (various colours available) US$25
Comments:
We would have wanted to visit the Angkor Silk Farm however we had a tight schedule on the last day so decided to just have a quick visit to the Main Showroom that is close by the Old Market and check out for any souvenirs. Regrettably, we should have allocated just a bit more time to the shop there (even extra half an hour would do). I guess we thought there wasn't much to see but surprisingly there was quite an attractive range of products. It was a good thing I came with an almost full suitcase which successfully deterred me from buying too many unnecessary things, however I did feel that I could not leave the Artisans Angkor shop without purchasing anything. So finally I decided on a plain black silk scarf ('Princess scarf') for a fair price of USD25 that I could wear all year since black goes with everything and not so seasonal.
Later on when we arrived at the Siem Reap International Airport, we discovered that they had another shop inside the departure hall - so if you miss out on buying some souvenirs downtown, you can still do some last minute shopping at their airport branch.
Opens daily 08:00-17:30Website
Features:
Cambodian silk products (scarves, clothes, bags)
Recommend:
Princess scarves (various colours available) US$25
Comments:
We would have wanted to visit the Angkor Silk Farm however we had a tight schedule on the last day so decided to just have a quick visit to the Main Showroom that is close by the Old Market and check out for any souvenirs. Regrettably, we should have allocated just a bit more time to the shop there (even extra half an hour would do). I guess we thought there wasn't much to see but surprisingly there was quite an attractive range of products. It was a good thing I came with an almost full suitcase which successfully deterred me from buying too many unnecessary things, however I did feel that I could not leave the Artisans Angkor shop without purchasing anything. So finally I decided on a plain black silk scarf ('Princess scarf') for a fair price of USD25 that I could wear all year since black goes with everything and not so seasonal.
Later on when we arrived at the Siem Reap International Airport, we discovered that they had another shop inside the departure hall - so if you miss out on buying some souvenirs downtown, you can still do some last minute shopping at their airport branch.
Tuesday, May 20, 2014
PHARE, THE CAMBODIAN CIRCUS
Info:
☺☺☺☺
Komay Road / Comaille Road , Siem Reap (behind Angkor National Museum in front of Angkor Century Hotel)
☎ +855 15 499 480 or +855 92 225 320
Nightly shows at 19:30
Prices: Standard (free) seating USD15/adults, USD8/child, Free/under 5 years
VIP seating USD35/adults, USD18/child
Features:
The performers are all young people from the streets, orphanages and struggling families in the community who are offered the opportunity to be trained by the arts association Phare Ponleu Selpak (PPS) so that they can develop a skill to earn a living for themselves.
Comments:
The venue is not that big so the VIP seating I think is really not that necessary. We bought the standard free seating tickets and arrived at 7pm (staff at the ticket office advised to arrive 7:10pm when they open up for entrance) and were the first in the queue to enter so we were able to get the centre seats in the second row (i.e the row behind the first VIP row). We noticed though that the VIPs were offered complimentary bottled water and then a goodies bag at the end of the show.
At the end of the show, a staff member came out to give a short speech on the background of the Phare circus and brought out a couple of baskets for the audience who wished to make any donations to help out the performers. The audience was also welcome to take photos with them as well.
Although the whole show production was not comparable to the bigger scale international circuses, it was still a very enjoyable and entertaining intimate performance where you could see young locals with great acrobatic skills that are equally as professional as any international acrobats.
BODIA SPA
Info:
Old Market branch (Phsa Chas) above U-Care Pharmacy, Siem Reap
☎ (+855) 63-761-593
Features:
2 branches in Siem Reap (Old Market & Wat Polanka) & 1 branch in Phnom Penh (National Museum)
Bodia Nature products - their natural cosmetic line of products made in Cambodia
ANANTARA Angkor Resort & Spa
Hotel Info:
★★★★★
National Road No. 6, Khum Svay Dangkom, Siem Reap, Kingdom of Cambodia
★★★★★
National Road No. 6, Khum Svay Dangkom, Siem Reap, Kingdom of Cambodia
☎ (+855) 63-966-788
Check-in 14:00
Room Rates:
Deluxe room - 1 King (incl. continental breakfast, free wifi) HK$1,277 per night (incl. taxes) (May 2014, via Expedia)
Features:
This was the second hotel we stayed at after 2 nights at Sala Lodges so moving from one hotel to another we requested an earlier check-in time in advance of the trip and the hotel offered us an early check-in time of 10am which was great of them.
Monday, May 19, 2014
ANGKOR WAT
Info:
Angkor, Siem Reap Province, Cambodia
Admission:
Features:
Temple - the largest religious monument in the world
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