Siem Reap is practically synonymous with Angkor Wat, and for good reason. Offering a glimpse of the ancient Khmer city, it is the highlight of a Hindu-Buddhist temple complex recognized as one of the most important archaeological sites in Southeast Asia. But with countless guides out there more comprehensive than I could ever achieve, I have decided to focus on lesser known activities in this post. To be honest, I enjoyed all of them as much as, if not more than, Angkor Wat.
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Watch the Youtube Shorts video below to get a better idea of the activities in this article.
Learn: HeroRats at APOPO
Cambodia is one of the most land-mine-affected countries in the world, an unfortunate consequence of its war-peppered history. APOPO is a nonprofit organization that trains African giant pouched rats to detect landmines and tuberculosis across the globe. Founded in Belgium in the late 90s, it has been clearing landmines in Cambodia since 2014. The APOPO Visitor Center in Siem Reap opened in January 2018.
During the 1-hour guided tour at the center, an English-speaking guide will tell you all about the organization’s work, and you can see these clever rodents in action. You are also given the option of holding one yourself.
Our guide was very knowledgeable and passionate about APOPO, and the hour went by in a flash. I learnt a lot and highly recommend visiting. The rats are also positively cute and inquisitive.
The visitor center is open every day from 8:30am to 5:00pm, with the last tour at 4:30pm. Tours cost US$10 per person, and bookings can be made on the official website.
See: Phare the Cambodian Circus
Phare the Cambodian Circus combines theater, music, dance, and acrobatics to tell compelling stories about Cambodian culture and life. The circus was recognized by Guinness World Records in 2021 for running the longest show at 24 hr 10 min 30 sec. Rest assured that the show you book will not run anywhere near that long.
Shows in Siem Reap start 8pm nightly and run for about 1.5 hours. The setting for our show was a bar in Phnom Penh where amusing antics break out between the staff and customers. While I expected tame acrobatics, I was pleasantly surprised by how impressive and entertaining the show ended up being. Both the male and female performers were skilled in flexibility and strength, and we were treated to a repertoire of circus acts ranging from tightrope walking, juggling, trapeze, aerial silks and more. All this was interspersed with humorous dances and acting to weave the story between the characters.
The show is mostly dialogue-free, but important points are explained in English on an overhead screen.
The performers are students and graduates from Phare Ponleu Selpak, a nonprofit arts school in Battambang. The circus provides them an opportunity to practice their craft and earn money that will take them out of poverty. At the end of the show, you can go on stage and take a group picture with them.
The cheapest tickets are Section C seats at US$18 per person. These are side seats that may be obstructed by lights, beams, etc., but we bought these and it was completely fine (see photos above). The most expensive tickets are Section A at US$38, which give you front row and center seats, with a free Phare sports water bottle. The performers may also pick on you for audience interaction. There are also optional backstage passes and dinner plans you can purchase together with your ticket.
You can book on the official website or from Trip.com and Klook using the buttons below.
Experience: Kampong Phluk Floating Village
There are a number of floating villages within reasonable driving distance from Siem Reap, but, as our guide explained, Kampong Phluk is the only one where all residents are local Cambodians. Apparently the other ones are filled with Vietnamese migrants.
We booked this guided tour on Klook, which covers roundtrip transport from Siem Reap and the boat ride past the stilted houses. It was eye-opening to see the way of life of this community, said to be very poor, and how they have adapted to the seasonal rises and falls of Tonle Sap Lake.
We were able to alight from the boat and walk around the side of the village currently on land. There was a school in session and the kids were friendly, waving to us and craning their necks to see.
The tour also included a canoe ride through a mangrove forest, said to be optional but not really. Although you have to pay extra for it, it was completely worth it. This is supposedly a way for the women in the village to earn money, so all the rowers are women. A grandma rowed us around the swampy forest for around 20 minutes nonstop — we were impressed by her arm strength.
The canoe ride will end at a floating restaurant, where you can get some refreshments or use the (very spartan) toilet. After that, you are taken to the middle of Tonle Sap Lake to watch the sunset. The lake is so massive it looks like an ocean, as you can’t see the other shore.
The day we went was a bit cloudy, so there was no sunset in view. But it was still very peaceful bobbing gently there in the lake for a moment.
Outside of the Angkor temples, our two days in Siem Reap were well spent with these activities and strolling along Pub Street. If you have more time, you can also consider venturing over to Battambang, which is said to boast beautiful nature.