"Siem Reap: Gateway to Angkor " a Khett Siem Reab Travel Page by trisanna

Our trip to Siem Reap to see the amazing UNESCO world heritage sites, such as Angkor Wat and other temples is one of my favorite trips in Southeast Asia. When friends or family ask me where to travel in Asia, I always recommend coming here and soon. When we were there, we noticed that hotel after hotel was being constructed to take care of the crowds of visitors.

The people of Cambodia are very excited to attract all these visitors and get the tax revenues, but i am not sure they can handle all the abuse that these visitors dish out. So many tourists touch the statues and carvings, which damage them from the oils on our hands. Today, most temples are being restored by other nations. For instance, the restoration of Angkor Wat is being financed by the nation of Japan.

With tourism there are many economic benefits. More children are heading off to school. When you go to the temples you will notice that most of the touts are children. Most sell books, crafts, textiles and drinks. I was impressed with most of the children we came across. Many were trying to sell us scarves, flutes , books and postcards. We asked to look at some of the postcards, which were selling around $1USD. We mentioned to the young boy selling the postcards that we did not have US dollars, but had Singapore dollars. At around six or seven years old this child was able to spit out current exchange rates for various world currencies, including Singapore dollars.

Our trip to Siem Reap was around four to five days and was too short. I would have loved to go beyond Siem Reap and to Tonle Sap, but we had to go back to Singapore to work. I recommend spending three to four days exploring the temples. If you are really fascinated with temples and architecture, I would stay longer and really enjoy it.