Trip report - Siem Reap in September.

[spoon]

Ive started this on a other's trip report as an update but it turns out ive additional experiences that i think id like to put it here instead. As a start, i copied the previous post here with some updates

 

I am currently visiting for the first time. Staying in Diamond D'Angkor Boutique hotel, a bit out of the central tourist area but the room (deluxe) was phenomenal, big king size bed, separate shower/toilet and an outdoor bathtub. Cant asked for more and its only usd 40 per night inclusive breakfast. Anyway, i found out that barcode no longer provide massage service, really a bummer since its one of my priority given vinapu's success here. My hotel is about 10 minutes walk to blue hatha, but even though i did pass by the place, i didnt stop since i just had lunch, and decided to walk all the way to men resort instead. Arrived there literally few seconds before heavy rain, price structure is still similar, took 90minute for usd26. Asked if i can choose masseur and got a reply they only have one masseur available and also an explanation that they usually dont allow choosing masseur anyway. Dont really mind since my masseur are quite cute, shorter than me but have good body, not god-like like vinapu's case but meaty enough for me lol. Shower alone, masseur wearing short jeans and singlet whole time. Massage started immediately with oil, and it was good massage, with some sensual touch from time to time. It was very relaxing, and he wasnt shy with touching my butt area too lol.

 

As we got near the end, he asked something which i dont understand, something sounds like u want pressure? (He might means pleasure as pointed out by another poster) Anyway, he did the hand gesture for hj, and I understood. He asked how much, i say one value and he haggle very modestly and i asked if he can be naked, he said cannot, boss not allowed, which i respected, but asked if i can touch his body? To which he says yes so i agree rather quickly lol. After the deed, paid his tips, and he asked where i stay, told him where and thats it. Now at hotel im thinking does that question a hint of more is available? Well, i only have one day alone and tomorrow morning few of my friends will be joining me, so i guess this is where my adventure ends. I went to men without any expectation of extra services, just wanted good massage from well built guys, and yet i got lucky! Wish barcode is still offering massage though. Also, linga bar fate is much worse than barcode, it's permanently closed now, since october 2017.

 

Ill properly do a trip report with my tourist visits included if i have time, otherwise ill just do quick summary like above for my other experiences. Stay tuned!

[Guest Danialito]

thanks for the trip report. I booked at Diamond for my trip in November after ylur recommendation.

[vinapu]

Ill properly do a trip report with my tourist visits included if i have time, otherwise ill just do quick summary like above for my other experiences. Stay tuned!

waiting impatiently

[faranglaw]

. "After the deed, paid his tips, and he asked where i stay, told him where and thats it. Now at hotel im thinking does that question a hint of more is available? "

 

It might.

I would have asked. You're too shy!

[a447a]

If you are too shy to ask him, you could have asked for his phone number. If he gave it to you it means he's available to meet up.

[petric]

as i am travelimg to siem reap in january and it will be my first time, i am also waiting for your reports....

[spoon]

Day 2 - Lotus farm - Tonle Sap, Old market.

 

Today, my friends will arrived at the hotel around 9-10am, so i went to get breakfast alone while waiting for them to arrived. After they arrived, checked in and clean up, we went for lunch with our tuktuk, which was booked before we arrived for usd50 for the whole trip (4 days, 3 night). Today's plan is to go to lotus farm and floating village, but right when we finished our lunch, rain came pouring down. Not really heavy but drizzles, and one of the tuktuk driver said the water level at the lake has risen due to yesterday's rain and thus the view isnt as good.

 

We discussed amongst ourselft and decide change our plan and go to national museum instead and then maybe hit the old market and perhaps going to Phare circus. Went to one of the tourist agent recommended by our tuktuk driver to but some tickets, got the national museum ticket, but turns out the Phare circus sold out for the night, so we bought ticket to see it 2 days later instead. The national museum is actually very great place to learn about their history, as well as about the buddha/hindu statues, and really helped us alot during temple visit the next day, as we dont take any guides. There is a good cafe across the road of the museum that is worth a visit.

 

We then went to purchase our angkor wat ticket, usd37 for one day, and our driver went with us to make sure we get ticket for tomorrow and not today. We bought our ticket today since we plan to see the famous angkor wat sunrise the next day. Anyway, the weather seems to improve alot so our tuktuk driver suggested that we hit the lotus farm next. About 30-45min later, we arrived, and indeed, only one part of the area still have lotus, and we dont really bother to go to the farm, instead just asked on of the floating restaurant if we can just walked around to take photo. We then head back to town head for dinner, then out for old market, as we asked our driver to wait us up at hard rock cafe. Went back to hotel around 10pm, and went to bed early so we can wake up early to hit the temple around 5am. We asked the hotel to have our breakfast packed and thats the end of day 2, no boy hunting today unfortunately.

 

Some observation about siem reap since its my first time visiting here. People here are very humble, lots of smiles, they speak rather politely and of lower volume in general. Not once i feel pressured into buying things at the market, even after asking the prices. Apart from the major roads, lots of smaller alley are still using dirt road, mostly red dirt. Plenty of massage places near and around the markets and pub streets, but as we go away, majority of the small shops are salons/barbers, laundry, small convenience stores. Usd is widely used here but few occasions, they wont accept notes that is dirty, especially if its of higher denomination (in our case, it was usd 20 bills, which my friends got from the money changer). U can purchase cheap sim card at the airport (usd3) unlimited internet for 5 days i think. I also observed that during my visit, the amount of tourist in general arent that many, so i assume September isnt peak season for visiting siem reap.

[spoon]

thanks for the trip report. I booked at Diamond for my trip in November after ylur recommendation.

Glad i could be of help. And that reminds me, they do asked us a favor to leave a review on TripAdvisor which i will do soon i suppose lol.

 

. "After the deed, paid his tips, and he asked where i stay, told him where and thats it. Now at hotel im thinking does that question a hint of more is available? "

It might.

I would have asked. You're too shy!

If you are too shy to ask him, you could have asked for his phone number. If he gave it to you it means he's available to meet up.

Yup, its an opportunity missed, but to be honest, i guess i am not into the guy in the first place, hence the lack of motivation to act. He does have a nice body, but not muscular enough for me, and i dont feel enough spark/chemistry as well. Plus i am not travelling alone, so might not be the best idea to do anything more than a good massage. But fret not, i still have more adventures to come lol

[vinapu]

 

Yup, its an opportunity missed, but to be honest, i guess i am not into the guy in the first place, hence the lack of motivation to act. He does have a nice body, but not muscular enough for me, and i don't feel enough spark/chemistry as well.

 that is very good reason to let that option go

[traveller123]

Spoon, I hope you and your friends enjoy Phare Circus.

We went a few years ago and if we re visit Siem Reap we would definitely go again

[witty]

E

[vinapu]

E

I can't agree more

[witty]

The rather cryptic E came about due to a network glitch, and I was too slow to withdraw the post.

Anyway I enjoyed the performance of the Phare Circus, and I believe they change the repertoire nightly. The 'E' is not a reflection of the show if I were to grade them.

I booked the ticket through the hotel, together with return tuk-tuk service. Despite their popularity judging by the almost full-house attendance nightly, and the rather high ticket prices, they were going all the way to extract more tips from the patrons. This is the general impression I get from business establishments in Cambodia.

My question is : who are the people who benefit the most from 'businesses' and 'set-ups' such as Phare Circus? The hoi polloi are resigned to work and toil away, and exploited, for the benefit of a very small percentage of people at the top of the society.

[fedssocr]

it's my understanding that the Phare Circus is a huge benefit to the kids in the program. In addition to the performers you do see, there are a lot of trainees - mainly in Battambang I think. And spots in the circus are very sought-after. I think you also offer tips at the end that the performers share. I am sure there is plenty of info out there on the web about the circus.

 

For sure September is not high season. Given the rains it is still green/rainy season. High season is the same as Thailand when the weather is better - Nov to Jan or so. I was there in mid-December a couple of years ago and it was busy but I didn't feel like it was over crowded.

 

The so-called National Museum is a bit of a scam. They do have some decent exhibits, but the artifacts are mainly reproductions with the real things at the actual National Museum in PP.

 

I really had a great time on my most-recent visit to SR. I enjoy the temples. And I agree the people are very nice. I sort of fell in love with the employees at my hotel, especially one of the guys who was a sort of assistant manager/front desk guy. It was funny that the rest of the staff knew what was up, but he seemed a little bit clueless. Very, very sweet boy. They took great care of me - Shinta Mani Club.

[spoon]

I will refrain mysef making comments about phare circus (prefer to make the comments on the report). But to answer who at the top making the most money by exploiting the people, Isn't our whole world works the same way? Majority of salaryman works hard but earned peanuts for the benefit of the top guys who earned millions. Unfortunately, we also have resigned to the fact that having a job is better than having no job, and thus move on with our life. Plus, we only heard from one side of the story, which is from the show and their websites, but not from the guys who work in the circus nor the thousands of students who attended the school. Right now, we are just speculating that this must be how it works there, because thats what we expect happening in poor country. It isnt baseless but we still got no proof.

[spoon]

Day 3 - Temple Day

 

Woke up at 4am with wake up call from hotel, but went back to sleep and woke up again at 4.30am from my own alarm. Today's plan is to hit angkor wat for sunrise which is around 6am. After getting ready, went to the counter to pickup our packed breakfast and our tuktuk driver was already waiting for us. Its still dark outside, and unfortunately for us, it is still drizzling, a bit overcast too, cloud is everywhere. As we only plan to go to temple this one day, we bought the one day ticket so have no option to change the day.

 

We went ahead, got there before sunrise, the main bridge to cross the lake surrounding angkor wat is being reconstructed, so they provide a floating bridge instead. We chose our position to wait until the sun is up, though we couldnt really see, just until its bright enough, then went ahead to explore the temple. The bright side of this is there isnt as much people around during this time, partly due to the weather, where people with multiple day ticket can choose a different day to experience the sunrise, and partly because its not peak season. We had lots of pictures taken all around the temple, many photo spots thats are just lovely, and we stopped to have breakfast at the back of the temple, where its almost deserted. After breakfast, we head to climb the top pagoda and more picture taking. We took our time taking pictures, we can even wait it out until no one is around, so most of our pictures dont have any other people around.

 

At around 10 or so, the crowds started to build, as we can start seeing troops of chinese tourists marching and making noises. That's pretty much our queue to move to the next temple lol. We head back down the steep man-made stairs and head to angkor thom complex. Angkor thom is about few kilometers from angkor wat, and we past by the south gate where our tuktuk drop us so we can walk at the bridge and take pictures while he wait for us on the other side. We head to bayon temple next, the temple with the big buddha faces. But the crowd here are quite crazy, so we do a quick round, taking pictures while walking, only stopping at 1-2 spots to take pictures of ourselves. We then decided thats we should move on to the royal residence, and then walked to the elephant terrace and lepers king and meet with our tuktuk driver for our next temple, the most awaited one, Ta Phrom, the tomb raider's temple.

 

This place is just amazing. Most of the temple are still in original states, and we can see some wooden structures being build to support the temple from collapsing. Huge trees surrounding the temple and some with their roots just wrapping around the temple walls and structures makes beautiful photo spots. Somehow we managed to went ahead of the chinese tour groups as most people here are mostly independent travellers with guide hired on site or without any guides. Some famous spots, there's a queue to take picture but not so long, maybe 3-5 people ahead of us at times. Definitely the best place of all the temple we had visit thus far. By the time we were done, its already close to 2pm, we decided to head back, and have our lunch before heading back to hotel.

 

To be continued..

[fedssocr]

hope you made it to Bayon...it's my favorite

[vinapu]

Day 3 - Temple Day

 

........We head to bayon temple next, the temple with the big buddha faces

 

hope you made it to Bayon...it's my favorite

he did

 

My advice to visitors  to Angkor  temples is not to forget about lesser known but still very impressive temples other than big 4 (Angor Wat, Bayon, Ta Prohm and Preah Khan , perhaps Banteai Srei can be added here ).

 

Crowds can be unnerving and being pushed from right, left and center doesn't make for enjoyable sightseeing. So for those looking for substitution places like Pre Rup, Ta Keo, ,Neak Pean are only bit less monumental   but still worth every penny. Ta Som is nice substitute for Ta Prohm and my favourite and Banteai Samre is never crowded but still impressive .

 

Phnom Krom , high over Tonle Sap Lake is impressive site as well as Rulous Group to the east of Siem Reap .

 

 

Little known is that walls around Angkor Thom , city at the center of which Bayon temple sits can be walked  / cycled in entirety and are never crowded - if I ever return , God willing that it will be my first tour.

 

For those with more time and money there are day trips to relatively close Bang Melea and Koh Ker pyramid temple further away.

 

And then there are UNESCO listed Preah Vihear  atop of mountain, Sambor Prei Kuk, grandmother of them all and very remote Preah Khan Kompong Svay called also Prasat Bakan , all of them requring full day trips.

 

And there' s Phnom Kulen mountain and   carved riverbed of Kbal Spean.

 

So even for first time visitors there's way to beat crowds by not being herded where everybody else and his brother goes.

 

While I consider rising early to see sunrise waste of time, spoon's advice about starting very early is precious as it allows to see at last some temples in relative solitude and beat the heat.

[fedssocr]

Phnom Kulen is a great day out. Lots of local people enjoying the waterfall.

 

On my latest visit I did Koh Ker and Beng Mealea and then overnighted near Preah Vihear so we could head up first thing in the morning. It is quite impressive.

[pong]

just read this, nice to see such an extensive actual report.

As for day 1/msg: most likely he asked if you would like ''special'', which is what all Khmer boys use for more. though in most places then much more as there can be expected. Last year the rate for that was still mostly 20US$ (roughly little less 700 THB)

it seems all Angkor-admission cards are also valid from 17/18.oo or so the day before.

[spoon]

Day 3 - Temple day con't

 

Forgot to mentioned we did had quick stops along the way to Ta Phrom, right by a river where what used to be a bridge were there, cosumed by the nature. Three huge trees with their massive roots weaping the structures, a nice little teaser to Ta Phrom.

 

Anyway, back at hotel, we decided to try their massage service. Asked the reception and being told they only have 2 male masseurs, and fortunately one of my friend choose to sit out, and went to sleep instead. So i took 1.5hr body massage at my room, and my friend take 1 hour at the hotel's massage room, which only have one couple room without any curtains lol. We set the time, 3pm for me, 3.30pm for my friend.

 

I received a call at a bit after 3pm from reception asking if im ready for my massage, to which i said yes, thinking the masseur will come to my room soon. Its been 20mins since the call and no one came, so i called the reception. Apparently he thought i was the one who wanted massage at the massage room. A bit of misunderstanding, so i ask them to send the masseur to my room but cut the time to 1 hour since we already have plans afterwards. Anyway, rhe masseur came to my room shortly after, average face, average body, looks gay to me, but not my type. The massage was actually great, exceed my expectations. And as expected from a gay masseur, he has no problem massaging my intimate area around the buttocks. The massage is a mixed dry massage without oil, lots of strong presses, and oil massage that is very sensual.

 

He asked me to turn around and proceed massaging the front leg, hands, and chest area. Then he asked if i want massage around stomach area which i said yes. This was when his massage became more sensual, with his arms brushing across my dick, instantly make me hard, and exposing my penis. After a while he asked if i wanted sex. I was a bit shocked and since he isnt my type, i politely refused. And he went on drying my body with towels and gives me head massage and ends the massage with some stretching. We went over 1 hour, maybe 10-15min over. I give him tips, and he asked how long ill stay around and i said till monday, and off he went.

 

I cleaned myself up and went to the lobby for our next temple visit. Its going to be sunset viewing at Phnom Krom, near Tonle Sap. After a disappointing sunrise, we were hopping for a redemption here, and boy the view here is just awesome! And more important of all, almost no tourist as well! We were divided between visiting here or Pre Rup, another temple said to gives great sunset view, but since that temple is easier and closer to town, so i guess maybe most of the tourist went there. There is a modern temple on top of the mountain too, and our tuktuk driver dropped us at the small town near the stairs going up. A bit of hiking to go to the place but it wasnt bad, around 20-30 mins. We were treated with views of the floating village during the hiking, turning golden with the sun setting down, and view of tonle sap on the other side of the mountain, for the sunset view. You do have to walk further into the side of the mountain for clear view. The sky is clear, but there are some clouds forming at the horizons, which makes the sunset more beautiful. I think some of the cloud makes a dragon head shape. There are a few tourist sunset boat and birds flying around adding some zest to the sunset view that looks like its a painting.

 

Its now started to get dark, so we make our way back to the temple. And we were treated again to a superb view of the temple, with the moon shining brightly at the back of the temple, which is still illuminated by the sunset. And on the way down, the floating village is now dark, with lights thats also makes a nice view but not really nice to take photos with my 3 years old phone. We went for dinner back at town, and do little more shopping at the night market accross the river and then move toward pubstreet to soaked in the night life scene, which is mostly straight. Funny enough, one of the bars is playing a very catchy indonesian songs that is popular in malaysia too lol. Thats the end of day 3.

[spoon]

he did

 

So for those looking for substitution places like Pre Rup, Ta Keo, ,Neak Pean are only bit less monumental but still worth every penny. Ta Som is nice substitute for Ta Prohm and my favourite and Banteai Samre is never crowded but still impressive .

 

Rulous Group to the east of Siem Reap .

 

Little known is that walls around Angkor Thom , city at the center of which Bayon temple sits can be walked / cycled in entirety and are never crowded - if I ever return , God willing that it will be my first tour.

 

For those with more time and money there are day trips to relatively close Bang Melea and Koh Ker pyramid temple further away.

 

And then there are UNESCO listed Preah Vihear atop of mountain, Sambor Prei Kuk, grandmother of them all and very remote Preah Khan Kompong Svay called also Prasat Bakan , all of them requring full day trips.

 

And there' s Phnom Kulen mountain and carved riverbed of Kbal Spean.

 

Definitely will consider these places my next trip there, maybe with more temple lover friends or perhaps solo lol

 

Phnom Kulen is a great day out. Lots of local people enjoying the waterfall.

 

On my latest visit I did Koh Ker and Beng Mealea and then overnighted near Preah Vihear so we could head up first thing in the morning. It is quite impressive.

Thats sounds a like neat plan too.

 

just read this, nice to see such an extensive actual report.

As for day 1/msg: most likely he asked if you would like ''special'', which is what all Khmer boys use for more. though in most places then much more as there can be expected. Last year the rate for that was still mostly 20US$ (roughly little less 700 THB)

it seems all Angkor-admission cards are also valid from 17/18.oo or so the day before.

Thanks, i just write things as it is, dont have the creative writing style as english isnt my first language. So i just wirte what i can remember from the trip. By 5-6pm, those who guard the entry point no longer there, at least at phnom krum, we werent asked to show our ticket at all. I did offer the first day masseur at men usd20, he asked for usd25 which is very reasonable still for me so i agreed.

[spoon]

Day 4 - Silk Farm, Senteurs d'Angkor, Blue Hatha, Phare circus.

 

Today is our lazy day. We started the day quite late, told the tuktuk to be ready only at 10am. We went for breakfast around 7.30am then gave the hotel pool a try. The water is a bit salty, maybe its one of those salt water pool, not sure since i havent tried any before. At 10 or so, we head for the silk farm to see their workshops. Its a interesting experience though we went on a sunday, so no guides works today, we are free to roam the place ourselves. Some of the workers are still around to demonstrate some of their tools. And best of all its free and again no pressure to purchase anything, though their shops have wide variety of stuff that is worth a second look.

 

We went to Senteurs d'Angkor next, where they show how they make those incense, perfumes, candles, and the cases to put them in. There is also a free- tasting for their coffee and tea, with spices. We were ushered by one polite lady explaining what each of the station do. And another free to visit place, with shops to purchase their products. We then head for lunch, and after lunch, decided to hit one of the recommended spa in trip advisor. We went to at least 3-4 spa, most are either too expensive, or dont have masseurs/fully booked. Our tuktuk driver even brings us to the massage place where the masseurs we had yesterday work at, and guess what, the center charges way more than the hotel.

 

We dont want to wait, so we decided to went our separate ways. One decided to go back to hotel for massage. Another wants to go to the market to buy some stuff, and i wanted to find another massage place on my own, which means i want to go to Blue Hatha. Have set my eye on this massage place since day 1, and since its close to hotel, i figured ill have time to go and this is the time. We agreed to meet back for dinner and Phare circus at 6.30pm and i arrived at blue hatha at 4pm, enough for a 2 hour massage. As i arrived at the place, i went in the porch area and one of the masseur asked if i want massage, and i said yes. He went inside and called out all the guys.

 

I went in and sit at the couch, while around 10-15 guys standing in front of me, akin to arena, except i dont recall anyone were shirtless. I have to admit i feel a little bit uncomfortable having that many guys staring at me lol. I chose the one that fits my type, pointing at him and immediately the rest of the guys disperse. I shouldve spent a little bit more time feasting of the views but i was feelingg a bit uncomfortable lol. Anyway, the guy i took is about my height, a bit build but not well defined, which i dont mind, and have fair skin, handsome looking guy, looked more chinese, maybe more lao than cambodian.

 

Went in, room very basic with thin mattress on the floor, but have ensuite shower/toilet, no hot shower, but at this weather, i really dont mind. He asked me to lie down on my front, and he striped down to just underwear, starting the massage. Massage skills is acceptable, not my best but not the worse too. I am more enjoying his hands touching my skin rather than his massage lol. After a short while, maybe 15-20 min, he positioned his dick on my feet and of course I reciprocate until it gets hard. But i took 2 hour session, so when he asked if i want extras, I politely say yes but l said later after massage. And as expected from cambodian, no pressure to proceed to extra after that, until maybe a good 1 hour of massage, with few intermission of my feet rubbing his rock hard dick. He then asked me to turn, massage my legs a bit then we proceed with the fun. And he does everything. He is gay, and towards the end, he open his phone to watch gay porn which i dont mind as he rarely look lol. After i came, i cuddle with him while he jerk off, and shortly after he came. We chat a bit before cleaning up and shower again separate. Worth to mention that the whole session took nearly 2 hours too, if u include shower time.

 

I learned with the little english he has that he is from phnom penh, used to work maybe a market, family small business. And he used to work in pattaya for 1 year in an bar called sun bar but went back since he got not many customers. And he also said he has friends in pattaya too. Now he got me very tempted to visit pattaya on my next visit lol. Like some of the posters here said, if u want cambodian guys, go to pattaya. I am glad i manage to visit this place. Price is still usd 10 per hour, and i tips quite generous too. If i am around the area again, id definitely will pay a visit again.

 

I arrived at the hotel around 6.10pm, and cleaned up again before heading out to dinner and then head to Phare circus. We are early when we arrived at the place, so we got to be a the front of the line we started lol. Ive read that some place are obstructed by the poles, so we are glad to be seated quite close to the center, at the second row at the front. All i can say about the show is its a must visit for anyone who visit siem reap! Especially gay tourist like me haha. Lots and lots of eyecandy doing incredible acrobatic, dancing, and very funny too. Lots of the guys went shirtless too, exposing more skin that some of the gogobars nowadays lol. At least half are muscular fit body, two are just perfect! They have 3 different show that they change maybe after 10 days or so, with the schedule released at their website. The show last 1 hour but i do feel the time fly very fast. As a bonus, all of the cast stays at the end for pictures with the audience, and guess what, half of them are still shirtless and sweating. I tried hard not to touch them lol. This show is a perfect end of the day!

[Guest Danialito]

Great report! You said English is your 2nd language, can I ask what is your 1st?

[spoon]

My first language is malay.