We were in no mood for the taxi drivers’ attempts to sign us up for tours during the short trip from the airport to our hostel. He was a cheerful chap, but soon he was mocking our sleep deprivation, before turning to anger and disgust; when we wouldn’t fork over any US dollars for excursions, until we’d had chance to sleep and think clearly.
We were reeling from $32 of visa fees, having seriously underestimated how much cash to draw out. So the taxi driver practically dumped us, and quite literally our belongings, at Funky Flashpacker Hostel.
We’d also just completed a mammoth 20 hour journey across sea, land and air to get to Siem Reap, with practically no sleep at all. Eight of those hours were spent in Phuket airport, where we managed a game of two vs. two football with a drunk Portuguese guy called Bruno (we won).
It was a familiar story of being unable to check in for a few hours; but luckily the Cambodian sun was beaming, there were bean bags by the pool, and schooners of Angkor beer were only $1.
We were reeling from $32 of visa fees, having seriously underestimated how much cash to draw out. So the taxi driver practically dumped us, and quite literally our belongings, at Funky Flashpacker Hostel.
We’d also just completed a mammoth 20 hour journey across sea, land and air to get to Siem Reap, with practically no sleep at all. Eight of those hours were spent in Phuket airport, where we managed a game of two vs. two football with a drunk Portuguese guy called Bruno (we won).
It was a familiar story of being unable to check in for a few hours; but luckily the Cambodian sun was beaming, there were bean bags by the pool, and schooners of Angkor beer were only $1.
When the opportunity to check in came, at 2pm, we didn’t waste much time getting into bed. But with it being a party hostel, sleep is seldom something you’re allowed. Before long the reps were liberating the room in an attempt to get us up and spending money at the bar.
Sadly this was repeated often during our five night stay, to our increasing displeasure.
After some form of sleep we were ready to sample this new city, but not before being drafted into the hostel’s beer pong tournament. I’m not sure if it was the promise of unlimited drinks for $12, a free vest, or if we’d have signed up to anything just to get the reps out of the room - but we entered three teams.
I’d teamed up with Sean, and as Old Scum City we swept through the competition without conceding more than two cups. Our rivals, Team Green, were sadly knocked out in the semis; though we avenged them by winning the grand final and the bragging rights. Our prize was tickets to an escape room, which we didn’t bother with in the end due to the unrelenting heat.
Sadly this was repeated often during our five night stay, to our increasing displeasure.
After some form of sleep we were ready to sample this new city, but not before being drafted into the hostel’s beer pong tournament. I’m not sure if it was the promise of unlimited drinks for $12, a free vest, or if we’d have signed up to anything just to get the reps out of the room - but we entered three teams.
I’d teamed up with Sean, and as Old Scum City we swept through the competition without conceding more than two cups. Our rivals, Team Green, were sadly knocked out in the semis; though we avenged them by winning the grand final and the bragging rights. Our prize was tickets to an escape room, which we didn’t bother with in the end due to the unrelenting heat.
Full of pride and cheap beer we headed out to the aptly named Pub Street – the premier nightspot for travellers. It’s lined with restaurants (particularly pizzerias) and bars, but two seemed to be the most popular.
One of these, The Angkor Wat? Bar, was almost exclusively full of backpackers; with many local sharks outside waiting to hustle people over arm wrestles and similar wagers.
The other, Temple Bar, was far closer to your typical nightclub; but a large percentage of the clientele seemed to be prostitutes, lady boys or opportunistic Khmer women. One of them was sat at the bar watching Moana on her phone, waiting for a westerner to pass by.
Once done with the clubs it was a strange walk back featuring very push tuk tuk and taxi drivers, who would follow us practically all the way to the hostel. I’d heard some grim rumours about people being dropped off in the countryside and charged $100 plus for a return home, but thankfully I can’t confirm them (through experience anyway).
One of these, The Angkor Wat? Bar, was almost exclusively full of backpackers; with many local sharks outside waiting to hustle people over arm wrestles and similar wagers.
The other, Temple Bar, was far closer to your typical nightclub; but a large percentage of the clientele seemed to be prostitutes, lady boys or opportunistic Khmer women. One of them was sat at the bar watching Moana on her phone, waiting for a westerner to pass by.
Once done with the clubs it was a strange walk back featuring very push tuk tuk and taxi drivers, who would follow us practically all the way to the hostel. I’d heard some grim rumours about people being dropped off in the countryside and charged $100 plus for a return home, but thankfully I can’t confirm them (through experience anyway).
Now the main draw of Siem Reap is Angkor Wat. This temple complex was first constructed in honour of the Hindu god Vishnu, before being converted to a Buddhist place of worship in the 12th century. If you're hoping for pictures and a glowing review, you'll be disappointed - as I'm somewhat disappointed to report that I didn’t go.
It was $40 for entry (without transport), which was probably two or three days budget after our first weeks of excess. Having plenty of the trip ahead of me did start to hold sway over my choice of activities in the first month. Two of the group did brave the cost and the 5am wake up though - and reported mixed things. ‘Worth a look but it’s overwhelmingly busy’, was the general consensus.
Fortunately food was ridiculously cheap. A few stops down from the hostel was a restaurant selling shrimp fried rice with a beer for under $2. It would never win any accolades for taste or quality, but there were plenty of chilli-based condiments to douse it in. Plus it never made me ill.
Food at the hostel was surprisingly good; to say the menu was quite vast, mostly western, and was essentially catering for people who’d find a kebab gourmet cuisine. Plus it was reasonably priced. Our go-to dish, whatever time of day, became the veggie tacos - at just $4 a pop.
It was $40 for entry (without transport), which was probably two or three days budget after our first weeks of excess. Having plenty of the trip ahead of me did start to hold sway over my choice of activities in the first month. Two of the group did brave the cost and the 5am wake up though - and reported mixed things. ‘Worth a look but it’s overwhelmingly busy’, was the general consensus.
Fortunately food was ridiculously cheap. A few stops down from the hostel was a restaurant selling shrimp fried rice with a beer for under $2. It would never win any accolades for taste or quality, but there were plenty of chilli-based condiments to douse it in. Plus it never made me ill.
Food at the hostel was surprisingly good; to say the menu was quite vast, mostly western, and was essentially catering for people who’d find a kebab gourmet cuisine. Plus it was reasonably priced. Our go-to dish, whatever time of day, became the veggie tacos - at just $4 a pop.
Most of our time was spent around the hostel, with its rambunctious choice of entertainment; mainly playing volleyball in the pool, or generally lounging about in the sun with an Angkor.
You couldn’t get too comfortable though or one of the reps would sneak up and chuck you in the pool, bean bag and all if necessary. They would always check your pockets for phones first though in fairness.
With a steady rate of drinking, and plenty of inflatables and small plastic balls knocking about, the pool area would inevitably turn into a war zone. There were frequent no-holds-barred battles with upwards of thirty people throwing missiles around – even the Khmer staff loved to get involved. Two plastic reindeer pool floats could (and often did) cause devastating damage if you didn’t keep your wits about you.
Many of the highlights revolved around the interesting, unique and bizarre people we bumped into; including an Australian guy who confessed to once leaving someone tied up on a train track, another who was constantly locked in some sort of psychedelic drug trip, a Belgian girl travelling with her stepdad, and a Swedish girl who made a beeline for every man in the place,
You couldn’t get too comfortable though or one of the reps would sneak up and chuck you in the pool, bean bag and all if necessary. They would always check your pockets for phones first though in fairness.
With a steady rate of drinking, and plenty of inflatables and small plastic balls knocking about, the pool area would inevitably turn into a war zone. There were frequent no-holds-barred battles with upwards of thirty people throwing missiles around – even the Khmer staff loved to get involved. Two plastic reindeer pool floats could (and often did) cause devastating damage if you didn’t keep your wits about you.
Many of the highlights revolved around the interesting, unique and bizarre people we bumped into; including an Australian guy who confessed to once leaving someone tied up on a train track, another who was constantly locked in some sort of psychedelic drug trip, a Belgian girl travelling with her stepdad, and a Swedish girl who made a beeline for every man in the place,
One day a Tarzan lookalike turned up with his entourage, wearing a helmet with a straw mouth piece, and he really relished the chaos. He had an aura about him and bags of charisma, plus his fame seemed to extend quite far among the other travellers. Possibly because of his entertaining party tricks, like drinking while stood on his head or holding ‘tazer parties’ in the dorm room.
Even without him the reps would always push extra drinking games, usually flip cup races or beer cricket, regardless of whether people were content just chilling or playing volleyball. I was lucky to come out on the winning side of one particularly close best-of-three flip cup game, which resulted in suicide shot forfeits (like in the Inbetweeners).
Even without him the reps would always push extra drinking games, usually flip cup races or beer cricket, regardless of whether people were content just chilling or playing volleyball. I was lucky to come out on the winning side of one particularly close best-of-three flip cup game, which resulted in suicide shot forfeits (like in the Inbetweeners).
Another penchant of the reps was encouraging people to do Joss (some weird energy powder) shots in honour of their country for $4. The commanding lead of the UK showed that many of our fellow countrymen were well on board with it.
Or you could take the beer tower challenge, where you'd get it for free if you could polish it off in under five minutes. The only person who attempted this was violently sick about half way through.
Regardless of any pessimism that comes across, this lot certainly knew how to work the crowd – and make money for the owners.
Or you could take the beer tower challenge, where you'd get it for free if you could polish it off in under five minutes. The only person who attempted this was violently sick about half way through.
Regardless of any pessimism that comes across, this lot certainly knew how to work the crowd – and make money for the owners.
After the full days of persuasion, the nights could get rowdy. Usually there would be a theme (like togas or ‘gender bender’), free flows, some sort of drinks tournament or ‘beer Olympics’. Inevitably this would all spill out to a hazy trip to Pub Street, then finish back on the hostel roof terrace.
In this madness we did meet some incredibly likeminded and friendly people, some of whom we’d continue our travels with at various stages of our trip.
One of these was convinced he’d been repeatedly spiked with some form of diuretic during his stay – and he was a trustworthy guy, so watch yourself and your drink.
Our time in Siem Reap fortuitously coincided with some great sporting spectacles, such as the incredible Tyson Fury resurrection against Deontay Wilder. Two of our group had upwards of £50 bets with each other on the fight and were left shocked and disappointed by the draw.
In this madness we did meet some incredibly likeminded and friendly people, some of whom we’d continue our travels with at various stages of our trip.
One of these was convinced he’d been repeatedly spiked with some form of diuretic during his stay – and he was a trustworthy guy, so watch yourself and your drink.
Our time in Siem Reap fortuitously coincided with some great sporting spectacles, such as the incredible Tyson Fury resurrection against Deontay Wilder. Two of our group had upwards of £50 bets with each other on the fight and were left shocked and disappointed by the draw.
There was also a triple header of Premier League derbies, Chelsea v Fulham, Arsenal v Tottenham and Liverpool v Everton, on a day we’d decided to abstain from the organised fun.
We watched the latter alongside two die hard Liverpool fans. The Aussie and American reps clearly didn’t understand the hype (or the potential danger), as they attempted to turn the football off so we’d go to the bar. Or join a scripted dance to Unwritten by Natasha Beddingfield, which was their peculiar anthem of choice.
It didn’t sit well with the scousers, who threatened to riot; and would have if they’d missed their team clinching three points in the dying seconds.
We watched the latter alongside two die hard Liverpool fans. The Aussie and American reps clearly didn’t understand the hype (or the potential danger), as they attempted to turn the football off so we’d go to the bar. Or join a scripted dance to Unwritten by Natasha Beddingfield, which was their peculiar anthem of choice.
It didn’t sit well with the scousers, who threatened to riot; and would have if they’d missed their team clinching three points in the dying seconds.
On occasions when we did leave the hostel for a wander we’d often visit one of the pizzerias to see what the fuss was about (not bad), or the many art and clothes markets in the vicinity of Pub Street to restock on lost clothes.
Among the fake clothes and trainers some were quite obviously mood but many others, particularly the Under Armour knock-offs, looked very convincing. And you could generally haggle down to just a few dollars a t-shirt. This bartering was probably about as cultured as it got in Siem Reap.
Among the fake clothes and trainers some were quite obviously mood but many others, particularly the Under Armour knock-offs, looked very convincing. And you could generally haggle down to just a few dollars a t-shirt. This bartering was probably about as cultured as it got in Siem Reap.
It’s safe to say that aside from the obvious temple complex of Angkor Wat, the main lure of Siem Reap for travellers is the party hostels. There’s a clear niche here for ruthless reps, who are good at making sure the party’s constant. Better than reps anywhere else in Asia in fairness, albeit too forcefully at times.
I was yet to sign up to any of Cambodia’s interesting excursions, though I definitely left this place with the same sleep deprivation as when I arrived.
I was yet to sign up to any of Cambodia’s interesting excursions, though I definitely left this place with the same sleep deprivation as when I arrived.