Kid Friendly activities in Siem Reap- Day 1

A few days after Christmas, we were ready to head to Siem Reap, Cambodia.  This was our first trip out of the country and I wasn't really sure what to expect about the culture, people, or customs.  As soon as we landed and made it into the airport, I was completely at ease.  We headed to the Visa line and were pleasantly surprised that it was much cheaper than we had been originally quoted.  For all five of us, it was a grand total of $55 for us to buy our Visas.  We thought it was going to be double that. Now, that could have just been the worker that approved us or the price that it actually is...who knows...but we were happy with the savings!

Flight to Cambodia

The first thing we noticed was that everyone spoke English.  Our taxi driver was super nice and told us a little about the country and some ideas of places we may want to visit.  We also noticed the steering wheel is the same side as in America, as well as the side of the road they drove on.  They also use American dollars, which was so nice to not have to convert currency for a few days! It also had a very small town feel and we found out the city with 900,000 people only has 2 stoplights!  It was pretty amazing to watch them drive.

Our hotel, Angkor Riviera Hotel, was in a great central location. We were a few minutes from Angkor Wat and walking distance to Pub Street and the night market.  It was great being able to walk everywhere.  The staff at the hotel were amazing.  When I booked the hotel, we were automatically signed up for the New Years Eve Gala. For some reason the kids were not on our reservation and we decided we didn't want to go to the gala since it was so expensive.  The staff decided to credit me and not charge me for the boys breakfast, since we had already paid for 2 people to attend the gala.  The manager said since it was our first time in Cambodia he wanted us to have a great experience there and didn't want us to be upset.  (I was in no way upset and figured it would just be a loss.  I had gotten a great price on the place anyway.)  They were so accommodating and willing to help whenever we had a question. I really enjoyed our stay there.

 Finally a hotel that can accommodate all 5 of us!  Very rare in Asia!!

 Very nice bathrooms

We had a really nice view of the city from our room.  

Since we were going to have a long day at the temples the next day, we decided to have some fun and play Putt Putt at Angkor Wat Putt.  The owner was so kind.  He didn't even charge us for Britton and let him play all 12 holes.  The big boys loved it.  Many of the holes were models of the temples in Siem Reap.  It's a little outside the city, so if you plan on going, make sure you make arrangements with your tuk tuk driver to stay while you play.

Earlier in the day I made reservations at The Temple Bar, for their traditional Apsara show.  So, after Putt Putt we headed to The Temple Bar for dinner and to watch the traditional dancing.  The food was wonderful.  Greyson ordered some yummy fried noodles, Lincoln and Britton were able to get pizza, I had Khmer Curry (so good and not spicy at all like Thai curry), and Ben had fish & chips.  The show was very well done.  The boys were all so sleepy after travelling and playing mini golf.  The show didn't start until  7:30 pm, but the boys were really interested with the dances even though they were so tired. There is a total of 8 dances, but we only made it through 4 of them.  The announcer gave a description of each dance and why they would perform each dance.  It was really nice to see a little bit of the culture.  The show is free and your only expense is your dinner.

 Listening to traditional Khmer instruments and music

 Khmer Curry & Rice- Delicious!

 4 Cheese pizza for the boys

 Grey was in noodle heaven.  Lots of fried noodles in Cambodia.

 One of the Beautiful Apsara dancers.

 Britton trying to get a good look.  He loved the dances.

The dancers in traditional clothing.

We had a full first day in Cambodia and my first impression of the country was that everyone was so kind.  I didn't feel like we were being taken advantage of when hiring tuk tuks.  I also felt really safe when we were walking down to the main street.  People smiled, said hello, and were helpful when we asked for directions.  After our first day, I could tell we were going to have an amazing time in Cambodia. Stay tuned for day 2 and our first day at Ankgor Wat.

 Thumb wrestling in tuk tuk.  Carrying  over from our Chiang Mai trip.

Tuk Tuks in Cambodia.  A little different than Thailand.