Siem Reap covers 10299 square kilometers, It consists of 12 districts, 100 communes and 875 villages.
# Angkor Chum District Total Communes: 7 Totals Villages: 84
# Angkor Thom District Total Communes: 4 Totals Villages: 25
# Banteay Srei District Total Communes: 6 Totals Villages: 27
# Chi Kreng District Total Communes: 12 Totals Villages: 147
# Krolanh District Total Communes: 10 Totals Villages: 97
# Puk District Total Communes: 16 Totals Villages: 154
# Prasat Bakong District Total Communes: 9 Totals Villages: 67
# Siem Reap District Total Communes: 10 Totals Villages: 76
# Sot Nikum District Total Communes: 10 Totals Villages: 113
# Srei Snom District Total Communes: 6 Totals Villages: 39
# Svay Lea District Total Communes: 5 Totals Villages: 21
# Varin District Total Communes: 5 Totals Villages: 25
# How to get there! Distance from Phnom Penh: 314 Km
# Using National Road No: 6
# Favourite Transportation: Car
Tourism Attractions
SIEM REAP ANGKOR
The Siem Reap province is the cradle of Angkorean civilization and it is a province that offers plenty of opportunity to tourism enthralled by the cultural patrimony. Siem Reap Angkor is the most attractive landmark in Cambodia in terms of cultural tourism in the Southeast Asia.
The Siem Reap province is conveniently situated 314 km northwest of Phnom Penh, along Nation Road No 6. It can be reached all year round by Nation No 6 from Phnom Penh Capital, Poipet Border Checkpoint, Banteay Meanchey Province, Kampong Cham Province and Kampong Chhnang Province Pursat Province and Battambang Province.
The Siem Reap province is accessible on direct flights from many major cities in the region including Bangkok, Danang, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh, Pakse Vientiane, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Hong Kong, Kunming, Taipei, etc. Today there are around 16-20 direct flights per day to Siem Reap and more direct international flights planned for the near future. It can also be reached on domestic flights from Phnom Penh (forty-minutes flying time) by different types of aircrafts. There are seven daily flights between Phnom Penh Capital and Siem Reap Province operated by two domestic airline companies.
The Siem Reap province can also be reached by speedboats along the Tonle Sap River and its Laka from Phnom Penh Capital and Battambang Province.
Angkor
In the Angkorean era, the ancient Khmer Kingdom dominated most of present Southeast Asia from 800 to 1430 AD.
The Angkor complex is the soul of Khmer people (90% of Cambodian population). Angkor accurately represents Khmer art, great civilization, spiritual heart, national identity, and political power.
The Angkor complex consists of 200 monuments, which spread over an area of 400 square kilometers. Angkor Wat declared a World Heritage site is the largest famous ancient temple of Cambodia. The Khmer temples were built between 7th and 13th centuries by Khmer kings whenthe Khmer civilization was at its height of the extraordinary creativity. The Angkor architecture serves as the evidence of the strong Khmer religious beliefs – Hinduism and Buddhism. King Jayavarman VII was one of the powerful Khmer kings in that period.
The most popular temples in the Angkor area are Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom, Bayon, Baphuon, Phimeanakas, Ta Keo, Ta Prohm, Banteay Kdei, Prè Roup, East Mebon, Kravan, Preah Khan, Neak Poan, Ta Saom, Banteay Srei, Roluos Group, etc.
Angkor Thom
Angkor Thom, the last capital of the Khmer Empire, was a fortified city enclosing residences of priests, officials of the palace and military, as well as buildings for administering the kingdom. These structures were built of wood and have perished but the remaining stone monuments testify that Angkor Thom was indeed a ‘Great City’, as its name implies. Temples inside the walls of the city described are Bayon, Baphuon, Phimeanakas, Terrace of the Elephants, Terrace of the Leper King, Preah Palilay, Tep Pranam and Prasat Suor Prat.
The Royal Palace situated within the city of Angkor Thom is of an earlier date and belonged to kings of the tenth and first half of the eleventh centuries. Although the foundations and an enclosing wall around the palace with entry towers have been identified, little evidence remains of the layout of the royal building inside the enclosure. This absence of archaeological evidence of the royal buildings suggests that they were constructed of wood and have perished. The French ascertained a general plan of the Royal Palace. It included the temple-mountain of Phimeanakas and surrounding pools together with residences and buildings for administering the capital, which were probably at the back of the enclosure. Jayavarman VII reconstructed the original site of the Royal Palace to erect the city of Angkor Thom, which was centered on the temple of Bayon and surrounded by a wall.
PRASAT KRAVAN
ConsultingBuilt by King Harshavarman I in the early 10th century and dedicated to Hindusim.
PRASAT TAKEO
ConsultingBuild by King Jayavarman V and Suryavarman I from the late 10th century to the early 11th century and dedicated to Hinduism.
SRAH SRANG (Royal bath)
ConsultingIt was perhaps a chapel to Kama, God of Love. The spot would suit the temper of the strange power, terribly strong and yet terribly tender, of that passion which carries away kingdoms, empires, whole worlds, and inhabits also the humblest dwellings. Love could occupy this quiet nest embedded in water, which gave the impression that love has come one day and had left there, when he went away, a part of his spirit.
PRASAT KOH KER
ConsultingBuilt by King Jayavarman IV in the 10th century, Koh Ker was the third ancient capital of Khmer Empire. It may have been the capital for just 15 year. King Jayavarman IV was determined to legitimize his rule through an extensive building program, and left behind 30 major temples and some gargantuan sculpture seen today in Phnom Penh.
Koh Ker is located 80km north of the Kulen Mount.
PRASAT PREAH KHAN
ConsultingPreah Khan, for the beguiler the romancer and the artist, is an entrancing mystery deep in the jungle, soft and alluring in the twilight made by heavy verdure. It had been accessible only to the ardent lover of past days who was gifted with agility. They may have been courtyards where high priests gathered and guardians slept, but now they are walled bowers over which the trees extend to heaven’s blue. It all seems a wondrous mass of beauty tossed together in superb confusion.
LOCATION: Preah Khan is north of Angkor Thom and west of Neak Pean.
ACCESS: Enter and leave the temple from the west entrance (the description, however, begins at the east, the principal entrance) It is recommended you allow plenty of times for seeing this monument for there are delicious spots in which to stay still. The World Monument Fund is in process of clearing and repairing this temple to give visitors a better understanding of its original form.
Tip: when visiting Preah Khan, follow the central artery on a westeast axis.
DATE: Second half of the 12th century (1191).
KING: Jayavarman IV.
RELIGION: Buddhist (dedicated to the father of the king)
ART STYLE: Bayon.
PRASAT BANTEAY KDEI
In the ruin and confusion of Banteay Kdei the carvings take one’s interest. They are piquant, exquisite, and not too frequent. They seem meant to make adorable a human habitation.
PRASAT BANTEAY SREI
Banteay Srei, “the citadel of woman“ is an exquisite miniature; a fairy palace in the heart of an immense and mysterious forest ; the very thing that Grimm delighted to imagine, and that every child’s heart has yearned after, but which mature years have sadly proved too lovely to be true. And here it is, in the Cambodia forest at Banteay Srei, carves not out of the stuff that dreams are made of, but of solid sandstone.
KULEN MOUNT
ConsultingIt is located between Svay Leu District and Va Rin District in Siem Reap by a short cut or in 48-kilometer distance from the provincial town of Siem Reap by a short cut or in 50- kilometer distance from the provincial town of Siem Reap Via Sal Deu Gol Road, small circle, big circle, Preah Dak, Road A66, and then turning to the Malaysian-Developed Road.
ConsultingIt was established during the Angkorean period by King Jayavarman II in the 9th century. It was named then as Mahendraparvata: a dedication to Mahendraparvata became a worshipping place for the Theravada Buddhism. It is well known as a sacred place of the Khmer people. During the constructional period of the ancient temples, sandy stones were brought from this sacred mountain. The means of transport were bamboo-rafting and elephant-towing. The main attraction of this resort is the River of One Thousand Lingas or Kulen Waterfall.
Recently, the resort has become not only a place of worship, but also a historical, cultural, and natural tourist resort.
KBAL SPEAN
This holy place must have been favored during the great Angkorean epoch when its waters, after having washed gods and lingas, continued on to the wondrous royal city with its growing monumental temples.
RIVER OF ONE THOUSAND LINGAS
It is located at the foot of the mountain, along the stream of Siem Reap, There are a lot of figures of Yoni and Lingas spreading out at its bottom