Cambodia

Cambodia — Pub Street, Siem Reap, Cambodia

Nick Morris

Nick Morris

— 3 min read

Exploring Siem Reap at night

September 2015

There was a ‘nightlife scene’ in Siem Reap, and I decided to pop out one evening and see what was happening.

Like any UK seaside town, Siem Reap had an area focused around Pub Street (the clue is in the name) that was full of bars and restaurants.

I had already been to Pub Street during the day, and it looked like an ordinary street with many bars.

Photo by Author — Pub Street, Siem Reap, Cambodia — by day
Photo by Author — Pub Street, Siem Reap, Cambodia — by day

By night, the street became packed with western tourists, with the bars doing a roaring trade and a lot of loud music.

Photo by Author — Pub Street, Siem Reap, Cambodia — by night
Photo by Author — Pub Street, Siem Reap, Cambodia — by night

The contrast between Pub Street by day and Pub Street by night was striking.

Photo by Author — Pub Street, Siem Reap, Cambodia — by night
Photo by Author — Pub Street, Siem Reap, Cambodia — by night
Photo by Author — Pub Street, Siem Reap, Cambodia — by night
Photo by Author — Pub Street, Siem Reap, Cambodia — by night

What was surprising was the number of drugs and the amount of ‘company’ I was offered. And even more worrying was the ‘company’ I was being offered seemed to have no limits on the age or sex of the ‘companion’. All very sad and very, very worrying. I had no idea that Siem Reap had such a nightlife scene.

Photo by Author — Pub Street, Siem Reap, Cambodia — by night
Photo by Author — Pub Street, Siem Reap, Cambodia — by night
Photo by Author — Pub Street, Siem Reap, Cambodia — by night
Photo by Author — Pub Street, Siem Reap, Cambodia — by night
Photo by Author — Pub Street, Siem Reap, Cambodia — by night
Photo by Author — Pub Street, Siem Reap, Cambodia — by night
Photo by Author — Pub Street, Siem Reap, Cambodia — by night
Photo by Author — Pub Street, Siem Reap, Cambodia — by night

I stopped at a couple of bars and had a beer. It was getting late, and I was tired of being offered drugs and company, so I decided to take a tuk-tuk back to my hotel.

I had no trouble getting a tuk-tuk as when walking around Siem Reap, you often get stopped and asked — “Tuk-tuk? Drugs? Lady?” — and so I said yes to the tuk-tuk.

I hopped on board my tuk-tuk, gave the name of my hotel and was immediately asked, “Drugs?” to which I said no thank you. This was followed with “Lady?”, again no thank you, and then “Boy?”. Again, a no thank you.

Photo by Author — Tuk-tuk back to my hotel
Photo by Author — Tuk-tuk back to my hotel

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