Siem Reap, literally "Siam Defeated", commemorates a Khmer victory over the neighboring kingdom of Thailand. These days, however, the only rampaging hordes are the tourists heading to Angkor and this once quaint village has become the largest boomtown and construction site in Cambodia.

Siem Reap is the gateway to the temples of Angkor, Cambodia's spiritual and cultural heartbeat. A sleepy backwater until a few years ago, it is fast reinventing itself as a sophisticated centre for the new wave of visitors passing through each year, with restaurant and bar prices climbing weekly.