Phnom Kulen

             

     There is a sanctuary in the area, Phnom Kulen National Park, straddling the districts of Svay Len and Va Rin. Its purpose is recreational and scientific in order to preserve the natural scenic features of Phnom Kulen mountain, like some famous waterfalls.The park is located about 48 km to the north of the provincial town of Siem Reap. At Phnom Kulen, you can enjoy a combination of natural beauty and Cambodian culture in a relaxing atmosphere. Phnom Kulen is very important for the Cambodians. It is the place where in 802 Jayavarman II was crowned to devaraja (god-king) and announced the independence of Java. Cambodia as we know it today was born. In the weekends and on public holidays it is a very popular place. Cambodians like to take their whole family to Phnom Kulen to have a picnic, swim in the waterfall and to climb up the mountain to pray at the large resting Buddha. 

Angkor Nitght Market

                Shop In Night Market

 Near Sivatha St, this is a popular place on the Siem Reap shopping scene. It’s packed with stalls selling a variety of handicrafts, souvenirs and silks and is well worth a browse to take advantage of cooler temperatures. It’s also possible to chill out in the Island Bar, indulge in a Dr Fish massage or watch a 3D event movie (US$2-3) about the Khmer Rouge or the scourge of landmines. There are now half a dozen copycats in the near vicinity.A good reason to visit Siem Reap is the Angkor Night Market. The first of its kind in Cambodia, Angkor Night Market was founded in 2007 with the prime mission to restore as well as preserve traditional Khmer handicrafts while alleviating poverty and improving the lives of Khmer people.Luckily, locals and visitors have embraced this unique concept, and the original 100 stalls have now grown into a cluster of 250 or more over the years. Designed and constructed in a simple and traditional way, this night market is bounded by a Balinese themed garden and largely reflects the Khmer culture and heritage, with its well laid out thatched hut style stalls – all made using natural raw materials such as bamboo and wood.

Pub Street In Night Market

                                                                                                                                                        
Pub Street


      After the sun goes down, the focus shifts to 'Pub Street' and Pub Street alleys. Named for the numerous pubs that line Street 8. It all began in 1998 when Angkor What? Bar opened its doors - the lone pub on an otherwise lonely street. These days Pub Street is packed end to end with restaurants, pubs and shops, making the area the tourist center of town. The narrow connecting alleys and passages just off Pub Street have also filled with small businesses, where the quiet lanes offer a much more relaxed ambiance.

   Things really gets going on Pub Street around 5:00PM as people return from the temples. The curbside seating fills, the bars crank up the music and the street is blocked to motor traffic. Most of the drinking venues stay open until at least midnight and couple running until near dawn.

Siem Reap History

    The name Siem Reap can be translated to mean 'Defeat of Siam' (Cambodians call Thailand Siam or “Siem”), and it refers to the centuries-old conflict between the Siamese and Khmer peoples. Under the rule of the Ayutthaya Kingdom in the 18th century, it was referred to as Nakhom Siam.According to oral tradition, the name was given by King Ang Chan (1516–1566) as “Siem Reap”, meaning “the flat defeat of Siam” after he defeated the Thai King Maha Chakkraphat who sent an army to attack Cambodia in 1549.^[3]Scholars however consider this a modern folk etymology.

    The story was told that King Ang Chan of Cambodia tried to assert further independence from Siam. The Siamese also had been through internal trouble themselves during these years. King Chairacha was poisoned by his concubine, Lady Sri Sudachan, who committed adultery with a commoner, Worawongsathirat, while he was on a campaign against Chiang Mai. Sudachan then raised Worawongsathirat to the throne. The nobles hated Worawongsathirat and lured the usurper and his family to a place outside the city where he was assassinated, together with Sudachan and a new-born daughter, during the royal family's procession by barge to see a white elephant (allegedly just captured). The nobles then invited Prince Thianracha, who was a monk in a monastery, to give up that role and ascend the throne under the title of King Maha Chakkraphat (1548–1569). Being informed of the internal troubles in Ayutthaya, King Ang Chan attacked Prachin Buri in 1549 and successfully took away its Siamese inhabitants. There he obtained information that of Maha Chakkraphat's coronation, signaling that the question of succession in Ayutthaya had thus been settled. Ang Chan therefore retreated and did not advance any further. King Maha Chakkraphat was very angry at this, but his hands were tied, because the Burmese had just come by way of the Three Pagodas Pass; they took Kanchanaburi andSuphanburi, and appeared in front of Ayutthaya.

     Because King Ang Chan refused to give King Maha Chakkraphat a white elephant when he asked for it, it is indicated that Ang Chan declined any symbol of vassalage to Siam. Maha Chakkraphat's attention was now turned towards Cambodia.He put Prince Ong, the governor of Sawankhalok and Srey’s son, in charge of an expedition against Cambodia. Ang Chan counter-attacked, and shot Prince Ong dead on an elephant’s back, and his army routed the Siamese and captured no less than 10,000 Siamese troops. It was because of this victory over Siamese the that King Ang Chan renamed the battleground as “Siem Reap” meaning “the flat defeat of Siam” From the sixteenth through to the nineteenth centuries, the feuds among the Khmer lords caused the interventions and domination from their more powerful neighbors: Vietnam and Siam. Siem Reap, along with Battambang (Phra Tabong) and Sisophon, major cities in the north western part of Cambodia, were under Siamese administration known as Inner Cambodia from 1795 till 1907 when the province was ceded to French Indochina.However, most sources indicate the decline of Angkor more than a century prior, when an Ayutthaya military expedition captured and sacked Angkor Wat in 1431, initiating a period ofvassal rule there.^[6] This event coincided with the decline of the city, though there is not a full understanding of the reasons behind the abandonment of Angkor Wat, which may have included changes in the environment and failings of infrastructure.

Banteay Meanchey History

      

     The area was part of the extensive Khmer empire. Its most notable remains is the Banteay Chhmar temple in the north of the province, built in 12th century towards the 13th century. Other lesser known temples are the Banteay Neang and Banteay Torptemples.

      In the 1795 Siam took control over Western Cambodia, and made the area into Siamese province of Inner Cambodia with the administration capital in Phra Tabong (Battambang). This province lasted until 1907 when Siam traded Inner Cambodia for the return of Trat and Dan Sai. In the same year, King Sisowath decided to split the return Inner Cambodian Province into Battambang Province (which included Sisophon) and Siem Reap Province. When Thailand re annexed western Cambodia 1941, Sisophon was split off Battambang Province and was an administration capital of Phibunsongkram Province which lasted until 1946 when the whole region was return to the French control.

      In 1988 the province Banteay Meanchey was split off from Battambang, originally consisting of the five districts Mongkol Borei, Thmar Puok, Serei Saophoan, Preah Net Preah and Phnom Srok.

During the Cambodian Civil Wars of the 1970s and 1980s Banteay Meanchey Province was on the frontlines of much of fighting and as a result it is one of the three most heavily mined provinces in Cambodia along with Pailin and Battambang.

    The province is subdivided into 8 districts, which are further subdivided in 64 communes and 634 villages.