Top Best Activities - Things to See and Do in Cambodia

Cambodia, full name is Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in Southeast Asia, bordering the East with Vietnam, Laos in the North and Thailand in the West. Cambodia has an area of 181,000 square kilometers, a population of nearly 14 million people, of which Cambodia accounts for 80%, Buddhism is the national religion, Phnom Penh is the capital. Customs and habits imbued with Cambodian cultural identity combined with the world-famous heritage of Angkor temple have attracted a large number of Cambodian tourists to visit here.

Let's join Threeland to reveal some interesting things about Cambodia for you!

1. Visit Angkor Archaeological Park with Sunrise & Sunset

If you come to Cambodia, you cannot ignore the famous tourist destination of Angkor. This place is a paradise of ancient temples and long coastline with rare plankton. Make your trip much more meaningful.
A UNESCO World Heritage Site with a vast area with hundreds of ancient temples, religious structures and ruined monuments dating back to the Khmer Empire. According to statistics, Angkor Wat, Bayon, Ta Prohm are the attractions that attract tens of thousands of tourists to Cambodia every day.

Discover the sunrise at Angkor Wat temple is chosen by many tourists. This requires you to get up very early, before that you have to book a Tuk Tuk car rental before picking you up at your hotel. Around 4:30 am you can start the dawn hunting trip, you should buy tickets in advance, you can easily save time. When the sun rises slowly from the east, you will be surprised by this peaceful beauty.
In addition, you can still watch the sunset at Phnom Bakheng temple and Pre Rub temple. This is the perfect place to relax and unwind after a busy day at work. The number of tourists coming here to visit at this time is very crowded, so you should prepare in advance. The view of the hidden forest appearing in front of the eyes makes visitors very admiring, magically covered.
Visitors can also admire and visit the Archaeological Park of Angkor or the temple of Kbal Spean, Beng Mealea, Koh Ker and the majestic Kulen mountain waterfall.

2. The number 1 experience when trying to eat insects in Cambodia

This is a challenge that not every visitor dares to try. Some of these insects can be processed into dishes that become local specialties in Cambodia. Some dishes can be named such as deep fried Tarantula (locally called a-ping) or crickets (Chorng-ret) or grasshoppers, silkworms, etc. These dishes require courage and courage. Only visitors dare to try.

Alternatively, you can go to the Skuon market in Kampong Cham which is famously known as the 'Tarantula Town', especially because it serves Spider-Man. Located between Phnom Penh and Siem Reap, villagers go into the forest to catch spiders before removing them with their bare hands and selling them to street vendors. They are then deep-fried in chili and garlic before being served. This dish is considered as a roadside snack that attracts many people to enjoy.
You can also easily find street vendors at local markets or riverside streets in the evenings in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap. Especially very crowded on Pup Street or the local street called 60m Street after 5pm, the trade is also busier.

3. Adventure of Gibbon spotting in Angkor National Park

These are just some of the adventures, if you’re searching for an exciting and authentic adventure immersed in the uniqueness that is Cambodia, you’ve come to the right place.

This Gibbon spotting were set-up on the highest trees of the National archaeological park, tours are individually crafted, and benefit from over eight years of practical experience in planning and running high quality Cambodian adventure experiences.

4. Experience with show, folk, culture & circus communication system

There are several types of performances with media, theater and modern systems as you can find in Cambodia, especially in Siem Reap, which is the most attractive tourist city after a day of fixing up temple visits. make up and relax time with show and dinner.

Apsara dance performance (45 minutes of performance)

Apsara dance show is a Khmer dance communication system dating back many centuries and is an important part of Cambodian culture. You may be able to visit some traditional Apsara performance venues to buy tickets to attend. Packages to participate in this show often include dinner (optional) combined with a very unique dance performance.

Normally in Cambodia I call Apsara Dance performance but in reality this show is combined with classical dance. This is a dance style with effects such as bending the back, feet and hands that are not too difficult. Weapon representations will perform slow operations, and light maneuvers can perform transformations. The costumes they use are the Khmer's website communication system. Therefore, it has a charming appearance, unique and impressive style. In addition, classical dance often presents a story about the ancient Angkor period.
Folk dance: Folk dance is often performed during celebrations and holidays. It describes a specific ritual and is often inspired by rural scenes. Some popular dances visitors often see are the Good Harvest Dance and the romantic Fishing dance.

Experience the shadow puppet theater (1am from 7-8pm)

Shadow puppet theater has two different types of puppetry. Sbek Thom introduces visitors to the story of Reamker, a traditional epic poem. Here, Sbeik Touch performs the heroic, love and battle stories of the great Cambodia. In both forms of puppetry, the story is impressively re-enacted and depicted by moving shadows or shadows on a large white screen. The shadow effect created by the puppets being held and moved around behind the screen and in front of the light makes for a very enjoyable puppetry viewing experience.

Phare Cambodia Circus Performance (1am from 8am to 9pm)

Experience Cambodia's arts and culture with the 1-hour Phare Circus Show and see renowned artists from Phare Ponleu Selpak Arts and Social Center from Battambang perform a combination of modern theater, music , dance, acrobatics and more.
Many of the performers have deeply personal stories of abuse and hardship, making their talent triumph over disadvantage. An inspiring night of fun for both adults and children. However, visitors note that there will be no animals used in the show, so you can rest assured.

Smile of Angkor Grand E-pic show (2.5 hours)

The Smile of Angkor Grand Epic Show in Siem Reap is a show that recreates the Angkor Civilization in all its splendor.
This performance will show you the history and culture of Cambodia, dancers from the Royal Ballet of Cambodia as well as from China take you to the time when the temples of Angkor were built. Did you know that Smile of Angkor is a high-tech laser show with the most modern sound and light system in Cambodia. This show combines ancient Cambodian songs and dances with impressive ancient Khmer martial arts performances. Along with acrobatics, legends, local Khmer life, Angkor temples and Khmer festivals, the Hindu legend Churning the Sea of ​​Milk.
Performance will start at 7:15pm with 2.5 hours of performance but if you want dinner included you must arrive at 6pm.

Angkor Dynasty show (1:15 from 7:30-8:45pm)

An enjoyable evening, you can't help but visit the Angkor Opera House in Siem Reap for an interesting discovery about Cambodian history and culture. At the same time, you will witness world-class theatrical production with stunning technology and unique visual effects.

Cambodia's live art show

This is the organization whose mission is to bring traditional art back to the lives of Cambodian people. At the same time directing it in a new direction, more modern, more quality. Cambodia Living Arts is a place to train musicians, dancers, singers and other performers, more importantly, to provide them with props to make a living from the arts. Schedule daily performances at the capital's National Museum, open from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. Shows the efforts of the team organizing the program very seriously and professionally. The Traditional Dance Program takes the audience on a journey of discovery from the palaces of Angkor to present-day villages through performances of songs, music and theater arts.

5. Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Center

This is also one of the most unique zoos in Cambodia, Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Centre, you can visit your favorite animals time and again. You can find different kinds of species here with around 1200 animals. There are two kinds of tour to visit this zoos, if you just visit zoo to see animal and cannot feed them, it is does not cost high as you can arrange by your own way to go there but if you would like to get close with animal like feed elephants or bears, this kind tour, you need to buy a package with join tour group that only arrange by Wildlife rescue Center themselves that departure from pick up point in Phnom Penh at 8:00am and back late afternoon.

6. Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum & Choeng Ek Memorial

Commonly known as The Killing Fields, Choeung Ek is a reminder of Cambodia's tragic recent past. The site indeed isn't the most cheerful place to visit in Cambodia. Yet, this cornerstone of ‘dark tourism does a very good job of putting human faces to the mindboggling statistics of the Khmer Rouge and its 1.7 million victims.

 

The museum and memorial can be extremely instructive in terms of coming to grips with what actually happened during those terrible years, which is what makes it visiting them one of the more popular things to do in Cambodia.
Above places historical site located in Phnom Penh, Cambodia as open from 7:30am to 5:30pm.

7. Tonle Sap Great Lake (Fresh water lake)

The lake of Tonle Sap in Siem Reap is the largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia. During the monsoon season, between June and October, it creates a massive and extremely diverse natural environment, including flooded forests and wetlands.
 
This helps it turn into a home for a dizzying array of exotic wildlife. You can also find some remarkable sights of human activity around the lake; in the form of several floating villages you can do visit as:
Chong Kneas where is closer and the main port with floating house around as you can visit full year but this place more commercial than other villages.
Kampong Phluk: This village can be said to be a unique village among the villages around Tonle Sap Lake in Siem Reap due to having the largest mangrove forest in the area. This place is called a flooded forest because it is underwater for a fifth of the time.

The area of Kompong Phluk and the larger Tonle Sap Lake is a UNESCO biosphere reserve. It is home to unique species of plants, fish and animals, many of which are particularly endangered. But this village has limited time to visit by boat because it is available and beautiful to see from August to late February (depending on how fast the water level rises & falls).

Kampong Kleang: is the most remote settlement in Cambodia, only 50 km from Siem Reap to the south. Which means Kompong Khleang is the largest village in Cambodia but not a popular destination with many tour companies in the tour. Therefore, making Kompong Khleang welcome a much lower number of tourists than other tourist destinations, only 10 to 15 visitors per day.
So the village is still very pristine and not touristy, making it especially fresh and safe, friendly with nature. Currently, Kompong Khleang is the most beautiful of the three villages, although it is not a village like a town with all basic amenities.
Tourists coming here are very surprised because there are not only houses on stilts about 10m high. You can even see impressive schools and temples floating on the water. The village moves depending on the flow of the lake depending on the season.
 
While, Mechrey is one of four villages within commuting distance from Siem Reap on the shores of Tonle Sap Lake. This is a floating village that is not known to many tourists. It only takes you about 45 minutes to move to the pier. You will get to admire and have the opportunity to experience some of the beautiful Cambodian countryside. At the pier, guests will enjoy a relaxing 30-minute motorboat ride through the waterways. Going to the village, you get to socialize and meet the local communities that call Mey Chrey home. The guide will interpret to help you understand more about the way of life and activities of the people in the village. The floating life of people living in floating houses on boats is different from that on land, so it promises to bring you a lot of fun.
8. Battambang Bat Cave - Visit Deadly Cave

This cave located at the foot of Sampeou mountain is Battambang Bat Cave. Another name is Death Cave, which has long been one of the most visited tourist attractions in Cambodia because of its rare uniqueness. This place is home to bats, which are nocturnal birds, which come out of their burrows at night.

Many visitors come to the cave and sit down to watch the bats fly out of the cave in the evening as the sun sets over the nearby treetops and branches. You witness this very interesting scene and it lasts for about 40 minutes which is very interesting. After 10 minutes you should leave the cave to ensure your safety.
In addition to this place, there are many other places that you can visit such as Banan Pagoda, Ek Phnom Pagoda, bamboo train ride, pagodas, old houses and cycling along villages full of fresh fruit.

9. Elephant Valley Project's Elephant Bath

Visitors are interested in the Elephant Valley project in Mondulkiri. This is a group of dedicated individuals who are passionate about their work towards the care and conservation of abandoned, injured, overworked and orphaned elephants.

This project is well known as an "elephant back to elephant" place, where EVP feeds, protects and provides shelter for elephants. Visitors should make reservations before coming here to have the opportunity to be with these gentle, extremely lovable creatures. You can also play and swim with these elephants. Best you don't ride on them and add to their misery.

10. Beaching – Relax at the Laid-Back

Cambodia is famous for its laid-back, most pleasant beaches in Southeast Asia. Can not to be not to the beach as Sihanoukville, Kep, Koh Rong, Koh Rong Sanloem and Ream, bringing visitors comfort and stunning views.
 
If some guests want to find a private island, there are some private ones like Koh Krobey, Song Saa private Island.

Coming to this place, guests can bask in the sun, lie comfortably on their backs and recline. Relaxing activities and massages, dining at beach shacks, snorkeling in Cambodia, fishing & boating, and many more. You can also experience island hopping in Cambodia although it is a bit risky but it is worth a try in Cambodia for all customers.

11. Experience with local market visit or shopping

If you love shopping, then visiting locals’ markets will definitely be one of the most fun things to do in Cambodia for you. From local food, souvenirs, clothing and fake designer items to precious gemstones, you’ll find it all in local market such as Phsar Thmei (Phnom Penh’s Central Market), Russian market, Old market in Siem Reap, Night market both Siem Reap and Phnom Penh, Central market in Siem Reap and Phsar Le Market (real local market) in Siem Reap.