Angkor National Museum—Siem Reap, Cambodia. - History Museums on Waymarking.com

This museum is in the Cambodian city of Siem Reap. This city is the gateway to the world heritage site of Angkor Wat, which lies only a few kilometres to the north of the city centre. The many tourists, who visit Angkor, provide a major stimulus to the emerging Cambodian economy. I have seen the construction of this museum over the past few years. I am now glad to say that it was worth the wait. As at August 2010, the museum is open for business (though some of the ancillary buildings are not yet fully operational).

The two story museum building is well designed, spacious, and clearly intended to have a long life, no doubt in order to accommodate the increasing number of tourists, who will visit Angkor Wat over the coming years and decades.

The museum concentrates on the history and culture of 'ancient Cambodia', the period of Angkor Wat and the expansion of the Kymer empire, a period which lies approximately one thousand years in the past. There is no reference to more recent events. Within this design the museum does an excellent job. There are a plethora of artefacts from the period, carefully arranged, described and presented. There are also several multimedia presentations. The displays are multilingual.

Topics on exhibit: Buddhism and related religious belief; Pre-Angkor civilisation; Khmer Kings; Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom; traditional costumes and life.

If museums are your interest, expect to spend half a day, or more.


Cost: for Cambodian nationals $3us, for foreigners $12us. (The USA dollar is the de facto currency in Cambodia.). There are audio tours in a variety of languages, a deposit box facility, assistants in the museum to answer questions. Everything. Photography—the rules are a little unclear, payment is listed as $2us, but I was excused this when I visited. Also, precisely what is allowed and is not allowed is unclear, at this time. Thus, I am limiting photos of the interior of the museum to those designated as a 'public area', as opposed to the exhibition galleries.

Theme: Cultural history. Political history. Street Address: No. 968, Vithei Charles de Gaulle, Khrum 6, Phoum Salakanseng Khom Svaydangum Siem Reap District, Siem Reap Province, Kingdom of Cambodia. tel: 885-63-966-601 Food Court: yes Gift Shop: yes Hours of Operation: 08.30-18.00 everyday. Cost: 3.00 (listed in local currency) Museum Size: Medium Relevant Web Site: [Web Link]

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