Your Body is a Temple: Getting Fit in Siem Reap

This month saw my first monthly column published in AsiaLIFE magazine. I’ve been a fan of the free publication for well over a year and am thrilled to be its new Siem Reap correspondent. You can read the whole issue online here and I urge you to take a look. Better yet, if you’re in Cambodia, pick up a free copy while you are on your travels.


And here is my thoroughly researched piece on ways to get fit in Siem Reap. There is simply no excuse for avoiding exercise, although I seem to be able to come up with many. That might be the topic of a future blogpost!

 

Your body is a temple: Getting fit in Siem Reap

 

The seduction of ice-cold, fifty cent beers and plates of cheap food is hard to resist for expats and newly arrived tourists alike. But what happens when the boozy late nights and long lazy days get too much? How can one get healthy and feel virtuous in Siem Reap and justify all those $1 cocktails?

Surprisingly, the options for exercise are myriad. At the cheapest end of the scale is a run/jog/crawl around the Royal Gardens, opposite Raffles hotel. Goal-orientated folk can now register for the Angkor Wat Half Marathon, which takes place on 1st December.

Next up the scale of price is Khmer aerobics, a bargain at just 1000 riel for a whole hour of sweating. Not having the right kind of exercise gear is no excuse as many locals rock up in normal day wear, including high heels. As an added bonus you’re likely to learn how to count to 4 in Khmer and possibly some new dance moves. You can find them along the river from 5.15pm.

For those who don’t break out in hives at the thought of going to the gym there are plenty of options in town. Local gyms offer weights and usually a few machines – treadmill, exercise bike and cross-trainer – for about 1500 riel per session. At the other end of the scale you can get air-con, steam rooms, pukka machines and a decent pool at many of the top-end hotels in town. It’s pricier but worth every dollar for the post-workout Jacuzzi.

Team players can find company at 7 Sports, off Wat Bo Road, where a football/ soccer group meets every Tuesday at 7pm. A weekly women’s soccer group meets every Wednesday at 6pm at the Siem Reap Sports Club. For the socially-inclined these are a great way to get fit and meet new people. And justify all the post-game beers. Bike riders can join the Saturday morning ride, which meets at Grasshoppers at 8am and consists of a 30km adventure into the countryside. It costs $5 which includes mountain bike hire.

Those in need of something a little extra to take their bodies from a neglected Beng Melea to the restored wonder of Angkor Wat should get in touch with the Hariharalaya Retreat Centre. Located in countryside near the beautiful Bakong temple, the retreat has yoga classes and meditation sessions. Better yet, they offer a four-day detox program to purge the body of Anchor, Mekong whisky, and all the other indulgences of Pub Street. You can find out more at http://www.hariharalaya.com.

And if none of the above appeals there are always the nightly dance workouts held at Temple and Angkor What bar. Pretty sure lifting a bucket counts as a bicep curl.

                                                                                                                                  

 

 

Tagged: aerobics, Angkor, Asia, Cambodia, cycling, exercise, Fitness, football, gym, Khmer, meditation, Pub Street, Raffles Hotel, retreat, Siem Reap, yoga

Posted in: Everything Else, The Siem Reap Scene