Linga Bar
Siem Reap (Angkor Wat)
** Note - this is not in Penom Phen, it is a new city to add to the listings, Siem Reap which is the city for tourists visiting Angkor Wat **
Gay Bar that also serves snacks in the center of Siem Reap.
Neighbourhood: Old Market
Located on the small street between Bar Street and Old Market Street. Across from the MacDermott Art Gallery. Easy to find and everyone seems to know where it is... A tuk-tuk from most hotels is a couple of dollars. If they don't know, just ask for Bar Street and find it on the next block
- Directions:Located on the small street between Bar Street and Old Market Street. Across from the MacDermott Art Gallery. Easy to find and everyone seems to know where it is... A tuk-tuk from most hotels is a couple of dollars. If they don't know, just ask for Bar Street and find it on the next block
- Hours:Open afternoons til after midnight.
- Cruising Info/ Tips:If you sit in the chairs outside, you would not notice any difference between Linga and the hundred other bars in the area. But if you enter and look gay - a 'host boy' will escort you to a seat and become very friendly very fast. First touching your leg, then holding hands, then a peck on the cheek. If you're interested, you can make a deal for massage, etc.... but if not - just make it clear that you are not interested and they will leave you alone... and treat you like a friend and not a potential client. The guys are very entertaining and friendly - they say that they are trying to get some money to keep in school - and I think this is pretty much the case. I was happy to give them a tip just to talk and learn about being gay in Cambodia. Not all speak English, but will find a friend to translate. We went every day - and after the first day when they figured out we weren't interested in massage, they just treated us like old friends and we had a great time... especially when straight tourists happened to come in and eventually figure out that it was a gay bar (some very mixed and funny reactions).
- Nudity / Policy:Nothing happens in the bar - if you want to make a deal, you can get a room somewhere... This is nothing particular to Linga Bar, its common on the street. Over on Bar Street you may be approached on the street by guys offering a 'private tour' of the 'chicken farm' - with all kinds of 'tasty chicken' or 'girls for massage'. When you make it clear that you don't like women - they are fast to change the pitch to a private tour of the 'alligator farm at night' with lots of alligators from lady-boy alligators to alligators in uniform... I would pass on these guys - since they want you to take the tour by tuk-tuk... but its an amusing encounter on your way to Linga Bar.
- Wheelchair Accessible:No / Easy access with seating in the street and no stairs to the lounge area.
- Warnings:You may be overwhelmed by the friendly welcome of a boy who sits next to you at first - but treat it as part of the entertainment and make it clear that you are not interested in massage if you just want to hang out at the only gay bar in town.
Also note that some people may tell you that another gay bar exists - but FIGO bar has been closed for a couple of years now and Linga Bar is the only place in Siem Reap as of Jan 2008.
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