Old Market

This guide to the Old Market in Siem Reap starts with the Tonle Sap, the vast lake north of town whose river famously reverses course once a year, filling the lake before draining it out again months later. It follows that catch from lake to market stall, where vendors skin and scale fish caught that same morning alongside buckets of live eels and frogs bound for the grill. You'll hear how the market's grilled frogs and baguettes trace back to the French colonial decades when this became the heart of town. Come in the early morning to see the catch still moving before the afternoon crowd drifts toward Pub Street.