ROAD 60 (HOKSAP)

Drinking Palm Wine With The Locals

Palm wine, or palm juice, is the second most popular drink in Cambodia. The best place in Siem Reap to experience the taste of palm wine is at HokSap. HokSap means ’60’ in Khmer and getting invited to drink palm juice at Pleu HokSap (Road 60) means you’re definitely going to have a great time!

Drinking Palm Wine With The Locals

Palm wine is extracted from the palm tree and has a short lifespan of only one day. It’s a 100% natural product, since nothing is added. The alcohol percentage is around 4%.

Each day the local vendor extracts the palm wine from the palm tree and sells it at his street stand at road 60. We were invited by Mr Lean, the owner of our favorite place to join him during one of his trips to extract the juice from the palm tree.

Palm juice is not only popular in Cambodia, but many other places in the world. In Cambodia it may be referred to as palm wine or palm juice. Unlike rice wine, which is illegal in Cambodia, extracting or drinking palm wine is totally legal.

How to get to HokSap?

The cheapest way to get to HokSap (Road 60) is by hiring a bicycle, electric bike or use PassApp or Grab. The trip will take around 15 minutes and cost you around $2. Any driver will know how to find HokSap. Tell him you’re planning to drink palm wine and he will drop you at the right spot.

Traveling by tuktuk takes the same time, but will cost you up to $5, depending on your driver. Walking is not an option, since Road 60 is about 9 km from the center of Siem Reap.

How much does Palm Wine cost?

Palm juice at Road 60 is served in a big jar and you’ll get a number of small plastic cups. One jar will cost you 3000 Cambodian riel. One jar is normally enough for 2 or 3 people to enjoy the time at Road 60.Drink slow and eat some food. If not, you’ll be too drunk to enjoy the rest of your evening and night.

You can eat snakes, some beef an pork at mr Leans’ shop or if that’s not your thing, buy some potato chips or other food items at the nearby shop.

Timing is essential

The best time to drink palm juice is between 6 and 8 pm. If you visit later, there is a big chance all the palm wine is sold. If that’s the case, you can still enjoy your time, because there’s always enough beer in stock!

Where to drink Palm Wine?

Road 60 is a long road and it’s also a local collective name for the whole area. The exact place to drink palm juice, is NOT near the market stands, but opposite The Sokha Convention Center.

There are not many vendors who sell palm juice and since they have no way to stock the palm wine, they only extract a limited amount of palm wine each day to sell.

Mr Lean’s shop can be found at the beginning of the entrance to the volleyball fields.

Location

LEARN TO DRINK BEER or PALM WINE LIKE A LOCAL

If you want to make sure you know everything you need to know about drinking beer or palm juice with the locals, make sure you read this article: ‘How to drink beer with the locals in Cambodia‘