Cambodia is unlike anywhere I had ever been before. The closest thing I can remember is the more rural parts of Mexico. This is not paradise. The streets are mostly paved but remnants of the old dirt roads are everywhere. Anyone wanting an all inclusive Dubai resort vacation would be sadly disappointed.
The Cambodians are surviving, and Siem Reap shows signs that they could thrive one day. It's a poor country but make no mistake this a place of history, culture, art, and of course good old fashioned commerce.
When we arrive at the airport, the hotel has a few tuk tuks there to pick us up- our first introduction to this form of transportation. For those who don't know, a Cambodian tuk tuk is basically a motorcycle propelled rikshaw, the designs get more advanced depending on the country but the basic idea remains the same.
Once we get to our hotel, we are cordially greeted by the staff and given a towel and water. They were almost a little too helpful, trying to get us to set up a tour of the temples or silk farm right then and there. We had to explain that we were tired and would need to settle in. This almost annoying helpfulness would pervade our stay even though I am sure they meant well. We ended up insisting that we would walk into town.
On our walk, we walked past many broken buildings- neglected due to lack of money. The most striking of which was a beautiful Chinese style hotel that looked it was burnt out. I guessed it might have been from the era of Pol Pot but I never confirmed this.
Also on our way we encountered many roadside food stands, Buddhist monks, and more tuk tuk drivers. We often wondered whether "hey lady, you want a tuk tuk?" was the only English they knew. In fact, many t-shirts and bags in the market were plastered with the saying to poke fun at the tuk tuk drivers and possibly the agony of the tourists.
We went to the Artisans of Angkor that afternoon, and witnessed the process of how they learned their craft from stone carving to wood to creating metal souvenirs. What was stressed was the quality control process it went through, and how the items were of higher quality than those found in the night market. Convinced by the sales pitch, I bought myself a $1 bookmark and some souvenirs for others which I won't disclose at this time.
The night ended at The Singing Tree, a great cheap restaurant where we consumed the economical Angkor beer, and gorged ourselves on 5 large portions of veggie spring rolls and potato chips. Apparently Cambodia did not get the memo that you only get 2 spring rolls per plate for an inflated price. Anyway, we had our mains after that, before squeezing ourself into the hotel tuk tuks and back to rest for the night.
Next adventure... "Steven P and The Temple of Doom"
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