Cambodia Misc

Before coming to Cambodia, I had heard mixed reviews about what it is like here. From some, I had heard that the people are the friendliest in the world; from others, I had heard that it is very poor and the people make you uncomfortable. I preferred to listen to the advice of those who had spoke positively about it and was therefore optimistic that the people really would be wonderful, and they were! Not once did I feel uncomfortable here (well, except for maybe in the markets when the vendors wouldn’t back off…) and the people went out of their way to help us out. Overall, I would say Cambodia is a must visit location!

An example of this niceness was when I lost my ticket at one of the wats. We showed up to go into the next temple and I couldn’t find it anywhere! The guy at the gate radioed the last temple and sure enough, they had found it, but they told me I needed to go back and get it or else they couldn’t let me it, but I couldn’t find my driver. So, this official looking guy gave me a ride on his motorbike and we recovered the ticket in no time!

The one thing I was surprised by is how much more expensive it was here than I was expecting. After everything being so cheap in Thailand, it was a shock to come to Siem Reap and see food prices that were comparable to those back home! (Except for the beer, which was only $1!) We learned quickly to stay away from the main restaurants and just look for the local vendors. Admission to Angkor Wat was also a bit steep, but I feel better hoping that my $37 entry fee is going towards the restoration of those ancient monuments. I should also mention that, to make things really fun, Cambodia uses two currencies: US Dollars and Cambodian Riel. $1 is equal to 4000 riel. You could pay in either currency and often you’d get a mix of the currencies back in change. Throughout this entire trip, I have been recording every penny spent and this has made that record keeping significantly more challenging!

My favorite night market vendor makes a mean chicken fried rice for only $1.50 and she does it all while sitting on her motorbike. 🙂

Oh, and the other cheap thing that was quite nice were the $5, or less, foot massages! I think all of the massages I got in Southeast Asia COMBINED still cost me less than one massage in the states…wow! Ever had a FISH massage?! For the low price of $3, you can have fish eat the dead skin off your feet. What a weird sensation!

Many of the people in Siem Reap drive motorbikes and tuk tuks. We came across an interesting way for them to fill up their tanks. Gas poured from tequila bottles!