Siem Riep

My cousin from Holland and her partner live here in Siem Riep so we catch up. I haven’t seen her in some years and it’s the first time we’ve met each other’s respective partners. They head off to work for a few hours and we walk into town for a foot massage ($US6/hour). Relaxed we enjoy the trees and lights reflecting on the Siem Riep River.

We join my cousin to eat at Nest. This is a fine dining experience that is ridiculously affordable. I eat a braised pork belly and quail egg starter followed by fish amok (a traditional Khmer dish) while Paul takes a garden vegetable soup followed by roast duck breast with potatoes. There’s a great selection of wines but Paul and I don’t drink so we stick with fresh juices. It’s an absolutely lovely introduction to Siem Riep where we will stay for the next four nights.

At the Old Market you can buy all the usual touristy items here. Buddhas, t-shirts, sarongs, prints of paintings and jewellery. And, as with the rest of South East Asia, the vendors aren’t shy about encouraging you to buy. The t-shirt vendors all proudly announced that they had shirts in our sizes. The Buddha statue sellers all insisted their statues were the best price. The jewellery shops all tried to persuade us everything was the genuine article. We wanted to buy some paintings so used this visit as a recce. Prices would start at $US50 or $US35 depending on the size of the piece. Showing interest the promising to return tomorrow would instantly bring the price down to $US30 or $US20. Walking away made it cheaper again ($US25 and $US15 respectively). I’m sure we could have haggled a price but we weren’t yet sure of what we wanted to choose so no purchases were made (later they will be though).

At night Pub Street is an assault on our senses. Particularly after the lake. Bars compete to play their music the loudest. Stalls line the street selling cocktails and beer. Tuk tuk drivers offer lifts. And Westerners give the locals a terrible idea of what our countries and cultures are like. This is travel at its worst. And it happens here every night. If you’ve not been here you can’t imagine it. Nightmares are preferable to time spent on Siem Riep’s Pub Street; possibly one of the most culturally damaging experiences. Not to the culture of local people but to the reputation and culture of all Caucasian people. I mean, this is all some Cambodian people will ever experience of our cultures so no wonder the more conservative might believe our cultures are depraved or immoral.

While in Siem Riep we have our teeth cleaned ($US8) and see a movie.Read more