Cambodia

Third day in Cambodia. First impression? 'Khmer national kitchen', 'Khmer dance show'- who the hell are khmers?? I new there is Angkor wat in Siem reap, did they opened a new tourist attraction place called khmers? So for yours and mine information, khmers are predominant ethic group in cambodia, accounting for approximately 90% of 15.2 million people of the country. And yes, to confirm the fact - I visited Angkor wat. Secondly - I'm very pessimistic about touristic places but this huge area where Angkor is with all surrounding temples is just beautiful. Also went to khmer dinner show - wanted to touch the base of their national dishes and dances. It was actually basic buffet, nothing special, and the dances didn't impress a lot - repetitiveness in music and some mystical explanation hidden under each dance. In general I feel like a food in Cambodia is a mix between vietnamese, Chinese and local cuisine (actually they mostly add local spices to foreign dishes and call them 'cambodian'). The only truly different dishes I had was lok lak and amok. Both were ok but nothing magical. Siem reap as a town didn't leave the big impression - it's just ok. Still lots of tourists (and it's not the high season!), children begging for money, Pub street for tourists and local girls saying they are not interested in Cambodian boys. What surprised me the most? It seems that there exists just three price groups - 1 dollar (for tuk tuk, basic food and drinks), 3 dollar (bigger main meal) and 15-20 dollar for tourist attractions. And dual money system - dollars go along with Cambodian riel which makes it a bit difficult to understand. Also they all speak amazingly good English. Time to leave Siem reap and start my journey around Cambodia. Yay!

P.s. I take my word back of saying 'nothing magical' in Cambodian dishes - I had the most amazing fish amok tonight in Battambang, Nary kitchen! Total orgasm.Read more