Siem Reap is like a NZ country town, as is most of Cambodia 
Actually, Cambodia is like a big farm, with all the dirt roads and motor bikes.
It’s a dirt bike riders dream. Siem Reap’s drawcard is the Angkor ruins. Often causually referred to Angkor Wat, or the temples of Angkor, it really is a huge city, which apparently rivaled Ancient Rome in size and population. Angkor Wat is the city’s predominant temple. I found it very peaceful walking around inside. There were a few groups of Cambodian students sitting around in the temple who liked to practice their English by talking to foreigners. The grounds of the Angkor city are really nice, huge moats and tree lined roads. One of the many other temples – Ta Phrom, is situated in the jungle (bush) and has been left uncleared, so it has all these trees growing in and around it. It featured in the film Tomb Raider.
At Angkor Wat there are heaps of kids all selling the same set of stuff. I sat down and had lunch and talked to a few of them, its pretty hard not too, you can’t escape. “Sir, bracelet?”
“No thanks”
“For your girlfriend?”
“I don’t have one”
“For when you have a girlfriend?”
“I don’t like girls”
“For your boyfriend?”
“I don’t like boys”
“For your mother?”
and so on and so on
The next day I rented a beast of a 100cc motorcycle. I hadn’t driven it more than 20m before I got pulled over by Mr. Plod. I didn’t realise it but I was about to go the wrong way down a one way street. $2US later the guy was as happy as larry and I was on my way. It wasn’t the last time I got fined. The police sit in a group next to a one way street and I’m sure they are justing waiting for that dumb foreigner or unluckly local to make a wrong move. I went to the Bantrey Srei temple about 30km out of Siem Reap, it was a very pleasant drive through the country side and several small villages. All along the route little kids shouted out “Hull-lo!”, sometimes it would be a group of kids and it would be a chorus of Hull-lo!s. Sometimes it would be followed by “What is your name?” but its hard to have a conversation travelling at 60km/hr. I also went and saw some carvings in a river bed at a place called Kbal Spien. On the way back I caught the sunset at Phonm Bakheng, a small hill in the Angkor grounds.
I wanted to go and see this waterfall at a place called Phnom Kulen. However, the price was was staggered for foreigners. It was 2000riel ($1) for a Cambodian, and $20US for a foreigner. Foreigners pay more for national parks here, among other things. I guess it’s like a tax for the rich, but I couldn’t justify spending that much for a waterfall. Sorry Mother Nature. After turning away from the “toll booth” I was beckoned over by some locals who looked like park workers. They invited me to have lunch with them. They couldn’t speak English and communication was poor but they laughed when I ate a spicy hot herb and almost cried. Warning: anything in a small dish is probably spicy.
On my way back I cruised through the grounds of Angkor on my Honda Dream motorcycle (as popular motocycle as the Toyota Camry is car) and one of the teenagers I had lunch with yesterday pulled up alongside me on her push bike. I chatted to her for a while and vowed to go back the next day to buy something from her. When I went back the next day, the word got around that someone was buying things and soon I had about 10-12 kids and a deafening huge chorus of “sir X?” where X is one of bracelet, shirt, scarf, postcard, book, etc. I started become disorientated with the crowd and all the commotion, like a stock trader in the pit. So I began to buy my way out of the noise. A million bracelets, a flute, a t-shirt, a plastic bag, more film, and some fruit later I still hadn’t exhausted the supply and had to stop, but I knew it was going to be painful.
“Oh sir please sir please buy from me”
“I can’t, I can’t buy from everyone”
“Oh Mr pleaaaase”
“I’ll come back”
“I will wait you”
“OK, I’ll come back next year”
“Oh sir please why not?”
“I have to go now”
“I will wait you forever”
And still, the little girl waits. After being wished good luck my job, good luck my family, good luck forever, and laden with enough goods to start my own shop, I disappeared into the night. Note: if you are a softie like me, put aside some money in your budget for trinklets and associated goods you probably don’t need, otherwise you are going to need an iron will.
I was really enjoying Siem Reap, and wasn’t ready to leave, so the next day I decided to check out some of the town’s other attractions. One is a landmine museum run by Mr Aki Ra. Whilst a young impressible child Mr Aki Ra was recruited by the Khmer Rouge, before being captured by the Vietnamese army. He then fought against the Khmer Rouge. He has some pretty unbelievable stories to tell. These days he clears the country side of landmines, landmines he himself would have set in the days of the civil war. He has a stock pile of defused landmines for perusal at his home/converted museum, as well as weapons and lots of information about the war. He built his house on stilts, accessable only by ladder which he rolled up at night, because people used to nick his stuff.
Siem Reap is located next to one of the most biodiverse and fish abundant lakes in the world – Tonle Sap. I went for a cruise through the local floating village Chong Kneas, and a swim in the very warm waters. Here is a picture of the floating catholic church, the only church I have seen in Cambodia so far.
On the way back it started to rain and the tour operator invited me to his home to escape the rain. It was a tiny hut on stilts for a family of maybe 4 or 5. I also was taken to the local village spacies, 3 old sega master system type machines hooked up to TVs. One hour on the cartridge console was maybe 1000 riel (50cents). I also came across some arcade machines in Siem Reap proper. The games were old with 1 credit costing a whopping 100riel (5cents). Nice.
