Siem Reap, Cambodia

We left Bangkok and headed for the Cambodian border. We were aware of all the visa scams, etc., that were common when trying to cross. Upon arrival at the Thai border town, we hopped on a free shuttle which we thought would take us to the border; it didn’t. We ended up at some unauthorized building, and before we could realize, we were filling out visa forms and other paper work-it was a scam. After 5 min, we dropped our pens and left with two other chaps and headed on foot towards the “real” border. At the Thai border, immigration was forcing everyone to pay 100 baht ($3) on top of the $20 it costs to get a Cambodian visa. I had read about this scam online, so I refused to pay the sum, and the authorities did not resist. We walked about 500m to the Cambodian border, and the scenery quickly changed. Cambodia is extremely poor, with 35% of people living on less then 35 cents a day. We passed Cambodian immigration and hopped on a free shuttle headed towards the government bus station-not a scam, finally. Sarah and I were able to split a cab to Siem Reap with two nice guys from China and Turkey.

After a long days travel, we arrived at our guesthouse, an amazing place, with tropical gardens and a great restaurant. We sat down and had traditional Cambodian fish amok.  Still to this day it is one of the tastiest things I have ever eaten (fish with spices and vegetables wrapped in a palm leaf). The meal cost us $1.50 each, wow. We headed to bed exhausted, but excited for tomorrow’s exploration.

The next day we rented free bikes from our guesthouse and set out towards the Angkor Temples. These bikes were horrible. Probably 30 years old, with a shitty basket in front. You know the ones I’m talking about... At some of the temples, landmine victims with no legs and arms were playing musical instruments and asking for donations. It was quite a powerful scene, and Sarah got quite emotional. Overall the temples were pretty amazing, although the major ones were very crowded.

That night, we walked around Siem Reap, a great town with a healthy mix of foreigners and Cambodians. Did I mention that pints were 50 cents-unreal! We sat down at an outdoor restaurant, and had a nice meal for $1 each. We were quickly approached by a Cambodian girl trying to sell us bracelets. Sarah told her we already bought many of the same, but she persisted like all Cambodians do. She sat down and started talking to us and we asked her some questions. The girl was 12 years old, and had really good English. We asked her if she went to English school. She said yes, and told us she needed to sell bracelets to pay for school, and that it costs her mom $14 dollars per month. She seemed sincere, and Sarah and I felt really bad. We asked her if she was hungry, she said yes. We decided to order her a plate of fried rice that she split with her friend, she seemed greatful, I think? Not sure if that was a good thing or bad thing, we thought after. I mean, it’s not like we gave her money, she was hungry so we bought her a $1 fried rice, no big deal. It had been a long and tiring day and we were ready to hit the sack and prepare for biking the temples again tomorrow.