2013 Cambodia – Siam Reap
22nd December 2013
We arrived in Siem Reap, Cambodia where a hotel transfer was part of the deal and not only did it turn up for once, but it also included two members of staff who presented us with lotus flowers. They greeted us like we were royalty and took our suitcases to a Mercedes waiting outside. It was nighttime and quite chilly so when they presented us with freezing cold face towels it wasn’t as welcome as it would have been during the day but it was the thought that counted so we pretended to enjoy it.
Considering Cambodia’s troubled past, I was expecting Siem Reap to be run down so I was surprised to see on our journey from the airport, a line of luxury hotels on either side of the roads with the kind of Christmas lights I had only ever seen in the big houses in Beverly Hills. By the time we got to town, the place was alive with activity and one area called Pub Street was a mass of lights and people. We had booked a good hotel but it was down a sleazy alley with dodgy-looking clubs where girls sat on chairs outside, but our hotel was very welcoming and during a welcome drink they gave us information about our stay there.
It claimed to be a “boutique hotel” which Wikipedia told me was a “small hotel with a luxurious and unique design.” One unique aspect appeared to be a view of typical Thai workers carrying out their trades in the large building site opposite us, accompanied by an orchestra of hammers starting at 7 am every morning. There was no gym but the architect employed a unique method of exercise by placing the power sockets in such awkward places that I had a thorough workout each day by laying in various positions to plug in our multitude of chargers. Then there were the little stones around the expensive-looking sink placed in such a way that the only place to put toiletries was on the floor, requiring several strenuous squats to complete daily ablutions. One thing I noticed during the holiday was that hotels were no longer providing much cupboard space and in that hotel there was not a single drawer or cupboard. It must be said though that it was a good little hotel and the staff was amazing.
The hotel came with several freebies, one of which was our own tuk-tuk driver who would take us anywhere we wanted during our stay. Siem Reap was famous for its many temples with the most famous being our first stop, Angkor Wat. As we drove along the small road leading to it we overtook elephants carrying tourists and then suddenly the huge temple was in front of us. We were expecting it to be overcrowded but it wasn’t too bad and with the site being so big there was plenty of room for everyone. Walking down the path leading to Angkor Wat was magical but after half an hour of ruins, the magic wore off and one statue was much the same as another although there were plenty to keep my interest. There was one statue that I was convinced was the inspiration for the creator of Homer Simpson. 
And another that must have been the original Mr Grumpy. 
It was also interesting to see enormous roots from ancient trees that had forced themselves through the stones to become part of the structure. 
We read from several sources that most people became “templed out” after two days but we thought we would be clever and do a third day which was a mistake. They were so big and scattered all over the place that halfway through the third day we admitted defeat and went back to town.
I wouldn’t have believed it possible but the problem of street sellers in Cambodia was even worse than Viet Nam. One girl walked with us for half an hour constantly asking Federika to buy something and when she finally gave up, someone else took her place offering the same things. 
On our first day, Federika bought a book about the temples and carried it around with her but people still tried to sell her the same book saying they would give her a special price for a second. Mothers kept their children from school to sit with them all day as it was harder to resist a young child selling something than an adult.
Most heartbreaking of all was the child beggars in town. One girl of around ten years old carried a baby in a sling, asking for money so she could buy milk for her baby sister.
We had been looking forward to eating a lot of fish thinking it would be plentiful and cheap but that was a big disappointment. Fish was not often on the menu and when it was it was usually small fillets smothered in sauce whereas we generally preferred the whole fish. Pub Street in Sean Reap was always buzzing and there were lots of large, open-air restaurants with some great-looking fish in chilled trays that we could choose from. We both ordered what looked like and was labelled “Red Snapper.” When it was served it looked fantastic but my underpants would have tasted more like red snapper. I managed to conceal the flavour slightly with a plate of French fries and struggled through half of it but Federika who was more discerning than me, couldn’t manage a second bite. Maybe it was off or maybe it was a river fish which din’t usually taste very good. Either way, it was the end of our fish-eating experience in cambodia.
2013 South East Asia
