First Observations of Cambodia

- They have yet another form of Autorickshaw here, also called the Tuk-Tuk as in Thailand. The design is totally different however, as it is a regular small motorbike, like a Honda Dream, with a trailer attached that holds up to 4 people. It actually is the nicest ride of all of them, because it is not enclosed, so you get a lot of air and can see the view. They also drive at very safe speeds since a 125cc motorbike is not exactly designed as a towing machine. Here is a photo of one, from someone else.

- We ran into one of Nisha's classmates in her SCUBA course at Angkor Wat yesterday and got a first-hand account of the Koh San Road/Bangkok tourist bus to Siem Reap. Evidently everything was fine until the border where aggressive touts convinced half the people to change all their Baht to US dollars at a really terrible exchange rate. Then the ride that took us 3 hours in a cab takes 9 hours in the bus, so they can deliver you to a second rate guesthouse at the edge of town. Since you arrive at 22:00, it is difficult to get onward transportation, so you end up staying there until the next morning. If you are doing this trip, read our post and this website, do the trip yourself.

- It is really strange how upscale the center of Siem Reap (Bar St.) is, especially considering that the rest of the country is on the India level of rural economic development. There is basically a whole area here of upscale cafes, bars and restaurants which are up to western standards of sophistication, food and service. To give you an idea, we had pizza from a real brick oven and home-made raviolis last night. One thing I have read is that a lot of these establishments are run by westerners, as there are no regulations here that make owning a business difficult for foreigners, as in most Asian countries. This may very well be true, because some of the restaurants go out of their way to say that they are run by actual Khemrs (Cambodians). This may not be great for the locals, but is good for the consumers, as the level of service is high in both the western and local owned establishments. Lets here it for open market competition.

- Strangely enough, the fact that they use US dollars here, rather then some foreign funny money, makes us feel poorer then in India or Thailand. Things are about the same price here, but when you pay 240 Baht for a nice pizza in Thailand, you do not really think about it as 7 dollars or so, it just seems like some small amount of your total wad of usually over 10,000 Baht. Here the pizza will still cost 7 dollars, granted this is a tourist place and it is as good as pizza I pay 14 dollars for at home, but it still seems expensive. The same goes for beer costing $1.50 rather then 60 Baht. Actually the main thing that is cheap here so far is accommodation (15 dollars for the best value hotel of the trip - Golden Temple Villa) and the Internet (75 cents an hour). Food is the same price as India or Thailand for the level of quality, but the cheap food carts here sell roasted snakes and entrails, and are not really set up for westerners. No more 25 Baht noodle soup for us.

- Even though Siem Reap is very touristy, it nice to be back in a place where people are more happy to see the tourists and their money arrive then in Thailand. Thais are still very nice, but they can often seem jaded at the endless cycle of budget travellers that tromp around their country. Especially since many of these travellers are drunken assholes or sex-tourists, their attitude is somewhat understandable. Khemrs have so far seemed much more honestly friendly and happy to talk to you, and the scene here is a little more grown up, and less like Cancun.

- Do your self a favor and search for something dumb like "Cancun Drunk" on flickr. There are a lot of gems out there I found while searching for that picture. Like this.