Cambodia 2020 - 4. First Impressions of Siem Reap

4. First Impressions of Siem Reap

Hotel Would Buy Whatever Fruit We Wanted - This is Jack Fruit

We had a great, late breakfast. The breakfasts were extensive enough. Any kind of Western egg breakfast you can think of was available, plus pancakes. Additionally, a nice selection of Cambodian breakfasts, which were mostly rice and noodle based, was offered. The portions were not huge but adequate. Coffee, tea, 2 different juices, milk, an assortment of fresh fruits, cereal, croissants, butter and jams were all available on a self-serve basis. They even went to the market to purchase fruits we wanted to try. So we had mango, papaya, jack fruit and salak at various times. If you left the table hungry it was your fault.

Every time I go someplace new, I explore the area around me on foot.

I try to memorize where we are in relation to some land marks I see.

I do not take any transportation for that, it helps me to orient myself if I walk, it’s a slow walk, just wandering around, gawking at stuff.

Our plan for the month was to have a good breakfast at the Hotel, have a small lunch of crackers and cheese and fruit; and then find dinner someplace around 6 PM.

Well, our Hotel was a bit off the beaten track, we would need to take a tuk-tuk to visit a supermarket to pick up groceries for our lunches. We looked at each other and decided lets walk to find the supermarket the Hotel Concierge Ana, told us about.

Watch Your Step

So we started to walk on this second day. Naturally, people looked at us funny; Westerners don’t walk much in Cambodia. Everybody takes a tuk-tuk. And we found out quickly why walking is not a good idea, at least not on the outskirts of Siem Reap. The maintenance of roads and sidewalks, if they exist, is not a Cambodian priority. Super clean it was not. Cambodia has lots of free roaming dogs who defecate wherever; you need to dance around it. Plastic trash is strewn about on a side street near our hotel. Even in the town center the sidewalks are uneven and you need to be aware of each step you take. There might be things in the way; permanently or temporarily, like

Mopping the Sidewalk In Front of a Bar

when someone dumps water on the sidewalk. The Public Sanitation Department needs to be on the agenda of the next Town Hall Meeting in Siem Reap, but I doubt this will happen. Stuff like Hygiene, Public Safety, Environmental responsibilities seems unimportant in a 3^rd world country.

Tuk-tuks Are Everywhere

The necessity to take a tuk-tuk occurred to me quickly; I hailed the tuk-tuk like you hail a taxi in NYC. Just wave and someone will stop and take you to wherever you need to go. The trip costs us $2 U.S. to ride to the ‘Lucky Mall’ Supermarket.

Let’s talk about money in Cambodia for a moment. Most prices listed are in U.S. currency. While officially Cambodia has their own fiat money, most people deal in U.S. dollars. Nobody will accept coins. Even in their local currency (Riel) Cambodia has no coins. The exchange rate hovers always around 4000. One U.S. dollar = 4000 Riel.  So a 1000 Riel is a U.S. quarter ($.25). Which made me magnanimous; I paid only in full U.S. Dollars and let them keep the change. I was a popular man in Cambodia.

Lucky Supermarket

Back to the Supermarket:  “Lucky Supermarket” is a smallish version of a typical U.S. supermarket offering food for Westerners. Stuff like Pringles, cheddar cheese, assorted crackers, fancy nuts, soda pop and beer etc is available. There is also Cambodian food available.

Cambodians buy at the ‘Old Market’ but I will write about that tomorrow.

We did our food shopping for a few lunches and took the tuk-tuk back to the hotel.

Now, you just don’t step into a tuk-tuk and tell the driver where to go; All ‘negotiations’ are done BEFORE you sit down inside the tuk-tuk. These negotiations can be lively, but for the short trip (5 minutes back to the Hotel) the prices are almost fixed.

Our return tuk-tuk driver did not speak English; we had a map with us, given to us by the hotel as well as the Hotel business card. I showed the man where we had to go using both, the map and the business card. We agreed to the fare of $1.50 and sat down, holding our purchases from the supermarket in our laps.

We Are Lost

I thought the tuk-tuk driver knew where he had to go, he went back the way we came and I started to relax but then he made a left into a main road I did not remember. After 3 minutes I alerted the driver and pantomimed he is on the wrong road. Now what?

I could tell he was lost, too. He did not know our Hotel which was off the beaten track. So, as best I could, from memory, I guided the guy back the way we came. It was not that easy but we made it back to the Hotel alright. We rode that tuk-tuk for 20 minutes with all the detours we had to make. All that time spent finding our hotel for just $1.50.

Home At Last (Front of the Anusa Residence and Spa).

I felt a bit sorry for this fellow, but what else could I have done?

I gave him $2 for the fare and he was very happy.

I told you I was magnanimous.