Cambodia Dos and Don'ts

I've been to Cambodia four times now and I am DEFINITELY not an expert but I feel like I've had enough experiences around Siem Reap to at least be knowledgeable enough to share some insight.  It is a very complex country but a fascinating one and there is a lot to learn even for those world travelers who think they've seen it all.

So take this advice  ... or not.  Part of the complexity of Cambodia is that everyone has a different opinion on what to see, how to behave and how to help.

DOs

• Buy a temple pass late in the afternoon (I believe the time is after 5pm).  You will be able to enter that evening for free and enjoy the pass on the subsequent days.  
• Getting up at dawn to see Angkor Wat is definitely worth the effort.  The crowd is a lot of fun and the people watching is just as entertaining as seeing the sun come up over the iconic building.  Get there early and rent a red chair.
• The only time to see the Bayon (the temple with the big heads) or Ta Prohm (the temple with the large trees) is either very early in the morning or last thing in the evening.  If you go during the other times, you will be swamped by large collections of Korean tourists who will take pictures of EVERYTHING.  
• Go see Preah Khan.  This is a huge overlooked temple that is one of my favorites.  If you go when it is raining, you will think that you've entered another world.  
• Buy a red wool "bracelet" from an old woman.  It will give you protection when you decide to climb up some of the steeper temples such as Ta Keo.  
• If it's your first time in Cambodia, hire a tour guide.  They will give you some insight into the fascinating history of the temples and also show you the best places to capture that great photo.  
• Drink from a fresh coconut.  Not only is it cheaper than a coke but it is much, much better for you if you're sweating your ... ahem, extremities off.  
• Go enjoy pub street.  Yes, I know, it isn't very "Cambodian" but it sure is a lot of fun and there are some good restaurants (Tigre de Papier, Molly Malone's, Grand Cafe, Khmer Kitchen, Picasso's--not all technically on pub street but close enough).  
• If you can find yourself a local to take you to a karaoke bar, it is well worth it.  These are private rooms and even bad singers can sound remarkably good.  You can have yourself a female escort for a couple of bucks an hour.  Leave with her and it will be more.  (Keep in mind, prostitution in Cambodia is illegal).  
• Go see Apsara dancing.  Intricate steady movements make this an interesting spectacle to watch.  There are a couple of free shows in town but I saw one combined with a buffet and it was a lot of fun.  
• Support the tuk-tuk drivers.  For $2 they will take you all over town.  For $10 to $15 you can have a private driver for the whole day.  
• If you want to take a picture of a monk with their very photogenic orange robes, ask them first.  They are just like regular people and will enjoy practicing their English.  
• Take your shoes off before you enter someone's home.  
• If you would like to help Cambodia, support the organizations that are well established and have a good record.  Here's one that you should help out:  The Savong Foundation.  I'm the CEO so perhaps I'm a little biased.  
• Take the side trips out to Banteay Srei (the incredible "women's temple"), Kbal Spean (with its carved river beds) and especially the sacred mountain of Phnom Kulen (the big waterfall is amazing!).
• Check your money for any rips or tears.  In Cambodia, the main currency is American dollars and they won't take a damaged bill.  No one has ever explained to me why this is so.     
• Buy yourself a local phone for about $20.  You can call your favorite tuk tuk driver to pick you up wherever you are.  

DON'Ts; 

• Don't buy trinkets from the children.  Don't even give them money.  You're just turning them into beggars and giving their parent(s) an excuse for the children NOT to go to school. 
• If a Cambodian shows up unexpectedly while you're trampling around a temple and offers some "tour guide" information, politely decline his company or else he will expect a tip when he decides he has spent enough time with you.  If a policeman does the same thing, don't be shocked; they hardly make any money and kind tourists are a good source of income.  
• Don't drink the damn tap water.  Or even brush your teeth in it unless you like EBD (explosive butt disease).  
• Don't play with the stray dogs.  They may look cute but they can also bite unexpectedly and I'll bet you a couple thousand Riel that they aren't vaccinated against rabies.  The same goes for monkeys who can harbour even more dangerous diseases.  
• Don't be rude to the vendors who are walking around trying to sell you a scarf or a carving.  They are trying to make a living and won't appreciate being barked at like a dog.  
• Don't go visit an "orphanage" just to see smiling kids and take pictures of them.  If you want to help, make sure the orphan center is legit (keep in mind that even the legit orphan centers don't always have orphans.  Many of them have parents.) and donate money directly to the organization in charge. 
• Don't let the poverty get you down.  Cambodia is a developing country and needs a lot of help but things are slowly changing for the better.   
• Don't expect that Cambodians do things the way we do.  They don't.  (This has been the hardest lesson for me to learn.)

So that's it.  I'm sure I'll think of more but I've got to go eat.  

Slow day in Siem Reap

I finally have a couple of hours to slow down and relax. 

And that's only because Eddie's condition has deteriorated from EBD (Explosive Butt Disease) to EEBD (Extreme Explosive Butt Disease).  Last night, he shit all over town until we dragged ourselves home around midnight.  And then I think he shit again.  Imodium isn't doing the trick; I think it's time for a cork. 

So, yesterday was a temple day.  I've been trying to mix up the days; do the touristy stuff one day and the next day go to the orphanage or do some humanitarian work.  It's been a lot of fun but it has been quite exhausting.  Like Eddie indicated after our last trip to Cambodia, we need a vacation after our vacation. 
I had wanted to go see the Roulos temple group after my last trip back in April.  These are very old temples that are just outside of town.  They are smaller, less visited by tourists but they have a certain charm and the red bricks that they used for the construction (especially at Preah Ko) are quite beautiful.  After breakfast, we got in our tuktuk and headed out.  We visited the three temples.  I took lots of pictures.  Sweated a LOT.  Had some fresh coconut water.  Got bombarded by girls selling silk scarves.  Dodged the Korean tourists with their visors and umbrellas.  Sweated some more. 

Then I wanted to go out to one of the most beautiful temples in all the Angkor area:  Banteay Srei. 

Banteay Srei is much further out.  It takes over an hour to get there by tuktuk but the drive isn't a bad one (although at times, it can be quite bumpy).  There are plenty of sights to see in the countryside; water buffalo submerged in their muddy water, palm sugar boiling in big steel pans, waving children and the general quiet hum of country life.  You have to pay an extra $5 from Siem Reap for the ride but it is definitely well worth it because Banteay Srei has the most incredible carvings.  So intricate that they call it the women's temple since it is believed that the carvings are too fine to be carved by apparently clumsy men.  The temple itself is quite small, especially when carved to the massive structures of Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom.  It is surrounded by a moat and most of the temple is in great condition.  We made it there in the early afternoon and spent a couple of hours mulling around. 

There are two people that I have seen on previous visits to Banteay Srei that I really wanted to see on this visit.  One is Toi who was a boy of about 7 when I first met him a couple of years ago.  He had the saddest face when he tried to sell me his Angkor DVDs and I have a great picture of him near my tuktuk. I saw him again during my visit in April and already he looked a lot taller and much stronger.  He spoke very little English, especially for someone who was always around tourists.  On this visit, I looked for him but couldn't find him.  I hoped he was at school but who knows?  Any number of things could have accounted for his absence. 

The second person that I wanted to see was a girl who is terribly disfigured.  I don't know how old she is but my guess is that she is in her late teens or possibly early twenties.  It is difficult to tell because her face is so badly altered.  She barely has a nose and she doesn't have a tongue.  The only sound that I have ever heard her make is a low groan which I have heard when she approaches a tourist and begs for money.  My guess is that she was a victim of an acid attack although another type of burn could have happened.  As we were coming out of the temple, we saw her and she looked much better than she had on my previous encounters; her hair was relatively clean and tied back in a ponytail and her clothes weren't dirty and torn.  Eddie whipped out his wallet and gave her $20 and her eyeballs nearly popped out of her head.  She bowed down her head with enthusiastic thanks and then she held up the bill for all her friends to see.  With her immobile face, it was impossible to tell if she were crying or just really happy.  That much money was quite possibly more than she would get for a full month.  We decided to take some pictures and the girl was happy to oblige with the support of all her friends.  She held my camera with her twisted fingers and I scrolled through the photos.  I have no idea what was going through her head when she saw her face looking back at her.

We made it to the Bayon for sunset.  The Bayon is a large Hindu temple that sits at the exact centre of the walled city of Angkor Thom.  It is famous for it's large smiling faces carved into the rock and is a great temple to see at sundown as the dramatic lighting highlights the faces well.  It is also less crowded at sunset because most tourists flock to the hill temple of Phnom Bakheng, and I'm really not sure why.  Tradition perhaps?  You can ride an elephant to the top.  We stayed at the Bayon for about an hour and then headed back to town.  If you're in Siem Reap, then a trip to the Bayon should be high on your list.  Just try to avoid the morning hours when you have to battle all the other tourists who have the same idea. 

For dinner, we went to Picasso's which is a very Western tapas bar which has great food and drinks.  I drank a carafe full of sangria which made me appropriately drunk for my first ever fish massage. 

A fish massage is not a massage for fish.  And it isn't really a massage.  But there are fish involved so I guess they got that right.  For $2 which includes a beer or a glass of wine or a bottled water, you get to stick your nasty stinkin' feet into a pool of fish for 20 minutes.  During this time, the fish eat your dead skin and according to the sign, make you "happy and funny".  When I first stuck my toes into the pool, I could barely stand it.  I have ticklish feet and the sensation of having 20 small mouths chomping on my extremities really took me to my sensory limit.  The best part was watching other people.  There were two Japanese girls in the same predicament and one could barely keep her feet in the water and the other just shook her head and screamed.  If you're in Siem Reap, you have to try it so that you too can be happy and funny. 

Then it was off to do some shopping at the night market where I bought 10 t-shirts for $16 and I met a girl who wanted to show me how she makes handmade scarves.  At this market, there were plenty of opportunities for massaging your body parts.  For $4 you could get a real hour long foot massage which made me re-think my opinion that a $2 fish massage was a good deal.  The vendors at the night market are all very friendly and they are not hard bargainers.  They smile a lot and I fall for their sweet natures.  Typical Cambodians.  This is why I have been back to this country three times. 

We went to a bar later that night and tried to teach someone how to play Blackjack which was, for the most part, unsuccessful.  Eddie had to go to the shitter on two different occasions and his pathetic face told me that it was time to leave earlier than I had hoped. 

This morning, Savong picked us up and we went to the new market.  We bought $300 worth of medical supplies for the clinic (that lasts for only 3 days!) as well as shoes, blankets, mats, bowls, plates, spoons, chickens, eggs, fish and soap all for the orphanage.  Savong said the kids will be very happy with all the great food and new household items.  Looking after 33 children is apparently a lot of work and expensive, even in Cambodia. 

And now it's now.  I just had a conversation with Ponheary about the disaster in Phnom Penh during the water festival.  345 people died because of trampling and drowning.  Ponheary is very sad because she is a very empathetic person.  She has a tour to do this afternoon but she looks tired and I don't think she wants to go.

This evening, I hope to go to the orphanage again and Eddie needs to pick up a beautiful carved Buddha head he bought at the night market.

Time is passing TOO fast.  We leave tomorrow at midnight for the long trip back home. 

Related articles

• Cambodia: Ten tips on visiting Angkor's temples (telegraph.co.uk)
• Rolling through the Ruins | Siem Reap (jeffpruett.wordpress.com)
• A Perfect Day in Siem Reap (time.com)
• Private water raiding threatens Angkor's temples built on sand (guardian.co.uk)
• Traveller's Guide: Cambodia (independent.co.uk)
• Temples of Angkor (lonelyplanet.tv)

Return to Cambodia slideshow!!

If you don't have photodex, this may be an easier way to view my slideshow although the quality is not quite as good.

NEW SLIDESHOW!

It took me a whole lotta hours but it's finally done. 

The slideshow about my latest Cambodian adventures. 

You can view it with my other slideshows at

http://www.photodex.com/sharing/viewalbum?bm=51226

Click on the slideshow that is labelled "Return to ...". 

You can make it full screen by right clicking on the show and make sure you turn up the volume because the music took a long time to get right (and I'm still not sure it's right).  My apologies that the music is actually not Cambodian, it's Indian.  Oh well.  I couldn't find any appropriate Cambodian music. 

Enjoy! 

Kids in Cambodia

Kids are one of my favorite subjects to photograph in Cambodia.  They have great smiles and if you show them the LCD display of their picture, they are enthralled. 

Here are some of my favorite kid pics from my last trip. 

This little guy was helping to build one of my pumps. 

We played with this boy almost all afternoon while the pump was being built for his family. 

Showing him his picture.  He was a lot of fun and (almost) made me forget how hot it was that day. 

And this was his sister. 

At every temple, there are kids trying to sell you their goods.  Most of them have cheap bracelets but there are lots of guidebooks and postcards too.  A lot of tourists get VERY frustrated with them because they can be very persistent but I love interacting with them.  They're just kids and even though they are trying to make a buck, they also want to have fun. 

Many of the kids will ask you where you are from.  After you say a country, they will name off the capital, the population and  the President (or Prime Minister).  When I was in Cambodia the last time, the kids were already predictig that Obama was going to be the next President.  After I got tired of being told all the statistics of the United States and Canada, I started telling them that I was from Greenland.  

This really stumped them.   

Let me introduce Toi.  He was one of my favorite kids from my last trip.  I met him after he tried to sell me books at one of the temples (Banteay Srei to be exact). 

He provided me with a great photo and I put it on my iPhone. 

On my most recent trip to Cambodia, I went back to Banteay Srei.  It is an incredibly beautiful temple and has the most intricate carvings of any of the Cambodian temples. 

After I finished the tour, who tried to sell me postcards? 

TOI!!

A year and a half later, I ran into him again.  I said, "Hey, you're name is Toi, isn't it?"  He had a very surprised look on his face which became even more surprised after I showed him his photo on my iPhone.  I guess it isn't every day that a tourist walks up to him and remembers him from a year and a half ago.  

Of course, I had to have a picture with him.  I bought his postcards and he ripped me off!  The going rate for postcards in Cambodia is 10 for a dollar.  He charged me $2.  Oh well.  I'm glad he's learning to be a savvy businessman. 

I really hope to see him the next time I go.  He'll probably be still hawking his wares at the temple. 

I hope he doesn't have a difficult life. 

Another strange coincidence happened that day at this temple.  A year and a half ago, I was walking towards the bathroom facilities which were on at the end of a dusty road.  While I was making the trek, a girl appeared seemingly out of nowhere.  She was hideously disfigured.  I'm not sure what had happened to her but most likely it was the result of a landmine which were (and still are) common in Cambodia.  I was so disturbed by her appearance that even though she held her hand out to beg, I hurried off to my destination.

I never forgot that experience.  I felt really bad that I had avoided her.  In her situation, there probably isn't any other way for her to make money.  Cambodia has NO social welfare system.

On my most recent visit, Eddie and I were walking towards the same bathrooms and ONCE AGAIN, the disfigured girl appeared out of nowhere.  I have NO IDEA how she just appeared.  It was quite eerie.  Of course, I recognized her right away.  Those large vacant eyes and the twisted limbs are entirely unforgettable in a country where there are lots of disfigured people.  Eddie plucked $5 out of his wallet and gave it to her.  Without saying anything (I'm really not sure if she can even talk), she folded up the bill and tucked it away.  There was no emotion there.  Just a silent stoicism.  And then she walked away.

If you ever go to Banteay Srei, you will probably run into Toi and the disfigured girl.  Make sure you say hello to Toi for me and please donate to the girl.  And then tell me all about it.