Cambodia: The Dollar Store

About this blog

Welcome to Cambodia! Where everything is a Dollar! That wasn't the only backwards part of Cambodia I discovered, as they use the American currency all over the country, especially in tourist areas like Siem Reap and Phnom Penh. I will get to the "backwards" things about Cambodia throughout this blog.

So, why did I want to come here? Well, I discovered you could make an easy 3 day trip from Bangkok to Siem Reap to see the ruins of Angkor Wat. Since I was so close, why not see another country and another wonder of the world. Sounds good to me. After dealing with pain in the ass border crossing ordeals, scammers, getting a visa, and figuring out the cheapest way to get there, I found myself in a cab on the main road from Poipet, Cambodia to Siem Reap. It was only, $20 US Dollars! My driver was a dude named Kim. He was soft spoken, but often pointed out interesting things in the landscape, from pigs being carried in wooden carriers on the back of scooter riders, dry rice fields, healthy wet rice fields, other crops of interest, famous landmarks, etc. Cambodia was already a lot different than Thailand. It was dustier, more impoverished, and there were looks of struggle and sadness on the faces of villagers who had survived the treacheries of genocide more than 30 years ago by Pol Pot. It was different now, but the wounds from such treachery is still evident, and I think it's been a tough climb for this society to find itself in the world and get a sense of pride and identity.

Eventually I was dropped off in dusty, and poorly paved Siem Reap. I was told there were no ATMs here; what a bunch of BS from border swindlers. This was a tourist haven with hotels, tons of ATMs, and restaurants. It's all because of the ruins of Siem Reap, that it is what it is. They use the US currency as a means to make more, and it's funny because they try to sell everything for a dollar starting. You can get a large bottle of water down to 25 cents, and you get their currency, the Riel, back... about 1000 riel is 25 cents. It is often useless when trying to buy things here, and it's exchange is terrible. After dealing with the currency matters and getting over it, I managed to find a friendly guest house for about 8 bucks a night. Probably could have gotten the price down, but the staff was friendly, and the room was very nice with my own shower, cable TV, and what not. I spent the first evening typing emails and planing my last days in southeast Asia. I went for a stroll in town and hit up a couple food stalls. Not bad, and often for.... a dollar, none the less. It was a lot different, in which the people here are a lot more pushy for your services, and try to find any means to sell you something or get you someplace. You can talk them down for cheap prices, but often the 'pushiness' of it all gets old. I started to figure though, that this was going to be a good experience for me for the more challenging countries of Nepal and India, so I took a more open minded approach to dealing with people here. After all, they're just trying to make a buck or two at the Cambodia Dollar Store.

The next day, I hopped on back of a scooter to the ruins of Angkor Wat. Wow! I was impressed. It's the worlds largest religious structure, and build nearly 1000 years ago, it stands out as an architectural marvel. I am not one for humankind's structural creations, but I was quite impressed with this one. Even it's highly detailed carvings in the walls of the structure, I was quite impressed. I looked around the main temple and ventured through as many passageways as I could. It was also starting to get hot out. By the end of the day, I ended up consuming about 5 large bottles of water. All attempted to be sold at $1, but only worth about 25 cents, as what I got them down to.

I walked from Angkor Wat through the tall trees up the road past elephant riders and touring vans, into Angkor Thom. It was laid out with stone walls and smaller temples, but highly detailed and scenic amongst the trees. I had several dodgings from people trying to sell me shirts, paintings, and personal tour guides. "Hello sir... sir... sir..." It got old, but I just smiled and said, "No thank you." The only bad time, I guess, on my part, was once someone tried to sell me a pamphlet.... I replied with a large belch and kept walking. Needless to say, they walked on as well. My one rude reply.

I took a scooter taxi to the last ruins on my list to see; which I can't recall the name of. It is overgrown with large trees with weaving roots through the walls and structures. It looked really cool! Took a lot of pics and hung out for awhile. It was fun exploring the passageways and feeling like Indiana Jones exploring for some special relic. I eventually made my way back to Angkor Wat to take some better photos of the front of it, now that was in the sunlight. I wanted to stay for sunset, but large rainclouds moved in. I decided to chill for an hour on a wall an the edge of the Wat before leaving. I was writing in my journal, when all of a sudden, three teenaged Cambodian boys came up to ask my name, where I was from, and what I was doing. They were interested in my books and what my life was like back home, with long breaks of silence. I was waiting for them to go in for the kill... some sort of service. Anyway, I decided to pack my books and walk around and just as I did that... "Oh sir, can we drive you back to town for 10 dollars... do you want a tour for 10 dollars... sir... sir..." It was rediculous and sad at the same time. I feel for these people, but at the same time, there is just no room for space, manners, or distance. I walked around a bit more, then found a scooter from a local back to Siem Reap for about 2 bucks. The driver's name was Ree. He spoke English quite well, was intelligent, and witty. He loved providing services for tourists and travellers, and was open to learning from others. He was one of the better persons I encountered there.

That night I hit up a dinner, and met up with Christine and Adria as they were travelling through to here as well. We hung out for an hour, met up with some other Brit travellers they knew, kicked back on some beers, then I headed out. I hit up the night bazaar for some goods, and then got to bed early dozing off to CNN.

The next day, I hit up a private bus with other backpackers, that took us all the way back to the border. After begging children tugging at my pants, I got o customs, got stamped, walked through with the others, and boarded our vans to go back to Bangkok.

Cambodia was lovely for the experience of Angkor Wat, but I was saddened by what it's people had to do to get by. I later found out from a French couple, that if I had ventured out of Siem Reap, I would have found much more easy going and friendly people, not caught up in the dog eat dog world of the urban life. Maybe it wasn't so bad after all. I am glad I went, as it was another good country for me to see, and gave me some good experience for more challenging places that I would encounter. It was also an experience that humbles you just a little more. Until the next time.

Tristan Stiles