Siem Reap

My room at the Golden Banana is nice enough, but it does not have a kitchenette. So that means I pretty much have to eat out for all my meals. The Golden Banana actually has a café/bar and a sort-of restaurant within the compound (free breakfast, but I’m starting to tire of eggs and fruit every day). Otherwise I must walk to a reputable eating establishment. Luckily, downtown Siem Reap is less than six blocks from here. But within that block I’ll pass (and usually be harangued by) several tuk-tuk (rickshaws pulled by a motorbike) drivers, food vendors and farmers selling fresh produce I’ve never seen before, all at their pre-determined locations.

One of my favorite places to eat so far has been The Warehouse. My son Logan will remember we went there late one night last November for beers and some pool with our travelling companions. It’s a favorite hangout for tourists, but I like it because they offer a great variety of good food, and they play great background music – anything from Velvet Underground to Amy Winehouse.

I found the Siem Reap Mall a few days ago, also close by. It has a department store, and a couple of upscale, very Western restaurants, including a pizza place and ice cream. Upstairs is a video arcade; and that’s where the local kids hang out after school. There’s also a movie theater I’ll have to check out later.

Across the street from the Warehouse is a city block that on the outside just looks like a bunch of trinket shops in small buildings. I would not have known any different until one day I was walking by and I noticed a strong fish smell. So I turned in, and after passing a few dozen more trinket shops I found a complete food market just like the one my son and I visited in Phnom Pehn. There was all the fresh fish, shrimp, meat, produce and spices you could ever want just sitting out on tables! Turns out the entire block is just one big, open building with several hundred vendors inside, each in their small little cubicle. It’s called the Old Market. Angry Birds is big here. All the cool kids have the t-shirts. Even one of the doctors at the hospital wore a pair of Angry Birds sandals. So, of course, I had to get a pair. I managed to talk one of the Old Market vendors down to $3, but I’m guessing a local would have gotten them for $1. This was confirmed when I had a local phone store place $10 on the temporary (local) cell phone I’m using, and the store gave me another set of sandals as a promotional gift!! But I can’t wait to wear them at the Jordan Y pool later this summer!

One thing Cambodians were jealous of was my iPhone. They are very expensive here. $400-450 for an iPhone and $650 for an iPad. One of the recovery unit nurses suggested I should buy a few iPads before I come next time, and then sell them here for a $100 profit each. I could pay for my next trip!! It does seem a little ironic that iPads are made just north of here in China, yet cost so much more here. Since the nurses at AHC make at most $50/day, I suspect I won’t be selling them any iPads in the near future.