An insight of Cambodia.

Siem Reap, Cambodia is a province whereby tourists often go. The main reason for Siem Reap to be so touristy is because it is the closest province to the Angkor Wat, one of the seven ancient wonders of the world and the main tourist attraction of Cambodia.

I'm left with the impression that in general, Cambodians are very friendly, honest and sincere. When we have a conversation, I could always felt a strong sense of sincerity inside them.

90% of Cambodians belong to an ethnic group called the Khmer people, and they speak the Khmer language. The majority of them are believers of Buddhism, and this is evident from the temples, souvenirs and artefacts they have.

The currency for Cambodia is USD and Riels. 1000 Riels is equivalent to US$0.25. In Cambodia, they don't accept USD coins, and every transaction is handled in notes.

With this small introduction, I welcome you to Siem Reap, Cambodia.

One good thing about Siem Reap is that although it is a touristy place, it is never overpopulated, although traffic can sometimes be congested.

There are some really posh-looking hotels like this one in Siem Reap:

Apsara Holiday Hotel

These posh-looking hotels usually cost US$100 per night. In such a touristy place, opulent brands are never absent.

As much as I would like them to be authentic, I believe that 90% of them are counterfeit goods, and the price is rather exorbitant.

You can have a Tommy Hilfiger perfume looking exactly the same, except that the spelling is Toomy Hilfiger.

Even sports brands such as Adidas, Nike, Puma can be seen.

Anyway, I found this very interesting. It's a concoction of some liquid with a snake biting a scorpion. I don't think it can be seen in Singapore, but I thought it was somewhat unusual.

It costs US$3 for a small bottle.

In Siem Reap, there are 3 shopping malls, and I must say that only one can really be considered as a decent shopping mall; the Lucky Mall.

Lucky Mall

The Lucky Mall has a very amusing concept. Everything is called Lucky something; Lucky departmental store, Lucky Burger etc. They're the only departmental store and fast food restaurant that I've seen.

What amazes me is their supermarket.

I must say the standard of the supermarket is even better than most of the supermarkets in Singapore.

The Cambodians shopping there must be rich people, because the Lucky mall is filled with expensive stuff.

And their wet market is similar to Singapore's as well..

That's fine, except that when I saw that decapitated pig's head filled with more than 50 houseflies, I hated pork for once. And they were using some fan to wave the air in an attempt to move the houseflies away, but didn't quite make it.

And we move on to Puok, a district at Siem Reap, where the poor lives.

In Singapore, you'll never get to see this:

4 people in a motorbike/scooter!

Did I mention that during my stay in Cambodia, I've seen only 3 obese Cambodians? The rest are really small-sized and thin. The other obese and humongous people I've seen in Cambodia are mainly caucasian tourists.

Puok was an eye-opener for me, because I've never seen the ancient and traditonal method of preserving ice using sawdust.

The main traditional method of preserving ice.

They use glass shards to prevent intruders..

In Puok, buffaloes are common, and it goes the same with ducks, roosters and wild dogs.

Just in case you're wondering, dogs are been sold at US$15 each.

Here's something more surprising:

THEY KEEP CROCODILES AS PETS

A crocodile at one of our Cambodian friend's house.

In Cambodia, a baby crocodile costs around US$8, while an adult-sized costs US$1000. According to a Cambodian friend, these crocodiles doesn't bite.

I've mentioned before that 90% of the Cambodians live less than US$2.50 a day, and they are usually peasants.

So it is not surprising when you see rice crops, which is another important factor for Cambodia's economy.

Once again, it was kinda like an eye-opener for me. Why? Because I always think of Geography and my teacher Ms Tan. Those intensive learning of the steps of rice crops are still etched in my mind.

Some of our rice comes from Cambodia.

And here's a well. I've never seen one before, and I thought it was rather cool. This well is from the orphanage, and they use it to cook, bathe and wash their clothes.

There was this day when there was a heavy rain, and after that we saw a fish in the well.

In another place where we always have our lunch, we have to wash our own dishes, and we use water from this particular well. But guess what? The water we use is also drank by buffaloes and dogs and I even saw pond skaters inside it. I wonder which animal uses the well as well?

Up till today, I still miss these activities and experiences after looking at this post. These experiences made me more independent, and I look forward to reminisce these wonderful memories.

I simply love Cambodia!