Siem Reap

Just visited Siem Reap with a friend of mine. Its a place that is rich in culture and handicapped with painful war history. It is a developing city that has high service standard. There are millions of tourists that visited Angkor Wat yearly, this year proved to be a tough one with global recession and H1n1. We visited the place in the low peak season and managed to get some good discounts while shopping.

The street is bustling with many tuktuk drivers who are busy trying to get business. Ladddiiiieeee, you want tuk tuk ride? That's the most widely heard pick-up line that we heard. I took a while to get used to the place, the dust, the uneven roads and sporadic rainfall coming from the skies.

Along Pub Street, quite a number of children are asking us to buy postcards/magnets etc. This proved to be quite a common scene throughout my stay in Siem Reap. Kids trying to make extra buck by selling touristy items to tourist. I refuse to buy from them as it further encourages them to stay away from school. Quite a dilemma.

Heard the life story of my tourguide, indeed not an easy life to be born during that era. Some people said it is Karma. I somehow cannot reconcile karma and war together. This is also why how people convert to other religion from Buddhism, as other religions seems to provide more hope and salvation to their already injured souls.

Definitely a city worth visiting.