Siem Reap beyond the temples.

My hotel is a short walk to the party side of Siem Reap. I chose well. The centre of any action is based around Pub Street. It lives up to it's name. A street of bars, restaurants and.......well actually nothing else. Most places have an almost permanent happy hour of draught beer for 50 cents and Cocktails for $1.50. Free wifi while you eat and drink, outdoor eating or cooler shaded insides. There is an abundant supply of food choices from genuine Khmer food to Euro/Amer centric staples. And it is cheap. You can be well fed and on the way to inebriation for $10. Surrounding this area is the tourist markets selling the normal t-shirts, happy pants, carvings and useless souvenirs. There is also a night market which sells the same and as the night gets later there are other purchasing options. I was surprised how open things were. Example I was accosted (I use that word after due deliberation) "you want massage? I give you bang bang" and I wasn't even looking. On a side note an hours, non sex, massage costs between $3 & 7. I have had 2 so far the quality varies, but hey at that price there is no such thing as a bad massage.
Where was I? Oh yes. My first evening meal was a simple one of Spring rolls and chicken curry with rice. Very nice.
Day 2: Breakfast, served at the hotel was fresh tropical fruits, a really nice chicken rice porridge, we would consider it a savoury soup, and a lovely omellete.
Lunch I had on the go out near the Temples. There are plenty of eating, drinking and souveniring esrablishments situated at the end of the temple tours, in fact the tour paths are designed to lead you straight into these places, where you are accosted by heaps of really cute kids who will lead you to their parents places. If you even walk close to one there are calls for "cold drink", "T-shirt", "hello mister I give you good price". Anyway ignoring the cutest kids on earth I ploughed my way in to the restaurants and selected a place that looked hygenic and prosperous. An old lady was eating there, I assumed the owner or cook, I was later proved right on this point. On the basis that she was eating something local and good, I pointed at her plate and said that was what I wanted. The lady got up and cooked it. What she had turned out to be a very nice Chicken Noodle soup. I asked for chilli which came on a side plate, and were damn hot. The noodles looked suspiciously lie 2 minute noodles. But it was very nice.
Being a quiet time at the restaurant I had an opportunity to talk with the restaurant owner and staff, the old lady actually turned out to be 50. It was actually her daughter doing the translating, she worked in one of the souvenir shops on commission. By the end of lunch I had been talked into visiting her shop and consequently bought non needed stuff. Anyone want a silk scarf? I give you special price.
In the evening I ventured into town and had my first Khmer massage. $5, similar to a Thai massage but not as rough. Following that I went into an upmarket BBQ restaurant. I avoided the BBQ and had a Khmer tasting menu for $9! How cheap is that? I have to confess that I have already forgotten what the entrees were, I was presented 4 plates of sample size food. As my memory goes, mainly salads, very healthy, a string bean sald was a bit bland and a thick chicken broth with legumes in the bottom. Main courses were Eel, Fish, Shrimp presented in a variety of ways and a rather powerful tasting chicken soup, still not sure if I liked it. Deserts included several tastes of sweet cocunut based desert. The type of things that you see in Asian groceries in Australia and are never sure about tasting.
Overall a very nice meal and taste of local food. Washed down with a couple of Mojito's which were 2 for 1 happy hour all day.
After that I visited the night markets, these held no interest for me. I was talked into another massage for $1. By the time I had added extras to that it became a $6 massage. (Not the extras your dirty minds may have been thinking!)
later I cruised back through Pub Street looking for one more cocktail before bed. The place was actually quiet and the main interest in the establishment I chose was a re-run of "The life of Brian" on video screens. It is low season, not many tourists here.
The Bludger has just spent the last 4 hours in a pub, drinking 50 cent beers to write this up. Life is tough.

Nick Smith
Nick@nicksmith.info
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