July
2007 - Siem Reap Town, Cambodia
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July 15, 2007 - I am currently in Siem Reap, Cambodia, the Angkor
Temples are about six
kilometers outside of town. I am staying at the Peace of Angkor Villa,
accommodations are very good and the staff is very friendly
and helpful. The Peace of Angkor specializes in taking care of
photographers and providing special photographer oriented tours and
services.
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The
Terrace des Elephants is currently being renovated but it is typical of
the fantastic colonial era architecture that can be found in the Old
Market section of Siem Reap.
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This picture is also
kind of typical of Siem Reap's Old
Market section, a girl on a bicycle cruising past a Mexican Cantina.
When it starts to rain I have seen girls like this one put on an
amazing display of speed and skill pedaling down the street to their
destination.
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These
Duracell battery advertising sculptures are all over town, most of them
are on busy street corners, but this one is in the park along the river
that runs through Siem Reap.
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The
Soup Dragon is a very popular hang-out for the tourists. When you are
walking around Siem Reap everyone is very nice and hospitable, even the
motrcycle taxi guys. As a matter of fact the motorcycle taxi guys arer
a bit too hospitable, it is impossible to take more than a few steps
without one of them trying to get your business. For someone like me
who likes to walk and take pictures, it can get pretty annoying at
times.
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This
money changer at the Old Market was very nice but gave me only US$
28.50 for 1000 Baht. In Thailand I would have gotten US$ 33.00. I
should mention, that almost everything in Siem Reap that has to do with
tourists is more expensive than it should be, there are exceptions but
they are few. I can eat for whole lot less in Thailand than in Siem
Reap. I can also get ripped off in Thailand (mostly by hanging out in
tourist spots) but it is easier for me to avoid, probably because I
know Thailand better and I speak Thai.
In Siem Reap the most commonly used money is US dollars, I also use
Thai Baht but there tends to be a pretty lousy exchange rate (as shown
above). The small change is given in Cambodian Riel (shown in the
display case above), there are approxmately 4,000 Riel to a dollar and
you are given 1,000 Riel notes for change. Restaurant menus are in
dollars so if something costs US$ .75 you will be given one 1,000 Riel
note for change from a dollar. In the confusion, the shopkeepers tend
to make out like bandits.
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In
Cambodia motorists with big expensive cars rule, not only do they rule
the roads but they also rule the sidewalks. I guess it makes sense that
you don't want to park your expensive ride in the streets, where the
only rule is uhmm, well actually there are no rules that I can see.
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There
are a number of Indian restaurants in Siem Reap but I have not tried
any of them yet, mainly because I have not seen any customers in any of
them. Places with good food tend to have a lot of customers. In an
Indian restaurant I want to see a lot of Indian customers (tourists
don't count).
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pictures tomorrow.
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