Outside the laundry shop, Phnom Penh

I don’t know what it is about travelling, but we seem to be particularly aware of the extreme levels of service when we are away from home. We all have stories of the appallingly bad; whether it is imcompetence, incomprehension or service given with added undiluted hostility. Occasionally though we also experience the very highest standards of service, and often it’s found in the places where we least expect it.

One such case for us was in the suburb of Phnom Penh where we staying over Christmas. We were overdue for a laundry day, and needless to say the hotel we were staying in was not an option (it would have come to around $50; exactly what we paid for a night’s stay). Walking through the neighbourhood we didn’t find any of the $1/1kg laundry signs that were so prevalent in the tourist hot-spots of Laos. But we did find a place that looked as though they might wash our clothes (a general store with a clothes line hanging limply from a streetside pole along the side of the shop). I tried to ask the family seated around a table in the shop whether they do laundry but none of them understood a word and after many smiles and blank faces we walked away.

Undeterred, I returned later with a rucksack full of dirty clothes. It must have been around 5kg worth, and the main man greeted us and tipped out our laundry, carefully separating it into neat piles and all the while tapping numbers into his calculator. I feared the worst while he added the items and he seemed to add on many extra fugures before showing me the final figure: $4.81. I nodded with a poker face and he signalled I should come back at 8 o’clock the next morning.

And here’s where he excelled. When we walked past the shop that evening, we saw our washing hanging in the street. We went up and found that it was completely dry, so asked him if we could take it there and then. He was not happy for us to take it as he signalled that it wasn’t finished. After much persuasion he allowed Sam to take a couple of items she needed and he hung on to the rest. When I collected the remaining clothes in the morning, every item was neatly pressed and carefully folded. He was full of gratitude and the family later waved and smiled warmly at us when we passed the shop again during our stay.

Why have I shared this very ordinary story? For me he personified what it means to excel in delivering customer service. He could teach many businesses much bigger than his own about the essence of customer service. The pride he took in doing the job to the highest standards was striking. He could have easily let us take our clothes away and spare himself the extra task of ironing. We would have been happy customers at that point. But it wasn’t enough for him to leave it at that. He insisted on finishing the job properly, whether we appreciated it or not. How many of us will go the extra mile when our own pride in the quality of our work is the only reward?

A lesson in customer service: The Cambodian laundry is a post from: 501 Places

Just up from our hotel; the local slums

Phnom Penh was one of my favourite stops on our SE Asia trip. Considering I spent a large part of one day there (Christmas Day to be precise) in close proximity to our hotel bathroom, that is quite a compliment.

It’s not a pretty city, with only a few buildings of note. The Royal Palace houses many impressive buildings and temples. It’s not particularly old, with construction only starting in the late 19th century, but then Phnom Penh only became the Cambodian capital at that time, by decree of the French colonial authorities. For those travelling on a budget it’s a very expensive attraction at $6 a head. It’s easy to pass a couple of hours in the Palace complex. Be warned though that if you have arrived having recently seen the Grand Palace in Bangkok the Khmer equivalent will not look so impressive.

Royal Palace, Phnom Penh

Beyond that you can visit Wat Phnom, a hillside temple on the only hill in Phnom Penh. The temple is worth a look but be aware that the surrounding area had the highest concentration of beggars we encountered in the city.

The waterfront area is where most tourists stay and we wandered along here several times for food and drink. It is wall to wall with bars, cafes, restaurants and guest houses, so obviously attracts plenty of touts, tuk-tuk drivers and beggars too.

Wat Phnom

I’m not a shopper but I did enjoy our visit to the Sorya Shopping Centre. This giant western-style shopping mall was full of young Khmers, evidently the rich and middle class of Phnom Penh. We watched as the kids enjoyed the rooftop skating rink, the amusement arcades and simulator rides (all of which were almost western prices, so incredibly expensive for a Cambodian), and we joined in with the ice-cream eaters at one of the many fast food outlets in the mall. The sight of so many people able to spend significant sums of money on leisure pursuits suggested a rosier financial picture (for a few at least) than our trip through the countryside had painted. We wondered what would Pol Pot have made of the new Cambodia?

Here we also saw the only Santa Claus in Cambodia, posing with a couple of young girls promoting a mobile phone company. Aside from this the only evidence of Christmas were the Santa hats worn by all waitresses serving in the tourist places and the occasional tree in a hotel or restaurant. It was only when we moved to Bangkok that Christmas kitsch was visible on a different scale.

The Central Market of Phnom Penh was a more impressive historic building, while almost anything you could never want was on offer here. Western perfumes and toiletries, photocopied Lonely Planet books and all the usual tat that you see at every other market. It was surprising to see the produce geared up so much to tourists when there were so few foreigners in the market. It would go a long way to explaining the attention we received.

Independence Monument

A final mention must go to Le Jardin, a little cafe close to our hotel where the yummy mummies of Phnom Penh hang out. With comfortable shaded seating in a peaceful garden setting, it was a very pleasant place to relax in the heat of the afternoon. It was great entertainment to watch the children of the great and the good (mainly ex-pats but some Khmers too) bring their children to play with the big selection of toys or to celebrate a birthday with a large cake. A cocoon of international privilege amid a chaotic and struggling city. And they served sublime ice-creams and shakes.

Phnom Penh is noisy, it’s dirty and smelly, and even in December the heat and humidity is sapping. But it’s also a place where you can see a population that’s trying to pick itself up from the tragedies of its recent past. The people we met made us welcome, and we were lift in peace to explore and enjoy this vibrant and lively city.

Phnom Penh: A Cambodian Christmas is a post from: 501 Places

I wish we’d had more time to spend in Cambodia. The little we saw of it was captivating, and the warmth of the people along with the delicious Khmer cuisine meant that we were sorry to leave when we did.

I am grateful at least that we did get to see a little of the north of the country, through our decision to take the road trip from the Lao border to Phnom Penh. The road itself is decent, and our speed varied between 80 km/h in a car to a very scary 130km/hr in a big passenger bus. The road passes through many neglected overgrown fields, and at closer inspection it’s easy to see why they are derelict. Signs by the roadside warn passers by not to enter the fields due to the mortal danger of landmines. Yet another stark reminder of the tragic legacy this part of the world still suffers.

Stung Treng

Our first overnight stop was Stung Treng, a small sleepy town on the banks of the Mekong. We arrived in late afternoon, found a decent guest house and had a little while to explore before sunset. One of our first observations was the number of women dressed in pyjamas. Whether on motorbikes, working in the market or stepping off the river ferry a sleeping outfit adorned with teddy-bears seemed to be fashion statement of the town.

Morning market, Stung Treng

We had our first Khmer meal that night, and later enjoyed a moment of language mayhem as we tried to ask for some of the delicious pineapple for dessert that the neighbouring table had enjoyed as we had entered an hour earlier. With none of the staff speaking a word of English and our attempts at communicating the word ‘pineapple’ via charades proving a miserable failure, we finally hit upon drawing a picture of one, at which point the girl’s face lit up and she happily informed us there wasn’t any left.

Kratie and the pyjama ladies

We were off early the next morning on the public bus to Kratie. What should have been a two hour journey was completed in a little over an hour thanks to our crazy driver who flew through the Cambodian countryside at breakneck speed. Even the villages we passed through did not cause him to slow down; he just blew the horn continuously as we careered past children on their way to school and women carrying water and fully-laden food baskets. As a welcome distraction we had the best of Khmer pop music playing on the TV, with deliciously tacky music videos accompanied by the words for those that wished to sing along. At 7am the desire among the passengers to sing was thankfully absent, and with the words flashing by in Khmer we would have been unable to join in even if the mood had taken us.

Kratie is also a small town, and the proportion of pyjama wearing ladies was even higher here. It boasts a large central market, and it wasn’t long before the heat of the day meant that we stopped our exploration and sat in a roadside cafe for a drink and an early lunch. Our aim for the day was the see the rare Irrawaddy river dolphins. There are only around 80 of them left in this part of the Mekong, and this time of the year is one of the best to see them, as the river levels are quite low and they are confined to fairly small areas of deep water.

An Irrawaddy dolphin

The best place to view them is in Kampi, around 15km north of town. We took a tuk-tuk out to Kampi, passing through many small villages and waving back at the many children who greeted the passing ‘barang’ with excitement. On arrival we were told with confidence that although it was $7 to go out on a boat, we would get our money back if we saw no dolphins. This was a risk-free promise to make, as we could already see them from the riverbank!

Although our boat was equipped with a motor, in fact the boatman never used it, as paddling a little way into the river was enough for us to be surrounded by the elusive creatures. They are not camera friendly at all, and no sooner did we see one appear than he was gone, only to resurface somewhere different a minute or two later. We did see several dolphins close-up, and although the pictures do not reflect how well we saw them they were a joy to observe.

Two dolphins make a brief appearance

From Kratie we took an overcrowded minibus for the four hour journey to Phnom Penh (it was apparently seven hours in the public bus for the same price so the discomfort was compensation for the shorter journey). Our little detour through northern Cambodia had been a pleasant one, and not only had we seen a rare endangered species at close quarters, but we had got to experience a little bit of Cambodia that already had us eager to see more.

Northern Cambodia: River dolphins, pyjama people and the karaoke bus is a post from: 501 Places

Fish massage

We had arrived in Siem Reap in the early afternoon and made plans to visit the Angkor Wat temples for the next three days. So after a painfully slow check-in we set about exploring a little of the city.

I took a strong dislike to Siem Reap at first glance, and while I did learn to tolerate it as the days passed I would still list it as a place with few redeeming features; somewhere you have to stay to get to visit Angkor Wat. Although it is the third largest city in Cambodia it appeared to me a soulless place that has forsaken all in the name of mass tourism. There is a central ‘Pub Street’, littered with dingy bars serving cheap beer and showing live football from the UK on giant TV screens. Dance music blares out in the evening as if this was a Mediterranean resort, and touts stand by the bars and restaurants enticing prospective punters with shouts of “two beers one dollar” or “very cheap drink”. One sign even boldly declares “we encourage irresponsible drinking”. Forget the Med, this could even be Blackpool.

It is also the home of the Fish Massage. If you haven’t come across this crazy idea, it’s basically about sticking your feet into a pool of water, and the fish (supposedly imported from Turkey but by all accounts fished out of the nearby Tonle Sap) nibble away at your dead skin cells, providing you with shiny, clean feet in a matter of 20 minutes. We gave it a try of course, and while admittedly my feet did feel different after the fishy experience it may have had more to do with spending 20 minutes submerging them in dubious water.

And seemingly as with most things in Siem Reap, if one idea makes money then it quickly gets replicated; again and again. There must be 10-20 Dr Fish Massage outlets in this small area, and walking past each one you hear the cries from the touts “Fish Massage Mister, three dollar!”

The market close to the tourist centre of the town is worth a look, with all manner of live produce awaiting a sudden execution. Most of the food had been caught in the nearby Tonle Sap lake, and was no doubt very fresh. Away from the small food section, there were the countless T-shirts, scarves and wall-hangings that you could find everywhere else in the town. To complete the picture you could even order fish and chips at the British looking pubs in Siem Reap.

There were at least some good Khmer restaurants, and we did enjoy visiting the Khmer Kitchen, which has four restaurants in the city. The closest Siem Reap came to redemption was the discovery of our favourite SE Asian chain, Swensens. For those who have tasted their delicious ice-creams they will know the name instantly. On a baking hot day, after several hours of temple visits, there is nothing better than a giant rocky road sundae! The Blue Pumpkin Cafe also deserves a mention for its great bakery and ice cream shakes, and a cool upstairs where you can lounge on giant sofas in AC comfort.

All in all though, I was happy to leave Siem Reap and its tacky centre behind. I would be fascinated to know how the town looked 10-20 years ago before the advent of mass tourism. At the same time I shudder to imagine how it might develop in the coming decade if visitor numbers continue to soar.

Siem Reap: a tacky, soulless gateway to Angkor Wat? is a post from: 501 Places

Angkor Wat, Cambodia

Angkor Wat was without doubt the most famous and most visited stop on our SE Asian journey. I don’t think I met anyone who was travelling in Cambodia for whom this wasn’t the main purpose of visiting the country. Yet I have to confess that by leaving Angkor Wat to the end of our itinerary I felt a lack of excitement and anticipation about visiting a place that had captivated me for many years through seeing images and historical accounts in books and atlases. We had seen so many amazing places already, could this really blow us away?

Angkor Wat, Cambodia

We hired a tuk-tuk for the first day to take us around the ‘Grand Circuit’ – a 26km route that takes you around the most accessible and most visited temples of Angkor Wat. We started soon after 6am, not only to beat the crowds but also to beat the intense heat and humidity of the midday sun; and we were there in the cool season! Our first stop was Angkor Wat itself, with its iconic towers and carvings. It was still quiet at 7am and we were able to wander around without too many people jostling for the same photos. It is a stunning building, although by no means the most impressive of the overall Angkor complex, which comprises over 70 temples spread over an area that exceeds 3,000 sq. km. One thing that strikes most visitors is the freedom to climb so many of the structures and explore almost every corner of the temples. Tourists mingle with excavation teams and maintenance staff. Nowhere appears to be out of bounds.

The Bayon, Angkor Wat, Cambodia

The second major stop on the Grand Circuit is Angkor Thom, a walled complex around 3km from Angkor Wat. A number of temples are found here, most notably the Bayon, renowned for the hundreds of stone faces carved on almost every available space of rock. By now it was getting busy, and almost every doorway and every staircase had at least a couple of cameras pointing at it and from it (we came back here on the final day at around 10am and it was truly horrendous: the crowds were packed in so tightly that it was difficult to stop and appreciate anything in front of us).The other sites in Angkor Thom were far less busy, as they required a short walk to reach them.

Angkor Wat, Cambodia

Our driver then took us to another six or seven temple sites on the Grand Circuit; some set on a lake, others atop giant steep staircases. To be honest after a while the memories of each merged into one another, and thankfully our photos are stamped with the times they were taken, as without this clue we would have no idea at which temple they were taken.

This does not detract from the amazing impression these structures made on us; it is the magnitude of the site as a whole and the diversity in styles and locations of the temples that for me would make the Angkor complex a worthy member of the 7 wonders. Other wonders such as Chichen Itza in Mexico or the Taj Mahal have an instant Wow factor. Their visual impact is immediate and stunning. Angkor Wat for me does not have that heart-stopping impression. Where it wins is in the size of the site and the range of surprising discoveries, many of which we had to ourselves thanks to our early starts.

Our second day was a case in point. Our driver didn’t stop for the sunrise but kept going to get us to Banteay Srei, around 35km from Angkor Wat, by 7am. This is a truly beautiful temple, and being one of the only visitors there for around 15 minutes we were able to enjoy the site in absolute solitude. An exquisitely carved temple set against a wooded backdrop, it is well worth the trip away from the major sights in the central complex.

Banteay Srei

Even further out was the waterfall of Kbal Spean. It is around 40 minutes walk from the parking lot, and while the walk takes you through a dense woodland, even this does not protect you from the intensity of the heat. We reached the falls around 10am and it was already sweltering. The purpose of visiting Kbal Spean is to witness the beautiful carvings set in the bed of the river. These consist of lingas (fertility symbols) and many other designs from Hindu mythology. It is a peaceful, secluded site, and it would be easy to sit up in the shade and enjoy an hour or two listening to the water running gently over the carved rocks.

Kbal Spean

Of all the many temples we witnessed perhaps the most memorable was Ta Promh, made famous as the setting for the Lara Croft movie. Here tree roots intertwine with temple rocks, and around every corner is another doorway, another corridor, another shrine. It is also a very popular stop on the circuit, and certainly one of the ‘must-see’ sites on an Angkor visit.

We hired bicycles on the final day to have a look around, and these are not for the faint-hearted. Getting out of Siem Reap requires negotiating several ‘free-for-all’ junctions, where you may as well close your eyes and pedal across in hope. Once at the temples too, beware of the scams that many of the traders pull, saying that parking is free if you buy something from their shop. There are no parking charges for a bicycle anywhere at Angkor Wat, but you may need to be ready to argue that point. In my view the bikes were not worth the hassle, not to mention the exertion of cycling in the heat.

Ta Promh

Would I put it on my 7 wonders list? Without a doubt. For its sheer size, its variety of temple structures, backdrops and locations it is hard to equal. If you are visiting beware the sheer volume of people at the main temples. It is well worth waking up early and visiting the most popular sites (Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom and Ta Promh) before the tour buses arrive. Three days is long enough to appreciate the site, although we didn’t get to see everything we could have done. One day however, would have been woefully inadequate.

Angkor Wat, Cambodia: robbed of its rightful place as one of the 7 wonders? is a post from: 501 Places

Some of the thousands of skulls of victims at the Cambodian Killing Fields

Between 1975 and 1979, an estimated three million people lost their lives under the barbaric rule of the Khmer Rouge and their murderer-in-chief, Pol Pot. Initially welcomed as a revolution of the proleteriat over the previous corrupt system, the killing and torture of the Cambodian population started within days. The infrastructure to conduct genocide on an unimaginable scale took very little time to set up, while the terror and trauma that the Khmer Rouge created in the normal population lasted long after the Vietnamese invasion that finally ended this dark stain on human history in 1979.

Some of the victims of S-21 Prison, Phnom Penh

There are two sites in and around Phnom Penh that provide the visitor with a powerful insight into the effects of Pol Pot’s regime. The first is Tuol Sleng Prison, formally a public school in the centre of the city, but transformed immediately by the Khmer Rouge into an interrogation centre and prison. Known as S-21 Prison, this is the place where many thousands of enemies of the revolution were brought for questioning and torture. Enemies included doctors, teachers, monks, anyone with an education (wearing glasses was enough to be convicted as an intellectual), previous government ministers, and anyone who was considered a threat to the ultra-paranoid regime.

The torture methods employed at S-21 were beyond inhuman, and a confession by the victims was not enough to end the punishment. The Khmer Rouge insisted on capturing every member of the families of these ‘enemies’, as their belief was that the children would grow up to be counter-revolutionaries, and it was better to get rid of them now. Only once the names of the other family members had been obtained were the prisoners taken from Tuol Sleng and on to the Killing Fields for their final journey.

The Gallows at S-21, used for torture

The Genocide Museum that is now housed at S-21 allows a view of the cells and the torture implements that were used, but it is the personal testimonies (or prisoners and Khmer Rouge guards) in the many written accounts that provide the most memorable impact. Stories of bravery, of survival, tragedy and hope, told by many who still live today, in many cases side by side with those who commited some of the atrocities with which they still struggle to comprehend.

Memorial stupa filled with thousands of skulls on display; Choeung Ek

The next day we visited Choeung Ek, 15km out of town ($12 by tuk-tuk) to see the site of the Killing Fields, where the prisoners of S-21 were taken for execution. A guide showed us around the site and pointed out the many mass graves that were discovered, the piles of clothing that emerge every year when the river levels drop, and the tree against which the children were smashed to death. Pol Pot did not want to waste money on bullets, so the common method of killing was beating to the back of the head with agricultural tools for adults, while children were either beaten against a tree or thrown in the air and speared on a bayonnet.

In the centre of the Choeung Ek memorial site is a giant stupa, housing 17 levels of skulls found at the site. It is a stark and chilling memorial, and requires little description to leave the visitor numb from the scale of the barbarism that took place here, and in many similar sites around Cambodia.

Killing Tree, against which children were smashed

Like my previous visits to Nazi concentration camps, it is a place that left me feeling desperately sorry for the victims who were brought here to die a brutal death. At the same time, my mind still tries to come to grips with how humans can be conditioned, through fear or brainwashing to commit such acts, and what impact the actions of the young men of the Khmer Rouge must have had on the rest of their lives. It was a tragedy that affected everyone in this beautiful and diverse country, and one which has left a legacy with which so many people are still struggling today.

Phnom Penh; the legacy of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge is a post from: 501 Places

I have crossed several borders overland in recent years, and even now there is a strange sense of excitement and apprehension as I approach the border guards. They have it in their power to make life very difficult for someone, and it is always my hope that that someone will not be me that day.

We approached the Cambodian border with southern Laos at around 2pm on a hot December afternoon. There was no-one in sight, and as the Lao driver who had brought us on the final stretch of road to the border waved us off, we walked to the Lao departure point, an old wooden hut holding the final Lao flag that we would see on our trip. “One dollar” the surly official said, and then added “two people, two dollar”. I had read about these processing fees and was not too surprised, but wanted to query him further. I got an irritated stare when I asked him what the dollar was for, and following a subtle kick from my wife Sam under the window I paid up and moved on; a dollar is not worth getting a man in uniform angry about, but still an imperfect ending to an otherwise outstanding 16 days in Laos.

Walking through no man’s land for 100 metres, we were soon greeted by the Cambodian guards. First we had to have a health check. This consisted of a thermometer to the forehead, and the official gave us our all clear with a big smile. We waited with baited breath for the magic words, and he didn’t disappoint: “one dollar”. Thank goodness I had brought lots of single dollar bills. Next we went to the visa hut, and while these were being processed, a young lad was eyeing us up from the corner of the shack, rather like a cat sizing up its prey. He knew we were far from town, and he had a car. How much could he get from us? He asked where we were going, and his starting price for the trip to Stung Treng (90km) was $50. He insisted that he normally takes a car-full for that price but as we were the only ones in sight we would have to pay for the whole car.

While we were negotiating with him our passports were returned and we were shown to the final booth to collect our Cambodian stamp on our newly issued visas. You’ve guessed it: one dollar visa fee. Our driver friend was waiting for us, and when he insisted that $40 was the lowest price we headed towards another car parked up around 50 metres away, and he finally settled on $30. I suspect I could have got him down lower still, but I figured $15 a head is only a little more than the bus which charged $10 for the same trip and had already made its last trip of the day.

It is a real shame that both Cambodia and Laos allow this behaviour to be common practice at their borders. I don’t bemoan the loss of $6. I’m sure those guys are not well paid, and seeing a rich foreigner passing through must present an overwhelming temptation to impose these small untraceable ‘processing fees’. The real damage is done to the reputation of the country and the perception of honesty of its people.

We encountered very little scamming of tourists during our stay in both countries. Tuk-tuk drivers, often the worst at over-charging, were remarkably fair in Cambodia in particular, and even in Laos where they tried a very high figure to start they quickly agreed a fair price and always with a smile.

But when a government official, dressed in uniform and carrying authority starts to demand unauthorised cash from visitors, it reinforces the image of a corrupt and unreliable system without any accountability. It will be great to hear someday that the Laos and Cambodian governments are taking this matter seriously, but I won’t hold my breath…

Daylight robbery at Laos/Cambodian border: not worth the fighting is a post from: 501 Places

“Please Mister, buy something from me”

“You buy from anyone you buy from me, ok?”

“Maybe when you come back. I remember you”

“Is special good morning price!”

“Lucky for you, lucky for me”

Anyone who has visited Angkor Wat will be familiar with these lines and many others in constant use by the kids who are desperate to sell anything to the passing tourists. As soon as we approached a temple site, whether by tuk-tuk or on bicycles, the children, usually girls, were waiting for us ready to show us their wares in the hope of snapping up a dollar or two from us.

We had been warned about the constant hassle of the hawkers at the Angkor temples before we reached Siem Reap. Stories of begging children clinging to tourists’ legs with parents egging them on, and of not being able to stop to eat without a crowd of children coming round to beg. After a few weeks of no hassle travel we were prepared for the worst.

And I have to say we didn’t get any of the hassle we had expected. Yes, there must be thousands of children ‘working’ the temple sites. Even as we arrived at Banteay Srei, one of the most remote sites, before 7am we were approached by an early bird to ask if we wanted to buy a scarf. But as with almost all of the other sellers, a smile and a clear “No thank you” was enough for them to move on and look for another target.

I do have sympathy with the children, most of who live in desperate poverty. The small profit they make on selling two cans of Coke for a dollar or a guidebook for the same amount can add up to a decent amount for the family coffers on a good day. They see the hordes of western tourists come by, staying in palatial hotels and eating in restaurants they couldn’t dream of visiting, and must wonder why we quibble over sharing one of our many dollars with them. As an ex-pat living in Cambodia pointed out to us, the people there typically have only two exposures to western life: one is the passing tourist, looking relaxed, healthy and clearly very wealthy, and the other is that of the world of TV and movies, where people drive fast cars, drink expensive cocktails and live in beautiful houses. In that context, it is easy to see how we are perceived as having unlimited wealth.

I didn’t find the Khmer children to be as persistent as others had reported, and we have certainly experienced far more aggresive and unpleasant sellers (Egypt was the worst for us). They are still kids, and there was a certain naivety in their selling approach that endeared them to us rather than detracted from the Angkor Wat experience. Although we didn’t buy more than a few drinks from the sellers during our three days there, we did share jokes with the children and by the end were able to repeat their own lines to them before they had uttered them, which brought a laugh all round.

There is a fine line to tread between diffusing a situation with humour and respecting the children’s efforts in trying to make a living in difficult circumstances.  I hope we maintained that balance, but I certainly would reassure anyone visiting Angkor Wat not to be put off by the large number of vendors who will be waiting for them. The local traders are entitled to try and make some money from the tourism boom, and with respect and a smile you can at least get a beaming grin from the local children, even if you choose to pass on the photocopied guidebook or a wooden whistle. And beware of the lady carrying a young infant who shouts “Coca Cola one dollar; water one dollar; guidebook one dollar; baby one dollar”. Rest assured, she is pulling your leg.

“Mister only one dollar”: facing up to the other side of Angkor Wat (and other tourist sites) is a post from: 501 Places