Do you want to go to a Cambodian wedding?

Do you want to go to a Cambodian wedding?

What do you think? Of course I do! And we did! There goes why we spent another 4 days in Cambodia.

Adee and I outside her house in Angkor park.
Her in modern Cambodia party robes, I chose to go old school.

The bride and groom get ready to cut the cake at the conclusion of the wedding party.

The Rundown

A few other interesting places to note in Siem Reap:

The Floating Forest - a forest near the Tonel Sap which is submerged in about 3 meters of water during rain season. It's incredible. More expensive and much less touristy than the floating village, but so worth it. You take a small boat for $5 through the dense forest areas, it's like nothing I've ever seen. You can even go swimming, as two monkey boys I know did. It's something between swimming and climbing trees. I simply did the tree nymph thing, sitting on a branch, dipping my feet into the cold water (unusual for Cambodia).


FCC - a bit touristy, but I found the FCC really nice! I was spoiled by the sangria (during half price happy hour), the butternut squash soup, and the fantastic desserts. Some baller Cambodian tour guides also drink here. The pool table and Bangkok Times are free. Though there really weren't any foreign correspondents anywhere, rendering the place a little phoney and simply a nice fancy post-colonial enterprising relic.

Zone One - THE place to dance in Siem Reap. Yes, they might play the same music night after night. You might see a couple tourists, and even a couple lady boys. But shit, Zone One is so much fun.

Gem...or Jam as he calls himself

We met a guy name Gem. I found Gem very interesting, and not only because he continually urged us to call him Jam.

Gem is a tour guide for Capitol Tours, a well-known tour company in Cambodia. He was quick to chat us up the minute we sat down to drink our beers outside a snack shop.

Gem told us many things. His rags to riches story of how he went from a tuk tuk driver to a traveling gentleman who has girlfriends in various parts of the world. How he has a son with a Japanese woman. And the many languages he knows (5 no less). But really, Gem is really a gem. He is part of the nouveau riche who rode the tourism train all the way to the last stop.

Gem told us all about the transformation of his attitude in working in the Siem Reap area. At first, he was like anyone else: "I was like, fuck it, give me the money." Now, after years of working in the tourism industry, Gem only works for people he likes. He's selective with his clients and he has political affiliations. He has some kind of personal work ethic.

"You know," he said. "I know so much about Cambodia and that's why I don't do business with certain people. You know our history? No more business with Thais! No more business with Chinese! And no more business with Vietnamese!"

He's of course talking about all the countries that have invaded Khmer territory in the past. I was almost shocked that in this impoverished country, you can find people like Gem who does business with politics. Something you don't really see in modern cities in the world these days. Most of us just say, that's history. We've got to work with them anyway.

And that's good. Because that's how we forget grudges. Business makes us cooperate instead of being independent states because we can't function that way. We need each other to be efficient.

Another thing I found funny in Cambodia is how people live as though they can afford lots of leisure time. In Hong Kong, where my friends work until 10 pm and on Sundays too, leisure is a great luxury. In Cambodia, it's mandatory. They work hard, but they also relax a lot. As one tuk tuk driver told me: "You know I work for a day, then I can take three days off and I just drink and play!"

You know, that kinda sounds familiar. Sounds like one of the catchphrases of my generation.

Adventures in Siem Reap

Honestly, being in the Angkor ruins makes you feel a bit like an adventurer. Taking a tuk tuk the first couple days had us spoiled, but we quickly bounced back. Renting bikes from the guesthouse, I went on my own to Angkor Wat.

It's a completely different experience. Without the comfort of knowing where you're going, and peddling hard through the streets of Siem Reap, when I got to Angkor Wat I felt like I deserved it. It was quite easy navigating actually, all you have to do is follow the fancy Lexuses that tourists hire to go to the park.

So I biked to Angkor, about a 20 minute ride, and went to Angkor Tom. They say that Angkor Tom use to be a big town, with thousands of people in and around the main temple. I rode through Angkor Tom, stopping occasionally to look at temples, and being ever careful of the elephants in the area.

Eventually I was caught by a park policeman, as you're not really suppose to take a bike into the ruins, and had to sweet talk some food stall sellers to watch my bike. I was exhausted after 5 hours and headed to West Barey to swim and spend the afternoon in a hammock with our Khmer friends from Angkor Wat. Ahhhhhhh.

The Pilgrimmage to Angkor Wat

We decided on a little spurge to take the $25 boat (instead of the $4 bus) across the Tonel Sap to Siem Reap. I kind of think it was worth it, but maybe only because I accidentally befriended the captain of the ship and spent much of the boat ride in the cockpit. I even got my hand on the steering wheel for an exciting 3 seconds.

Siem Reap is very very different from Phnom Penh. With no tall buildings around, and most guesthouses without hot water, it is mainly "the town beside Angkor".

Angkor Wat. What's not amazing about it? Approaching I felt my heart beat as the temple came into view. Cambodians are very very proud of these ancient ruins. Sensing our excitement, our tuk tuk driver stopped dramatically in front of the temple to announce that we had arrived at Angkor the Great.
The Angkor ruins are truly amazing. One wonders how this ancient civilization lived, and how the enormous stones were put into place for the giant temples. The best day to go to Angkor Wat is actually on a cloudy day. With the low clouds in Cambodia, the great temple looks like a palace in the sky. You can feel the wind carry the clouds to you as a fantastic cold gust hits your face, leaving a light dew, at the very top of Angkor Wat.

There are nearly a hundred temples in the entire area. Why? Because each emperor just had to have their own temple. This was part of the belief that divinity passed through blood lines. So when you became king, you had to build a temple for yourself as well as your parents to maintain royalty with the gods.

I made another spurge for the $60 seven day pass. A deal to me since the day pass is $20. Let's see how many temples I can hit before it's over.

Phnom Penh

In a country that has been plunged into hell, it's ironic that it seems like we can touch the clouds of the heavens in Cambodia. When our plane landed in Phnom Penh, Cambodia's capital, we were looking for the airport. Finally we saw an orangish pink strip mall like structure, and there it was.

Going from Bangkok to Phnom Penh, I thought it was a bit smaller than I had expected. Low buildings by the Tonle Sap river, markets and motos everywhere, and streets numbers that don't quite make sense.

Forced to spend one day in Phnom Penh before heading to Siem Reap by boat, I went to the Killing Fields 15km from town. In the middle of the field, a pagoda structure stood tall. There was something inside, the only remains of the killing fields is a tower made from human bones and skulls, locked in glass inside the memorial pagoda. The killing fields is a soul wretching lesson in Cambodia history.

In a small field no bigger than the park near my house in Canada, over 20,000 people were executed by the Khmer Rouge communist regime. The revolution for a farmer utopia executed families of intellectuals, engineers, teachers, basically anyone with education. They killed men, women, children, and even babies. Everything in the field has been excavated, but documents reveal approximately the number of people who died along with how they died. These tales of horror were told to us by our Khmer tour guide, who added "this is was very very cruel, very very sad" after almost every sentence. Cambodians are still recovering from the trauma of the Khmer Rouge days.

I asked the tour guide how he does his job. I not only admired his emotional restraint, but was shocked by how calm he could say the shocking things he said. He told me that he couldn't at first, but then he realized that this story was something he could give. And if he doesn't give, people will never know. Just like the Cambodian people never got an answer from Pol Pot as he died naturally without any arrest. And now, all the ex-Khmer Rouge officials put the blame on the dead man.

Many people lost their families and ex-Khmer Rouge soldiers or officials keep their past as quiet as possible, although they are not actually in any danger. I asked another Cambodia in Phnom Penh why they don't confront the well known Khmer Rouge officials still living near the Thai border in Cambodia. His answer was as poignent as it was moving. He said: "We all want answers, and some of us might want revenge. But we are so grateful now that there is some law and order in our country that we would not break the law for our own cause."

I have never been to such a sad place in my whole life. I was moved to tears. In fact, I couldn't stop crying at all the entire hour I was there.

Coincidentally, that night Nick informed me about "Brother Number Two" Nuon Chea's arrest that day. I told the news to our friend Vuthy, whose internet cafe we frequented in PP. Seeing him print out the Reuters article and traslating it excitedly to the other Cambodians at the cafe gave me only a little reassurance after the day's hard lessons.

Last day in Bangkok: Magic on Maharaj street

Finally it's time to leave Bangkok. 5 days and the hustle and bustle of this town has already gotten to me. No, I haven't lost my soul. I'm just longing to be somewhere quiet and serene. That's why I left Hong Kong in the first place. But Bangkok has been a great stopover to gain some travel goods I know I'll be thankful for later. I'm still not sure what's available in Cambodia.

I had a magical day on Maharaj street, the street that runs along Wat Po and the Grand Palace. By the way, the Grand Palace and the Emerald Buddha temple is an amazing place of gold and mirrors. It's probably the most stunning attraction in Bangkok, as it's literally blinding during bright daylight. A must see along with Wat Arun.

On Maharaj street I really got to know some local Thais. Eating lunch in a food stall restaurant, the owner treated me to a free coke. I was so touched. Thais are very eager to approach anyone by themselves. Then, being caught in a heavy rainstorm, some tuk tuk drivers I had a beer with drove me home for free.

Sometimes I wonder if strangers know how much their kindness is appreciated.

Cheapculture's Bargaining Handbook

Culture is cheap, just like everything you buy in Thailand could be cheaper. A well learned lesson in SE asia is that of bargaining. On an average day, I probably made at least 15 transactions with at least half involving bargaining. Prices are almost never set (food being an exception), not to mention that most new comers don't know what prices should be anyway. Whether you are actually cheap, or just don't want to feel like a sucker tourist, you should try your hand at bargaining. Not only that, Thais are actually very fun people to bargain with. Price discrimination is everywhere and heavily depend on the way you look, speak, and react. But it's really a guessing game both ways: of the seller guessing what you'll pay, and you guessing if it's the right price. Not getting into game and auction theory, I'm going straight to tips:

1. The basic one first: never accept the first price they give you. Make some facial expression to show your discontent. This is the initiation of bargaining. Don't give yourself away by considering the price, a moment's hesitation is enough end the game!

2. Say no to the price, but make no intention to walk away....not yet anyway. Wait for the next price they give you.

3. Now it's your turn, always be fast and bid a bit lower than you're willing to pay. Why? Because you won't get the price you bid unless you're lucky. At most, I'd say bid about a third of the initial price.

4. You'll be cross bidding for a while. To speed up the process and minimize time cost, make sure you bid fast. I can't emphasize speed enough because pausing the game almost always makes the seller more sure of your non-information - that is, that you don't know the real price, your biggest weakness in the game.

5. If you buy more, you can almost always bargain down a lot more. I can't tell you how much extra baggage I've acquired because I've used the "Ï'll buy one more" tactic one too many times in order to get things at nearly half price. (Umm, yeah. I know that this doesn't make that much sense, because it throws out the initial price completely at the game's end. But once a girl asked me to buy a scarf for $1. I jokingly said why don't you give me at $0.5 each and I'll buy two. This has happened many many more times.)

6. Don't say please. While you should be polite, it's not really about that. Do feel free to use other phrases such as "come on" or "for me your special customer?", and we all know a smile goes a long way.

7. Keep small bills around. This is really helpful because you can take out what you want to spend (even if it's way below market price), and just say it's all you have. It's kind of a cheap shot, so I only use this when I actually only have so much money. On quiet days, stores and tuk tuk drivers rather sell something with a little profit than nothing at all.

8. Show that you really will walk away. This works best when other competing merchants are around, but for me it's also worked for monopoly sellers. So put down that scarf you love - afterall, you don't really need it.

9. Many touristy places have learned one of the most skillful bargaining tactics - guilt. Sellers will often complain about why you're bargaining when you're a rich tourist, or why you're giving them such a hard time when you're in their country. They prey on our catholic upbringing!

Okay, so what they say is actually pretty true, which is why it works so well. It's up to you whether you want to be a sucker and pay to be released from your guilt (a lots cheaper than emotional stress on a trip in my opinion!) Or just ignore them and keep bargaining. Don't make it political, this is afterall a market transaction.

So before you call me a heartless guttersnipe, let me just say I have complete certainty that guilting is a game tactic. Once a tuk tuk driver guilted me into paying him 100 baht more (about $3, and double the original 100 baht price we agreed on) on the basis of expensive gasoline prices that day. When I took out the bill he literally took it from my hand, laughed a great jolly laugh before giving me the you-sucker face. Seriously. And yes, it's happened more than once!

Endnote: Thais are really fun people. Smile and be playful with them. Don't take bargaining too seriously, because it can be really enjoyable and fun instead of stressful and a pain. At worst, you don't buy it. Trust me, you can definitely get the exact same thing somewhere else (I might even tell you the secret for this later)