Smatterings of Siem Reap

Entering a bar on Pub Street our American selves take over, do we wanna people watch or do we wanna dance? The alcohol here is cheap, like cry in delight and elation cheap.  Fifty sent beers, two dollar pitchers of cocktails, and they don’t skimp. My inner alcoholic was so cheering at the sight of it. We definitely got a few shy, local ladies to come shake it with us on a stage, when we noticed them nervously bopping about in the corner. Our American girl dancing style did not only stand out on the dance floor but also in regard to our body art.  The weather was hot, and we, although respecting cultural modesty (covering shoulders and knees in religious spaces) were in summer clothes, which show off some of our ink collection. The ink, combined with our excess of ear piercings, got a lot of gawks. People were genuinely perplexed and even concerned as to why we had done this. We did not meet this reception in any other country or city we had ever visited. We didn't really know how to explain ourselves to these curious or scorning individuals, the fact that we just felt like doing it, somehow did not seem like a great explanation. What did they want us to say? Thinking back to California, these locals would be shocked at the inked sights to be seen there, hope they can come for an equally opposite culture shocking visit sometime.

Not the cheapest in town

Sleeping like a sweet, sweet babe. 

Now thinking of popular imagery, you just don’t hear as many hooker stories about Cambodia as you do about say, Thailand. It doesn't have the same sleaze reputation and from what I could see was not as western-ly corrupted in this sense (not to say that sex trafficking isn't a serious issue here, as it is in many places)The thing that it does have is, how to put this… accessibility to quenching your war driven fantasies? You can rent any automatic weapon, bazooka, whatever and just go to town in some random field. You can also detonate grenades. Don’t get me wrong this isn't necessarily bad, no one’s getting hurt physically, but it does seem to be another paternalistic imposition. This is set to cater to  Americans or Europeans tourists who think this would be really cool. I have to think it’s kind of odd that getting your hands on grenades is so easy here, that it is a sustainable business, and if it’s that easy, how else are these weapons being used?  Also, given the traumatic history of this country, I don’t know, shooting off guns like a maniac there seems disrespectful. I mean come on PTSD is a real thing and living through the violent slaughter of your people might give you a few triggers.  

Wait to be weird-ed out...

Mmm, lemon grass and Kaffir lime-y!

On a lighter note, another fun factoid that we discovered after being semi forcibly lured into a tourist trap. Many Cambodians’ can do this freaky thing with their hands… no no, not like dirty…well mayybe…They can arch their fingers backwards in the opposite way then seems natural.  The visual of this,  is Freddy Krueger-like, and scary. I have heard accounts that it takes finger binding to achieve this effect, which seems logical but even males who are not dancers seem to be able to do this. It is considered very attractive, so maybe, it is to them, like us having straight teeth via braces, we gotta suffer a little to achieve this standard of beauty!

Whew, bargaining is exhausting; I think I’ll get my feet sucked by tiny fish, pay the inflated price, say goodnight to our twins and call it a night!