Cambodia - Siem Reap

We had a guesthouse sorted from Phonm Penh so got to bypass the sea of touts when we got off the bus. We got a super cheap room (US$4) that was good for the price. Only down side was that it was 10-15 min walk from town and it was a very muddy (or dusty on sunny days) walk.

Siem Reap has some really great bars and restaurants. Our favourite place that we patroned once or twice daily while we were there was a bakery/restaurant/bar. The food was really good - especially the bakery goods and homemade icecream. We had flavours like star anise and honey, lemon and kaffir lime, and papaya and coriander. After 7pm each night their crossoints, muffins, and other pastries were half price so we got them to take to the temples for lunch. It also had a big air con room upstairs with big couch like seats (will put a photo up soon). It was a good place to escape the heat and dust.

All the roads were incredibly dusty and it only takes a couple of mins after leaving the house to feel dirty.

We hung out with Liz and Cheryl a lot (the two english girls we had met) we went to the temples with them and had dinner each night which was fun.

There are lots of people begging around Siem Reap. We gave people money or food whenever we could. They were usually amputees, mothers with babies, kids (or kids carrying babies). It was actually a bit hard on the babies, they were carted around all day till late to be used to pull the heartstrings of tourists. There were also heaps of kids (from about 6-12 yrs) selling bracelets, postcards etc to supplement the family income. We gave some of the kids around art stuff that we had bought to take to an orphanage but didn't find one. And gave my sneakers away that I don't need anymore.

We took one little boy out for breakfast in a restaurant. He had a good time, he had been to restaurants with tourists before - lots of people take the kids for a meal rather than just giving them money. He ordered pancakes which he had never tried before, but I think he regretted that and wished he had got rice. Tim and he played pool and he was really good, his brothers had taught him. His father had died and he had about 7 siblings. He was 10.

He and a few of his brothers and sisters go out to the temples each day after school (school is 7am-1pm Mon-Sat) to sell postcards and stuff. And then on the only day off of the week he was in town for the entire day trying to sell. He spoke really good english - just from talking to tourists for a few years. It is really sad that so many kids don't get to have time to play, but surprisingly they seem happy enough about it as all their friends are in the same boat. They know the capital city and population of pretty much all the countries in the world, and can count to ten in many languages.

One night we went to a cello concert and information evening at the childrens hospital - hosted by the Swiss founder. He has been working in Cambodia for years. First in the 70's but then had to leave when the Khmer Rouge came into power. He came back in the 90's to rebuild a hospital in Phonm Penh and has been there since. He now has 4 childrens hospitals in Phonm Penh and Siem Reap, some also with maternity wards, that give free healthcare and medicine. The health system (as with all other government services in Cambodia) is totally corrupt, and you cannot get care unless you pay big $ and over 80% of the drugs available are fake.

But at the hospitals this doctor has set up, everything is up to international standard, there is no corruption and everyone gets free care. It is really amazing what he has done. It costs 17 million to run the show, nearly all of which comes from foreign donations (the Swiss government has given 10% of the running costs for years).

After the Khmer Rouge there were only 50 trained doctors alive in all Cambodia (of over 900 previously).