Day 81: Impressions of Siem Reap
Siem Reap challenged me.
Right off the plane it seemed to be a nice, relaxing change from Bali. It was quiet. It was early morning and refreshingly cool.
As the sun climbed higher, the heat became oppressive and the yellow dust everywhere was choking. It was a strange combination of a parched landscape and humid, thick air. It felt unhealthy.
At night the rowdy crowds of tourists throng in Pub Street and night market. The massage shills are very aggressive, often grabbing me and asking repeatedly “massage? massage?”. Then, under their breath — or sometimes not — “with boom boom.” On the main streets the tuk-tuk drivers had a side-business: after advertising rides, they quickly more to their main product: “weed? coke?”
This was much grosser than Bangkok, the only comparably seedy place I’ve travelled. It was a shock.
Worse, the first excursions to the temples were not the magical revelations I’d expected. I thought I’d gotten used to crowds. Crowds at temples in Thailand. Crowds in Ubud. But that’s nothing compared to Bayon temple in the afternoon. So many tourists it’s hard to breathe. Difficult to find any peaceful communion with the ancient monuments.
All of this combined to make a bad first impression of Siem Reap, and, by extension, Cambodia. I was eying the exits.
But I’m stubborn. I have a great capacity to stick things out. And so I tried to figure out how to enjoy this drab, mustard-dust covered suffocating town.
Adaptation
After the initial shock of the drugs and prostitution wore off, it became less annoying. I managed to find a bit of humor in it, telling the specialized masseuses that their puny hands were far too small and weak to work my huge knotted muscles.
The temples were harder to figure out until I learned the trick: go earlier, go further. The grand tour was a great experience, and even the tourist-magnet Angkor Wat itself was bearable at 7 AM.
Siem Reap taught me lessons in adaptation. Adapting to Thailand was easy and fun; most of the differences were positive: the street food, the cheap products, the taxi and tuk tuk systems, etc…
Bali was a bit harder. There I needed to adjust to the difficulties of transport and the somewhat higher costs. I missed street food and the market vendors were more aggressive. But it was still easy and beautiful and I had a wonderful time.
Siem Reap was hardest. It had a wider range of costs. The strategy for having a good experience at the temples was not obvious and took some time to figure out. The city is dusty and unattractive. There are fewer long term travelers there; the masses spending two or three days at the temples vastly outnumber everyone else. The hawkers are yet more aggressive.
These are all consequences of this place’s singular draw: Angkor. It’s an incredible blessing, but not an unalloyed blessing.
It took more energy to figure the place out. After six days I’ve gone from disliking Siem Reap and wanting to bolt to considering it a problem I’ve halfway solved. Halfway to figuring out how to have a good time there.
My lesson was this: it’s always hard to figure a new place out. Some are harder than others and it’s a mistake to think you’re always going to be good at quickly getting the lay of the land. If it is difficult, don’t worry. That simply means the place has something to teach you. I’m glad I stayed for the messages Siem Reap had for me: relax, take it easy, don’t take it so seriously and don’t get all wrapped up in your head when reality doesn’t match your exalted expectations.
