Tag Archives: Siem Reap

In Cambodia: Sights and Sounds of Siem Reap

23By Lynn Strough

Travelynn Tales

 

This is the fourth installment chronicling the adventures of Lynn Strough, a local artist and writer who’s been traveling the world since November 2014. Lynn’s travels have (so far) taken her to Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, Cambodia, Japan, Slovenia, Croatia, Ireland, England, France, Italy… and I’m sure we’re forgetting a few destinations. To learn more about her journey, go here.

 

Siem Reap, Cambodia, is the gateway city to Angkor Wat, with exotic appeal, as well as the ease provided by being set up for the tourist trade. If you are looking for adventure, with all of the comforts of any major tourist destination, and a much cheaper price tag than most, you might want to consider a trip to Cambodia.

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I’d booked a guesthouse ahead, based on a recommendation from a traveler I met in a hostel in New Zealand (hostels are great for swapping travel tips!) The Okay Guesthouse was $18 a night for a private room with bathroom and fan, $23 if you wanted AC, and at 90-100 degree temps, the AC was worth an extra $5 a day. It also boasted a beautiful rooftop pool and a row of hammocks for your snoozing pleasure. You can spend a little less for something super basic, and possibly not quite as clean, or spend hundreds of dollars a night if you want something 4-star, it’s all available here.

 

My room at the guesthouse was fairly basic, not quite what the rooms looked like on their website, but hey, the price was right. It was clean, and quiet, and cost less than an 8-bed hostel with shared bath in other countries. Then, a nice surprise when I got back from visiting Angkor Wat – the desk manager asked, “are you in room 222?” We have a surprise for you. We are upgrading your room to the villa!”

 

“That’s great!” I said, perplexed. “But why?” He said, “We just want you to be happy.” I am happy, but I’m even happier now!

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The new room is about the same size,  but it has a little nicer decor, a phone, a small packet of tissues, thicker towels, and there are rubber flip-flops by the bathroom to wear in the shower. Other than that, it’s about the same, but still, it was very nice of them. The staff are friendly and helpful, and they keep the place looking lovely.

 

They even sent someone to move my bags, while I went up and swam in that serpentine pool, which I thought about a lot while climbing temple steps in 90 degree heat earlier. I splurged and had a happy hour drink for a couple of dollars, while watching the sun set behind an unlit lamp by the rooftop pool, so it looked like the lamp was lit by the sun, and thought about how life is beautiful and how lucky I am!

 

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What else is there to do in Siem Reap besides exploring stone temples? Lots of things, it turns out, although hanging by that pool isn’t a bad thing to do in and of itself. The market is a great spot to check out, and it’s only a 20-minute walk or a five-minute, $2 tuk tuk ride away. It’s huge and spills out into the surrounding streets, blocks and blocks of sensory overload, smells, colors, tastes, noise! You can find just about anything you can think of there, shop after shop of colorful clothing, silk scarves, shoes, hammocks, lamps, beads, bangles, and buddhas; fruits, fish, vegetables, and foods you’ve never seen before.

 

You can get a massage on the street or in a spa, for a fraction of the price at home, or have your feet nibbled by fish. 

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You can also attend a local circus! Not the kind with animals, rather think of a small cirque du soleil, in a tent, with very talented young Cambodian men and women who sing, dance, and perform amazing feats of acrobatics, all while telling a story about Cambodian history and culture. The circus, Phare, is the product of a school of art and performing arts that was started to help get kids off the streets. I saw the show Sokha, about a little girl haunted by visions of the atrocities committed by the Khmer Rouge. Intense story, but told with compassion, and yes, even humor, and an uplifting ending.

 

One of the hard parts of visiting Cambodia is seeing the poverty here, and the after effects of the land mines. You will see people missing hands and legs and feet, some trying to make a living selling you books near the market. This is hard to see, and you may experience travel guilt (why are we able to fly off to foreign countries, while people here earn $2 a day, if they’re lucky), but also remember that tourism helps boost the economy here and provides jobs and income for many families. The inequities in the world are mind-boggling, and not a problem easily solved. If I have any thoughts of hardship, not having a job or a home right now myself, they are made irrelevant by what I see here, and I’m reminded once again of just how lucky I am.

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All of this fun is at a very affordable price for Westerners. Just to give you an idea, my hotel bill, at the end of a full week, was $221.75. This included seven nights hotel room ($161), $18 for my driver to Angkor Wat from 5am until 5:30pm, $18 for a ticket to the circus, $6 for a two-hour tuk tuk tour, $1.75 to have my laundry done (usually I do it myself in the sink, but the sink was tiny, and hey, for less than $2?!), a two-hour massage for $12 (a pre-birthday splurge), and a $5 fare to the airport. Not a bad price tag, when some people spend that on one night of hotel expense in a major US city.

 

And this was for solo travel. If you’re traveling with a companion, you can cut most of this expense in half.

 

25Food, of course, was extra, but you can have a nice meal for $3 to $4. If you really want to splurge and add an appetizer, wine, and dessert, you might spend up to $15 or so. Overall, it’s probably less than you’d be spending on food staying at home! It’s $20 to get into Angkor Wat for a day, one of your major expenses here, but totally worth it, and it helps fund the restoration of the site.

 

And there are other things you can do in the area, like visit the land mine museum, or the silk farm a few kilometers outside of town. The silk farm is free, and it’s worth a blog post of its own (go here to read it).

 

About Lynn Strough

Lynn is a 50-something year old woman whose incarnations in this life have included graphic designer, children’s book author and illustrator, public speaker, teacher, fine art painter, wine educator in the Napa Valley, and world traveler. Through current circumstances, she has found herself single, without a job or a home, and poised for a great adventure.

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“You could consider me homeless and unemployed, but I prefer nomad and self-employed, as I pack up my skills and head off with my small backpack and even smaller savings to circumnavigate the globe (or at least go until the money runs out). Get ready to tag along for the ride…starting now!”

 

All images copyright Lynn Strough and Travelynn Tales

Reprinted with permission

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In Cambodia: The Magical Tale of Mr. Yen

13By Lynn Strough
Travelynn Tales

 

This is the third installment chronicling the adventures of Lynn Strough, a local artist and writer who’s been traveling the world since November 2014. Lynn’s travels have (so far) taken her to Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, Cambodia, Japan, Slovenia, Croatia, Ireland, England, France, Italy… and I’m sure we’re forgetting a few destinations. To learn more about her journey, go here.

 

He grew up in a village in Cambodia, and was working in the rice fields with his parents, making very little money and getting nowhere, so he decided to try his luck by moving to the city of Siem Reap to look for a job, which he found as a tuk tuk driver at the guesthouse where I was staying.

 

“I have a confession to make,” Mr. Yen told me, as we ate lunch on my day trip to Angkor Wat. “The reason I was late this morning to pick you up was because I was sleeping. I have a second job.”

 

He explained that his first job in Siem Reap is at a 5-star hotel, working in night security. But it doesn’t pay enough to live on ($60 a month), so he went looking for a second job, and after much searching and rejection (I know what that’s like!), he was tested driving a tuk tuk at the Okay Guesthouse, had to drive the owner and his family around, and then he was hired! I told him he’s persistent, and he was happy he learned a new word in English today.

 

What else I found out alarmed me. A friend who told me about this guesthouse, had also told me that the drivers, if hired through the hotel, only get about $2 of the $18 that the hotel charges to go to Angkor Wat for the day. So I asked him if this is true. He said he gets paid $60 a month at each job, and I said “So about $15 a week for each job?” He said yes, and I asked how many days a week he works. I was shocked when he said seven–no days off!! That’s about $2 a day, per job, and he works really long hours. Today it was 5 am to almost 6 pm, just at the guesthouse job. Then he goes to his other job at either 8 or 10 pm and works all night. That gives him about  two to four hours a day to eat and sleep. No sleeping on the job allowed of course; there are security cameras.

 

At the other hotel, rooms go for $200-400 a night (mine was $23 at my guesthouse). He’s providing security at $2 a day for people who can afford a $400 a night hotel room. I asked him how much it costs to buy a tuk tuk and he said new, about $900, so he can’t afford his own, although he’s trying to save for one. For work, he uses the guesthouse tuk tuk. So a few nights’ cost to stay at that other hotel could buy someone like him a brand new tuk tuk!

 

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I first met Mr. Yen at the airport, where he greeted me with a sign with my name on it and a huge grin, to give me a ride to my guesthouse. He picked up my backpack, even though he’s smaller than I am, and had me follow him past the rows of cars to a tuk tuk, a sort of carriage attached to a motorcycle, where he helped me aboard and proceeded to skillfully navigate the crazy Siem Reap traffic.

 

I couldn’t figure it out – the road appeared to be one-way, with a cement divider between us and the traffic going the other direction. However, sometimes, suddenly, traffic would appear coming head-on on our side of the divide, usually something big, like a bus.

 

We made it safely, and when he offered to be my driver to Angkor Wat the next day, I remembered what my friend said, to hire the drivers outside the hotel, rather than book through the hotel, so the driver gets to keep all of the money. But when I asked Mr. Yen if I can do this, he said that he’s paid a salary by Okay Guesthouse, and would get in trouble doing it outside. So I hired him through the guesthouse.

 

He was an excellent driver, told me lots about the temples, and made sure I got to places either before or after the biggest crowds. When I treated him to lunch, he was delighted, and we shared stories of our families – his parents are still in the village working in the rice fields, and he tries to send them money when he can. That’s when I asked about his pay, and he confessed to being a little tired, and why. I’d noticed other tuk tuk drivers had hammocks that they’d hung in their vehicles to take a nap in while their customers climbed the ruins, and thought I might buy him a hammock.3

 

Later, talking to my friend Beth in Michigan via FaceTime, I told her about Mr. Yen, and without thinking, I said, “If I had a job and the money right now, I’d buy him a tuk tuk. Then he could have his own business, quit the other jobs, work reasonable hours and keep all of the income.”

 

Without hesitation, Beth said, “Can I buy him a tuk tuk?” I was stunned. Was she serious? “Absolutely!” she told me. “If you can figure out how to do it, I will pay for it.”

 

And so began the quest to buy Mr. Yen his own tuk tuk.

 

It was a little trickier than I thought. First, I wondered if it was a good idea to interfere in someone’s life like that – would he use the money for what it was intended? Beth taught me a lesson in giving here – she said it’s a gift with no strings attached. If he decided to give the money to his family or spend the money some other way, that’s his choice. And I wondered if his sudden windfall would somehow make him a target for jealousy or other related problems.

 

But a woman I met while eating dinner that night, when I told her the story, said, “This is an opportunity to change someone’s life for the better. How can you not do it?!” I thought she was right, so I set off to figure out how to make this happen in the three days I had left in Siem Reap, as there was a fast approaching end in sight to my time here.

 

I didn’t want to tell Mr. Yen anything about it until I was sure we could pull it off. First, I did some research on line about tuk tuks and found out that yes, a new one costs about $900, but that didn’t include the motorcycle, which brought it up to more like $2000. When I told this to Beth, she said, “Then that’s what I shall give him.” But how to transfer the money? I have a small limit on my credit card, and my bank only allows a limited amount of funds removed each day. Is there a Western Union? Beth asked.

 

When I next saw Mr. Yen, I asked him a few questions. First, if he has a motorcycle. When he said no, and I asked how he gets to his jobs, he said he walks, or borrows a scooter from a friend. When I asked him what it costs to buy a motorcycle, he told me about $1100, which fit in with my research. So I told him that even though I don’t have a job or much money right now, I have a friend in America who wants to help him buy a tuk tuk so he can start his own business. The look on his face was priceless! He couldn’t believe it!

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“Oh, thank you, thank you!!” he said, hugging me, then getting down on his knees. I was a little embarrassed, that was totally unnecessary. “You have changed my life!!” he went on. Then suddenly, he stopped. “But your friend, she doesn’t know me, has never met me…” and I explained that I told her about his situation, and that she trusts me, and wants to help him. His exuberance reappeared instantly.

 

“But we need to figure out how to get the money from America to here,” I told him, and asked about Western Union. He didn’t know about that, but said he has a savings account, where he’s managed to save $300 towards buying a tuk tuk, and she could maybe transfer the money to his account. So he took me to his bank, where the manager printed out a form with all of the account information on it, and told me to take it back to the states with me to my bank. When I explained I wasn’t going back just yet, and it was my friend sending the money, he said I could take a picture of the form with my phone and email it to Beth back in Michigan. Sometimes technology amazes me. “It might take two to five days to go through,” the bank clerk told us.

 

The next two days, Mr. Yen was gone. His grandfather had fallen ill, and he needed to help his parents get him to the hospital. On my last day in Siem Reap, I asked the guesthouse if I could hire him for a couple of hours to run some errands – go to my ATM to get money to pay my guesthouse bill (they only take cash), check out the local temple, and so on. When Mr. Yen appeared, I explained my errands, and also said, if he’d like, we could go to his bank to see if the money went through yet, and then go tuk tuk shopping!

 

He was thrilled! And even more so when we discovered that the money did indeed arrive, and he saw the amount. I hadn’t told him that Beth was sending $2000, instead of $900, so that he could buy a motorcycle as well as a tuk tuk, and still have the $300 he’d saved to go towards license, registration, and a helmet of his own.

 

I said now he can quit his jobs, have his own business, and have time to sleep! He said, “And I can go back to school!” I asked what he wanted to go to school for, and he said to speak better English.

 

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Then we headed out to look at tuk tuks. At first, I wondered where he was taking me, as instead of driving to the highway filled with big stores and showrooms, he took me down a rutted dirt alleyway lined with shacks. Until I saw one particularly big shack, and I understood…

 

He has since emailed both Beth and I to thank us for our kindness, and later, to say that he has ordered his tuk tuk (they can take 20 days to make) and will quit at least one of his jobs when it is finished. I hope to see his tuk tuk, but even if those photos never arrive, it feels good to have helped someone along my journey, and I wish him much success in life. He is only 22, and now has the opportunity for a brighter future, where he can work hard, but also get some sleep, help his family, and perhaps one day have a family of his own. Thank you Beth, for making all of this possible!!

 

*Note: Mr. Yen is the name I was given at the guest house, and the name on their tuk tuk. His actual name is a little different, and longer, but for the sake of privacy I have left it as Mr. Yen. If or when those pictures come in, I will add them to this post!

 

**Mr. Yen did get his tuk tuk, and as promised, sent us pictures. It is blue like the sky.

 

About Lynn Strough

Lynn is a 50-something year old woman whose incarnations in this life have included graphic designer, children’s book author and illustrator, public speaker, teacher, fine art painter, wine educator in the Napa V26alley, and world traveler. Through current circumstances, she has found herself single, without a job or a home, and poised for a great adventure.

 

“You could consider me homeless and unemployed, but I prefer nomad and self-employed, as I pack up my skills and head off with my small backpack and even smaller savings to circumnavigate the globe (or at least go until the money runs out). Get ready to tag along for the ride…starting now!”

 

travelynnlogoAll images copyright Lynn Strough and Travelynn Tales

Reprinted with permission

In Cambodia: The Art of Making Silk

IMG_8035-1024x768By Lynn Strough
Travelynn Tales

 

Editor’s note: We are excited to share with you the adventures of Lynn Strough, a local artist and writer who’s been traveling the world since November 2014. Lynn’s travels have (so far) taken her to Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, Cambodia, Japan, Slovenia, Croatia, Ireland, England, France, Italy… and I’m sure we’re forgetting a few destinations. To learn more about her journey, go here.

 

In this first installment, Lynn is in Cambodia and shares the art of creating silk.

 

Just outside Siem Reap in Cambodia is a silk farm, where for free, you can go on a tour and see the whole process. They will even give you a free ride on their shuttle bus. Yes, they have a gift shop at the end, a very lovely one, but there is absolutely no pressure to buy anything, although you might be tempted to! And it’s nice to tip your tour guide. I was amazed at what it takes to go from a worm to a single piece of fabric. I think you will be too!

 

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About Lynn Strough

Lynn is a 50-something year old woman whose incarnations in this life have included graphic designer, children’s book author and illustrator, public speaker, teacher, fine art painter, wine educator in the Napa Vlynn stroughalley, and world traveler. Through current circumstances, she has found herself single, without a job or a home, and poised for a great adventure.

 

“You could consider me homeless and unemployed, but I prefer nomad and self-employed, as I pack up my skills and head off with my small backpack and even smaller savings to circumnavigate the globe (or at least go until the money runs out). Get ready to tag along for the ride…starting now!”

 

 

travelynnlogoAll images copyright Lynn Strough and Travelynn Tales

Reprinted with permission