No Dengue, No Dengue, No Dengue (Said quickly)

We flew into Siem Reap, Cambodia very early on June 20. The air traffic is impressive in this area of the world. For example, our flight was scheduled to leave at 8am. We were in the air at 8:01am. How's that for on time departures?

We arrived in Siem Reap and went straight to our hotel. Our room was ready for us upon arrival at 9:15 am. (That would never happen in the states, even if a room was ready.) After freshening up we headed out into Siem Reap to see what the city had to offer. We walked through the various markets and spoke to countless locals. The Cambodiam people, or Khmer, are amazing friendly. They are always smiling, and have a keen interest in foreigners and practicing their English.

The markets looked, not surprisingly, like many markets I went through while living in India. At one point we found ourselves in the middle of a food market inside an extremely old building. The stench was awful, and when combined with the site of a few sliced and diced birds, we decided to make a run for the exit. Bird flu is definitely prevalent in this area of the world, so we are trying to keep our distance.

We then decided to move on to lunch, and found a restaurant named "Amok." Amok is a traditional Khmer dish that is very similar to a curry, except that it contains come type of fish paste, and is generally server in a banana leaf. We were very impressed with the dish, and we washed it down with a cold Angkor beer. If you haven't heard, Angkor Wat is the pride and joy of Cambodia, and so the national beer is even named after the historic temple.

Oh, something interesting to note is the deal with currency in Cambodia. The traditional Cambodian currency is the Riel. The current exchange rate is 4000 riel to the dollar. To give you perspective, a 2 liter bottle of filtered water costs about $.13, or 500 riel. However, what is interesting is that all prices inCambodia are listed in USD. Every menu, every hotel, even the entrance fees to Angkor Wat are listed in dollars, and you are expected to pay in USD. Dollars even come out of the ATMs in this country.

I've always thought that currency is somewhat of a source of national pride. Definitely not true in Cambdia. At one point, I went into a little supermarket to buy a bottle of water for $.25. When I offered the woman 1000 riel, she actually frowned. I never thought I'd see someone so bummed to accept their own form of currency in their own country. Anyway, I just thought it was interesting.