Phnom Penh-Siem Reap 1/20

Before going to the airport, I met with Arun, a fiend of Marie and Harley’s, my friends from New York who sponsor an orphanage in Siem Riep. It was a great meeting. Laurie and Florence joined us and we found out so much about the right process for renovation a village school. Arun is Cambodian. His whole family was killed by Khmer Rouge . He started his first NGO in 1991 – working with street kids to clean up the city. He then got a scholarship to Columbia University’s international development program. Since then, he built a school for 600 kids in his village; he runs an orphanage for 69 children ages 5-12 and he brings 200 US dentists to Cambodia each year to help provide dental care in rural areas. He offered to help with our school, too. An amazing guy. At 11 am, I went to the airport and took the 45 minute flight to Siem Reap. Very easy. A tuk tuk from Le Tigre hotel picked me up and took me there. It was a nice ride, but I was amazed at the changes in SR. Five years ago it was a small town. Now, it’s a bustling metropolis. Lots of new hotels, wide roads, good cars, many new impressive villas, traffic jams, and hordes of tourists. My hotel is quirky, but not nearly as nice as the White Mansion. It’s a large villa of sorts, run by a young Frenchman who came here 3 years ago, married a Cambodian girl and together they are running this place. I think I am the only non-French speaking guest. All other people I have seen are French. The best part is a cool outdoor restaurant and bar. The food smells great and the selection of drinks seems extensive. I didn’t stay in the hotel long, and headed right to the center of the action – Pub Street and the market. The market was just as I remembered it – amazing. The best deals ever. I couldn’t help it and bought a bunch of silk scarves, a few traditional Cambodian cotton scarves and some amazingly soft and thin cotton t-shirts. I could have kept shopping, but I got thirsty so I decided to stop and get a beer. It was happy hour so my Angkor beer was 50 cents! Pierre, the director of CFI picked me up at the hotel in the evening and we went to a French restaurant Barrio for dinner. The place was a bit off the tourist track; it was modern and stylish and it felt like Santa Monica. The price was definitely Cambodian, though. A nice dinner for two + a pretty large carafe of red wine for just $35.