As you walk the streets, or drink and dine in Siem Reap you will at some stage undoubtedly be petitioned by children and adult male landmine victims to buy books or, in the case of the kids, postcards, jewellery or flowers. This post is not just a request to not buy anything from the children, but also a strong call to please buy from the adults.

Welcome to Cambodia -- don't forget to read the small print.

The thing is this: visitors who buy from street children, or simply give them money, perpetuate a system that keeps the children out of school (though they are trained to tell you that they do go to school), and ensures that they, and their children, will remain in poverty for the rest of their lives. Children selling on the streets make more than the dozens of excellent NGOs can give to support families in need, so it becomes an easy option in which the child’s future is sacrificed. In a horrifying new turn for Cambodia, a recent report in the Phnom Penh Post highlighted how parents in Poipet are breaking their own children's limbs in order to increase their "value" as beggars. It could only be a matter of time before such a practice emigrates to Siem Reap.

On top of that, while working on the streets, children are exposed to the dangers of drugs, trafficking and sexual predators. No matter how compassionate it may seem, giving to or buying from children perpetuates an act of cruelty. It takes strength to say no to them, but when weighed against the dangers it is a strength I’m sure we all can find.

You will be helping more than one child by buying from Phoeung and his associates.

If you would like to do something to really help Cambodians instead of giving to or buying from street kids, then there are alternatives. For example, each time you find yourself tempted to buy from a kid on the street, please put aside the money you would have given, and then go to visit the offices of ConCERT, an organisation with many extraordinary roles, one of which is collecting donations on behalf of a number of registered local NGOs who are required to meet certain standards of accountability, management and child safety. ConCERT transfers 100% of any donations it receives and can also provide guidance on which organisation you’d most like to support.

Another option is to buy instead from the adult landmine victims, even if they’re not as cute or charming or able to ingeniously apply the most fascinating psychological mind-games as the kids. Through organised books sales, they have been given an opportunity to earn an income that would normally be denied to them as a result of their injuries, and this is vital to their families and to the maintenance of their dignity following a devastating event.

Think twice -- then tell your friends.

This is the premise behind the local Think Twice campaign whose posters and flyers call on us to “Help adults to earn and children to learn”. I’m asking you to do more than that: tell everyone you meet on your travels the same thing too and help them to get the message across. Be an ambassador for the future of Cambodia’s children.

Tags: ConCERT, landmines, street children, Think Twice!

When it’s as hot in Siem Reap as it has been lately (though do we dare for a respite after the last few days of storms), there’s not a great deal you can do except restrict movement as much as possible (mainly so that you don’t skid in great lakes of your own sweat and break important things like a neck), and take in as many liquids as you can. Which sounds like a perfect prescription for going to the pub if you ask me. But because we like to pretend, on occasion, that class isn’t completely out of style, we thought we’d focus on the best spots to go for a glass of wine. And remember, the bucket is for the ice.

Chilling out at Le Malraux.

The Station on Street 7 changed hands almost a year ago when it was taken over by an Australian fellow who knows more than a thing or two about his wines. As a result, you’ll find here the longest list of wines by the glass in town as well as a huge selection of 100 bottles, which includes some real stars. Wine fans should not dream of missing this place while they’re here. If all this sounds perhaps a little intimidating, the wine list also contains tasting notes on many of the selections to help you make your pick, and deepen your knowledge all at the same time.

The Station also hosts ladyboy revues on Friday and Saturday nights, with acclaimed theatrical performances of dance, song and comedy. The shows start at 21:00, but getting there early is recommended.

Across the road from The Station, you’ll find Le Malraux. Going here for a glass of wine is more about ambiance than grapes. The wine list is short, but well-selected, and the house wines are excellent and very good value at $3.50 a glass. It’s too rare that you find restaurants with sufficient respect for their customers that they offer them house wines that are this good. But the main reason you go to Malraux is to relax into the classic and romantic continental vibe at which this place excels in creating. Its design is a work of genius and you can choose from an al fresco patio, thickly hung with glorious orchids, or a slightly more formal brasserie setting indoors, or take your place at the long and chatty bar, or the low-slung café style seating in between, whatever takes your fancy. The service is always excellent, and the aperitif snacks that are offered along with your evening drink divine.

Picasso is a small wine bar on Alley West with a Spanish theme, and a very convivial U-shaped bar. Their wine list is also short, but the sangria is the star – you can drink and tell your mum you’re getting your daily allowance of fruit at the same time. It may take a lot of sangria to reach the five portions recommended, but if it’s what the doctor ordered... To help you wash down the wine, they also have excellent tapas here, including Iberico ham, olives, roasted red peppers, pickles and, of course, patatas bravas.

Real wine hounds should head to the Raffles Grand Hotel d’Angkor, where they boast of one of the largest wine cellars in Southeast Asia. Raffles Le Grand is the only hotel in Cambodia to receive the coveted Two Glass Award of Excellence from the US Wine Spectator, and one of only 833 establishments in the world to currently hold the award; not bad for a hot and dusty town in the middle of nowhere.

The Station Wine Bar
Street 7, Old Market Area
T: 097 850 4043

Le Malraux
Street 7, Old Market Area
T: (063) 966 041
E: info@le-malraux-siem-reap.com

Picasso
Alley West, Old Market Area

Raffles Grand Hotel d'Angkor
#1, Charles de Gaulle
T: (063) 963 888

Tags: Alley West, Le Malraux, Picasso, Raffles Grand Hotel d'Angkor, The Station, wine

You'll learn a lot of weird and wonderful things in Southeast Asia, some of it even quite useful. For example, I now know that no matter how loud I scream, the spider still won't go away (or my husband come to the rescue anymore). I can enter, use and leave the tiniest bathroom without touching a single surface with anything other than the toe of my shoe. And I've learned that Cambodian food is not just dumbed down Thai food.

There may be trouble ahead ...

But out of all the things I’ve learned, I think that if I were auditioning for Mastermind in the morning my specialist subject would really have to be poo. I can talk about that for days. Five years in Asia will do that to you. I can spell diarrhoea now without having to look it up. I can talk about colour, consistency, frequency, longevity, fragrance, causes, related symptoms, remedies, dehydration, fatigue, whether to eat or not eat, how to get your husband off the sofa to go buy you chocolate, stomach cramps, abdominal cramps, kidney functionality, water, water and more water, until I literally puke. And once I’ve done with that, I can start telling you about when I was peeing green in India.

Being blessed with a stomach that was only ever meant to consume food prepared by famous chefs in the pristine kitchens of expensive hotels has given me a special insight into the power of poop to take the shine off your day. In fact, most expats in Asia can talk fulsomely about poo, to the extent that we occasionally forget that people back home don’t always find the subject quite as fascinating as we do. Especially during mealtimes, apparently.

If you do come down with a dose of something unpleasant, you have first my sympathies and second, some of the things I’ve learned. Here they are.

You’ve got diarrhoea, and that’s really wonderful news! Honest. This means your body is doing what it needs to do to flush out evil aliens that don't belong there, and everything so far is running according to plan. I've had the variety where all you get is the most agonising cramps, and it turns out that this is simply a trigger for the hospital to administer $1,700 worth of tests that you absolutely do not need. The morphine was jolly nice though.

Most bouts of diarrhoea last for one to three days, leaving you slimmer and clear-skinned, and all for the price of a meal that just happened to be dodgy. There are places in Thailand that charge thousands of dollars for the same result, with the additional torture of tofu. If you want to complain about that, well I just don’t know what to say to you. You do however need to do certain things while this is happening, to help your body do the excellent job that it’s doing.

Don't ring your mum, she'll only panic and imagine that you're being eaten alive by ferocious, necrotic Asian bugs hitherto unknown to science. She'll put the local funeral parlour on speed-dial and start sighing at strange moments, thereby freaking out the rest of the family who'll conclude that she's been given an unwelcome diagnosis and is hiding it from them. See how these things can spiral out of control.

Instead, drink lots and lots of water and get hold of some oral rehydration therapies (Royal D sachets from UCare at the top of Pub Street cost about 500 riel a packet and one should be taken after each bout). Drinking water on its own is not enough as you may be sodium deficient as a result of passing so much liquid through your system so rapidly. Also, and somewhat perversely, your body’s capacity to absorb liquid is diminished as a result so oral rehydration therapies don't just introduce liquid, they also restore the body's capacity to make the most of it.

Some say you shouldn’t eat when you’ve got food-poisoning, but I prefer to continue to eat small amounts of plain food that has lots of fibre as this can bind with the toxins helping to flush them out. If you don’t want to do that, you can also buy sachets of Smecta from the chemist. They may also have charcoal, which does the same thing, namely pass through your system while hopefully absorbing all the nasties on the way.

Cambodia doesn’t do kitten-soft toilet paper, so learn how to use the bum-gun. It is your friend, believe me.

No matter how tempting it may seem, wine corks are not the answer. Nor are other bum-stoppers like Immodium, unless you’re planning on going somewhere. Your body really is working with you not against you, though I know it's doing things that feel more like treason than collaboration.

If, by day four, you’re still doing the wild-eyed tango in the direction of the loo, then you have a bigger problem. It is possible that you may have E. Coli poisoning, which can mean seven to ten days of black/bloody diarrhoea, very exciting cramps and nausea or vomiting, often with a mild temperature. E. Coli was my doe-eyed muse for this particular post. It usually finishes without further incident, but needs to be kept a close eye on. Oral rehydration should be continued at all times, while antibiotics and pain killers should be avoided if you think you’ve got an E. Coli infection.

Self-diagnosis is not the greatest idea however, especially when you’ve got travel insurance to back you up and you should seek out medical advice if you’re still sick after four days. It is also possible that you have giardia, which is a more serious condition, the symptoms of which include violent diarrhoea, excess gas, stomach or abdominal cramps, and nausea. Giardia can sit in your system causing disturbances for a long time, so needs to be checked out and you may be prescribed antibiotics.

If you show signs of a high fever or feel seriously weakened, then seek out medical advice instantly, regardless of how long the diarrhoea has been happening.

And finally, do use the opportunity to hog the remote in your hotel, pile up rubbishy books that you wouldn’t be seen dead reading in public and make sure you’re waited on hand and foot until it’s all over, and then an extra day, for luck.

Tags: bad stomach, diarrhoea

I was going to write about the best spots for sinking a beer while watching the day slip down over the horizon, but something has come up so you’ll have to wait for that little ray of sunshine. Instead, it has come to our attention that at least five female expats have had their bags snatched (in one case an attempted snatch) over the last week or so. This is highly unusual in Siem Reap, and travellers are therefore advised to take extra care with their belongings at the moment.

Lurking dangers in Siem Reap.

The snatches usually take place at night and are conducted by one or two men on a motorbike who swing close and grab. In almost every case, the person they stole from was carrying a bag across their body, as we are all usually advised to do. More alarmingly, some of the victims were on bicycles, though thankfully their straps snapped before they could be dragged off.

Prevention is always better than cure, so people should take more than the usual precautions. In particular, if you have a small backpack, use it, with both straps. If you don’t have one, it might be worthwhile picking one up cheap from the stalls at the front of the Central Market (overlooking Sivatha Boulevard). Better yet, ditch everything at your hotel, and just carry the cash and bits that you need in your pockets. If you are carrying a bag with the strap across your body, make sure the bag is not roadside. Don’t carry all your bank cards, and leave your passport and other valuables in your hotel safe or other security deposit system.

Be extra-extra vigilant if you're cycling or on the back of a moto. One piece of advice suggests putting your bag in your basket and tying the straps around the handlebars. This saved one potential victim, but you also run the risk of being seriously thrown from your bike. If the bag is being snatched from your body, being dragged off your bike, or a moto, can result in terrible injuries and, in Phnom Penh and Thailand, has resulted in people being killed.

If your bag is snatched, don’t fight the snatcher or chase after them. Thieves in Cambodia are treated brutally when caught, so he’ll have little to lose from making sure he can get away by whatever means necessary. In Phnom Penh, mugging victims have been shot for resisting.

Please do report the incident to the tourist police, and your guesthouse or hotel should be able to manage that for you. The police can’t react if they don’t know, and the more incidents that are reported the more pressure will be brought to catch the thieves. You are highly unlikely to recover your property through reporting to the police though, so don’t get your hopes up too high on that. It’s also a good idea to report it to your embassy.

Clusters of robberies like this often occur in the period running up to major festivals and events in Cambodia, and elsewhere. Under normal circumstances, it's not easy to think of a safer place than Siem Reap, and we hope this cluster will end soon.

Tags: bag snatchings, crime

The English have a quaint little phrase to the effect that horses sweat, men perspire, but women glow. Which is all very well if your name happens to be Fanny or Violet, but I actually thought I might be the first person in history to be electrocuted by their own body fluids as I slaved over a hot computer the other day in Siem Reap. Even my phone got heat-stroke; which is as good an excuse for not calling my father as I’ve ever had.

It's getting a little bit hot around here.

Public displays of sweating that gushes rather than glistens can be unnerving when you’re not used to it. I wore nothing but black for my first few years in Asia, not as a Goth revivalist but for fear of being that person with the enormous damp patch on their arse that everyone on the bus silently laughs at, before suddenly realising that they have to get up too. And how exactly do you check whether you’ve got a great soggy bum without the whole world knowing what you’re doing? I haven’t worked that one out yet.

Avoidance is therefore the best strategy, which is why the good gods invented air-con (the bad ones invented polyester, in case you’re wondering). Oddly enough though, bars and restaurants with air-con units are pretty thin on the ground in Siem Reap, possibly something to do with electricity in Cambodia being among the most expensive in the world. So, if you’re at melting/breaking point, here’s where to go:

If you can't get yourself one of these ...

Cafe Central: They’ve just installed windows and air-con which, together with the fastest WiFi connection that I know of in town, their excellent coffee and yummy burgers, makes here a truly cool place to hang out, pretend to work and annoy the staff.

AHA: It’s hot, you can be posh; people will understand. Plus they have the most amazing desserts, so there’s nothing more that needs to be said really.

... then check out one of these.

Blue Pumpkin: Not only will you find the air-con refreshing, but Blue Pumpkin’s house-made ice-cream is just the creamiest, tastiest, yummiest you’ll find in town. I don’t even like ice-cream, but have still been caught conducting knee-buckling midnight raids on the tub in the freezer (it's there for guests, I swear...).

Champey: Tucked away upstairs at one of the smarter venues on Pub Street Alley (the little pedestrian lane parallel to Pub Street), you’ll find a large air-con room, perfect for cooling off with a nice fish amok.

Hotel de la Paix: Although you’d better strike while the iron is hot, as they’re closing in June, Hotel de la Paix is where half the town’s expats flee in moments of crisis, i.e. when there are power cuts, floods, heat waves, or they’ve run out of forks and the cleaner isn’t due in until the next day. On top of that, the build your own salads and sandwiches are a little bit expensive, but an awful lot delicious, and big, which means that they’re not actually expensive at all on balance.

And, finally, remember the Buddhist way: all things will pass, even this seemingly eternal, infernal heat. (Also: see our tips for staying cool while in Cambodia.)

Cafe Central
Beside Old Market
T: (017) 692 997

AHA
The Pub Street Alley

Blue Pumpkin
Old Market Area
T: (063) 963 574

Champey
The Pub Street Alley

Hotel de la Paix
Sivatha Boulevard
T: (063) 963 000

Tags: AHA, air-con, Blue Pumpkin, Cafe Central, Champey, Hotel de la Paix

It’s possible that Caesar salad may be the first truly globalised recipe (provided one excludes the fat, salt, sugar and multiple-chemical delivery systems marketed by fast food dealers). The popular assemblage, once the preserve of restaurants with Maitre d's that let you know you'd failed by the precise way they called you "Sir" or "Madame", can now be found on menus in everything from roadside cafes to local bistros and high-end establishments, and in cities all over the world from Santiago to Stockholm, in South Africa, Singapore, Sydney and, of course, Siem Reap.

Soft, crunchy, sweet, bitter, yummy Caesar salad.

I’ve always avoided them on the basis that the dressing includes the dreaded anchovy, as horrible an idea as I’m capable of imagining on a lovely, sunny morning. But after someone put the question, I thought I’d better find out more and discovered that the original recipe doesn’t include anchovies at all. Instead, the inventor of the recipe relied on adding Worcestershire sauce to add a subtle hint of anchovies but eschewed adding the strongly flavoured fish himself. My hero. Moreover, contrary to widely held belief, nor does a ‘proper’ Caesar salad necessarily include a softly poached egg perched gently on top, or eggs of any variety in anything except the dressing.

It seems fitting that the recipe’s origins are global too. The salad was invented by an Italian chef who lived in California, but worked in Tijuana, Mexico during the American Prohibition years of the 1920s. Tijuana was then popular with the monied California set, who could duck over the border for a drink and one day (July 4, 1924) our enterprising chef, Senor Cardini Caesar, finding himself short of ingredients, knocked up what he could with whatever he had left and mixed his salad table-side to give it an extra twist. It was a hit.

Here in Siem Reap, you can find a Caesar salad prepared and served this way at Raffles Grand Hotel d’Angkor. It’s a deliciously elegant dining experience that reminds you that food is supposed to be savoured, with every sense, and not scarfed down with all the engagement of a somnambulant bovine. The method is described below.

A number of other restaurants also serve up Cardini’s creation, though with considerably less aplomb than Raffles. You’ll find a really excellent version at Chilli Si Dang, served with chicken, and if you’re an anchovy fan too this one is a real must. In fact, the salad was so good it nearly killed me not to finish it because, for me, the taste of fish was uncomfortably strong (I hate fish, deeply).

Further in town, I found one at Haven that is tasty and filling, and not fishy. Haven is a newish restaurant that was set up as a training restaurant for young Cambodians. This is their first year of operations and even they are stunned at how successful they've been, and there are plenty of good reasons for that success. Haven should be added to everyone's list of places they have to try in Siem Reap before they leave.

Haven it is ... honest, I wasn't drinking ...

La Boulangerie also get a great thumbs up for their salad, though with a recommendation that the dressing be requested on the side. La Boulangerie is a small cafe on Street 7 owned and operated by two young Khmer entrepreneurs. They make, in my view, some of the best bread and pastries in town. Their salads, sandwiches and croque monsieurs are hard to beat too (including their create-your-own plates, which are fantastic value).

For those who are interested, I’ve pulled together a recipe from various sources, including the original recipe and the recipe in the standard textbook for American chefs, Professional Cooking. It gives the option of using anchovies according to the modern style, or Worcestershire sauce according to tradition:

1 lb Romaine or cos lettuce
2 oz thick sliced white bread
½ fl oz olive oil (for the croutons)
4 fl oz olive oil (for the dressing)
1 clove garlic
2 - 4 anchovy fillets (depending on preference)
1 raw or coddled egg yolk
6 drops of Worcestershire sauce (if not including anchovies or, indeed, even if you are)
1 fl oz freshly squeezed lemon juice or lime juice
1 oz freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Salt to taste
Freshly ground black pepper

Trim the crusts from the bread (optional - I love croutons with crusts on) and cut into centimetre-square cubes. Heat a thin layer of olive oil in a pan over moderately high heat, then add the bread cubes and fry until golden and crisp. Add more oil if needed. Remove the croutons from the pan and hold in kitchen paper for service. Using garlic or rosemary oil would give the croutons a little extra flair, n'est-ce pas? Do not refrigerate.

Depending on how much garlic you like, either rub the salad bowl with a cut of garlic or leave one clove in the bowl and crush it to a paste. Here, the Professional Cooking recipe adds anchovies, though not being included in the original recipe, these could be considered optional. If you do add them, mash the garlic and anchovies to a paste, then beat in about half the olive oil to the garlic or garlic/anchovy paste.

Add the greens and toss to coat with the oil mixture, then drop the egg yolk into the bowl and toss it into the lettuce well. Some recipes call for the egg to be lightly coddled (cooked in the shell for one minute), and this will give you a thicker, more appealing, dressing.

Add the lemon juice, the rest of the oil, and the Parmesan cheese, and a little salt and pepper. Add the Worcestershire sauce if using in place of anchovies (or in addition, according to taste). Toss again until well mixed. Finally, add the croutons and toss a final time. Plate and serve.

You could, of course, skip all the palaver, and blenderise (technical term that) the dressing ingredients, and toss with the leaves and croutons at the end. Variations include adding sliced grilled chicken, a poached egg on top, Parmesan shavings, or whatever swings your Caesar boat.

Serves 4

Raffles Grand Hotel d'Angkor
1 Vithei Charles de Gaulle, Siem Reap
T: (063) 963 888

Fresh at Chilli Si Dang
East Riverside, Wat Bo area, Siem Reap

Haven
Off Sivatha Blvd. (behind X-Bar), Siem Reap
sw@dragonflycambodia.org

La Boulangerie
Street 7, Siem Reap
T: (015) 908 518

Tags: Caesar salads, Chilli Si Dang, Haven, La Boulangerie, Raffles Grand Hotel d'Angkor

The word ‘souvenir’ is derived from the French for to remember, and far more than their beauty or intrinsic value that of course is the ultimate purpose of those odd trinkets we buy when we travel. We’re not really buying a thing so much as a memory trigger: for that moment on a rubbish day at home when our eye should fall on the misshapen elephant on the shelf that instantly transports us back to the lazy pleasures of a tropical land.

If this looks just like the one you saw in Vietnam ... there's a reason for that.

But even though aesthetics or worth are not necessarily the most important features of a good souvenir, we do have some requirements of them. A few years ago the German development agency GTZ (as it was then known) conducted a survey among tourists in Siem Reap to find out what it is they most seek in the souvenirs they buy here. In response, an overwhelming majority felt it was important that souvenirs of Cambodia should be made in Cambodia. This makes a lot of sense. After all, most people want to feel like they’re taking a little something of the country they’re visiting back home with them, and it is important to many that their purchases contribute to the local economy too.

Which is a shame really as most of the stuff that’s sold in the markets in Siem Reap has probably spent less time here than the average tourist. The survey found that much of what is sold is produced in, for example, Vietnam and trucked here and all across the region for sale. And you can ask the market trader as much as you like whether it was made here or not, she knows what you want to hear.

And this is a problem not just for tourists; the consequences for the local economy are pretty awful. It’s staggering to imagine that even though two million plus tourists coming to Cambodia every year, the majority of whom go to Siem Reap, the province remains the third poorest in the country. Barely a drop of the rain of money that is pouring down on Siem Reap is touching the local people.

So how can you ensure your souvenir really is from Siem Reap? Well, there’s no hard and fast rule that I can tell you unfortunately. Buying from local artists is one way. For example, at Sao Mao (behind the Old Market) you can buy silver jewellery that is made here, as well as jewellery that is made out of old bullet casings, designed by a French woman, but made by local artisans. Then there is Theam’s House whose beautiful lacquer-work I couldn’t rave about enough if I tried. And shops such as Artisans d’Angkor and Senteurs d’Angkor also have all of their products made here

Within the markets you’ll find products made with lpeak that are produced here; see the picture below. And I believe, though cannot be sure, that the bamboo kitchen products are made here too. After that, it’s a lottery.

Lpeak handicrafts made by women from all over Siem Reap.

However, the German agency, which is now called GIZ, has come up with one solution that should help tourists and the local economy. They have developed a seal of authenticity that guarantees that the products on which you find it are made in Siem Reap.

The Seal of Authenticity.

The seals are produced using a special method, which means they are highly metallic (not printed) and they also split into four – to prevent the inevitable imitations. The project is still in its early stages, however a good number of local artisans (almost 20) have signed up and more will do so in time. Keep an eye out for the seal and help to make a real difference for local people and really bring home a true piece of Cambodia to see you through the grey days at home.

Tags: Artisans d'Angkor, GIZ, Sao Mao, seal of authenticity, Senteurs d'Angkor, souvenirs, Theam's House

The last thing I ever thought I’d discover on coming to Asia was an amazing hairdresser. I’d hoped to find new people, tastes and experiences for sure. And to develop a totally new relationship between myself and the world around me, well that would be nice too. But to find a hairdresser able to bid me farewell without wondering where that faint sobbing sound is coming from, not a hope. I’m a fuzzy-haired gingernut, and bitter experience from living in Ireland, England and France had taught me to abandon any dreams of ever having a head that didn’t resemble an orangutan’s pubic area gone mad.

Happy snipping.

It seems that, rather than trying to help me in my hour/life of need, most hairdressers saw me as an opportunity to cheerfully conduct their weirdest experiments. After all, I suppose they imagined, it could hardly look worse than when I walked in their door, though frequently, amazingly, it actually did.

So, coming to Asia where almost everyone has gorgeous, glossy, straight black hair, I didn’t really hope for much. An experience in India, where the entire salon burst out laughing when I explained that I didn’t need the shampoo for coloured hair, that it really was that colour, didn’t help either. And then I came to Siem Reap.

Hair wash can take a blissful age.

Whereupon my hair started falling out in great clumps that I could pull out from between the cheeks of my bottom while showering. I do hope you’re not eating your breakfast while reading this? It’s the iron in the water apparently, but if you’re only here for a short while, there’s no problem. That’s why your shampoo isn’t foaming up like it used to though.

And the other thing about Siem Reap of course is tuk tuks, and temples, and dust. After a day out temple hopping, some of us can fold our hair into the most amazing shapes, it's so stiff (hairigami).

But, for a small, dusty town in the middle of not a lot, Siem Reap now has a remarkable range of options if you’re looking for a haircut, colour or style. To begin with, the numerous, and busy, little salons in Psas Chas (Old Market), offer a wash, cut and blow-dry for two dollars in an atmosphere that shouldn’t be missed. In fact, it’s worth going for a wash and blow-dry alone, just to listen to the gossip and giggles that you’ll never understand, but you'll still sense the meaning of.

All this for only two bucks ...

If you’re looking for something a little more hi-tech, or at least featuring more than one wall, then Samras Reachiny Hairdresser may be the place. A straighten and blow-dry is a shocking $3 (how much did you pay the last time you had that done at home?). A wash and blow-dry is $5. They do colouring starting at $20, at which point I can’t say whether they’re good, bad or indifferent as I haven’t tried it (though some people clearly think I should). And since you’re there, and every night is a Saturday night when you’re travelling, then false eyelashes are obligatory, for $5, including a wash and blow-dry.

For two years now, the gorgeous Australian over-achiever Deborah Knight has been cutting hair at Soul Hair Design, above Wild Poppy Boutique opposite Hotel de la Paix. Deborah is the one who’s cracked my hair, and if she can crack mine she can crack anyone’s. She does cuts for women from $18, and also does styling and colouring. Deborah is a very experienced hairdresser, and if your timing’s good she’ll also be able to tell you where she’s singing next – something you absolutely do not want to miss.

Beside the Prince d’Angkor, l’Atelier Coiffure is a new salon that has just opened. Though I haven’t had a chance to visit yet, the reviews coming back from friends have all been on the ecstatic side of rave. Melanie is a French-trained stylist, and has worked in France, England, Spain and Cambodia. Haircuts start at $20, and she also offers a range of luxury treatments featuring Rene Furterer products from France.

Samras Reachiny
No. 83, 84 Tep Vong St, Central Market
Sivatha Blvd, opposite HdlP
T: (017) 974 750

Soul Hair Design
26 Sivatha Blvd
T: (097) 550 1993

l’Atellier Coiffure
Oum Khun St
T: (092) 592 701

Tags: haircuts, hairdressers, l'Atellier Coiffure, Old Market, Samras Reachiny, Soul Hair Design

Easter, exhibitions, and Siem Reap's longest running, and most enormously fun and talented, band are lined up for this April in Siem Reap. Take a look below to see what else may tickle your fancy. There's definitely something for everyone:

Cambojam: lively, fun and well worth a look in.

Special events
*Easter Sunday, get into the Easter spirit with special events being hosted at Raffles Grand Hotel d’Angkor, Rosy’s Guesthouse and Jungle Junction.
* Shadow Puppet Theatre at the Angkor Hospital for Children on Monday March 30, from 19:00 to 20:30. This is a really gorgeous display of a once lost Cambodian art form. For more information on what to expect, check out our post here.
*Anzac Day celebrated at Chilli Si Dang, who call on anyone yearning for a Bundy Rum or a Two-Up to come on over and drop in for a yarn, from 10:00.

Exhibitions
*Smiles of Asia, a photographic exhibition by Gilles Sainsily, at Art Deli from April 1 to April 18.
*Life, an exhibition of paintings by Ot Veasna, an extraordinary artist from Kandal province, now based in Battambang, opens at the Angkor Hospital for Children on April 20, with a special opening from 18:00 to 21:00.
*Starlings, a series of arresting images by award-winning photographer Paolo Patrizi, on show at the Angkor Photo Cafe Gallery. Formerly displayed at the Angkor Photo Festival.
*Elegies of Angkor by John McDermott is at the McDermott Galleries, FCC and The Passage. John’s magical images have developed iconic status and The Passage gallery is also home to a number of rolling exhibitions that are definitely worth a look (disclosure: John is a friend of the Travelfishes).
*At the new and stunning Mezze Bar, you’ll find a unique collection of mandalas created by Frenchman Bruno Lévy. Relying strongly on imagery from the Angkor temples, and blending other influences from East and West, you won’t find anything like these anywhere else.
*Vincent Broustet’s series Still Life is on display at the McDermott Gallery in The Passage.

Music
*Siem Reap’s most popular local band, Cambojam, will be rocking Pub Street in front of Banana Leaf, from 21:00 on Friday April 6
* And Cambojam will be doing it all over again at the FCC Angkor on Saturday 21, from 21:00.
* Tuesdays at Chilli Si Dang: Live music and open mike night.
* Wednesdays at X Bar: Jam session, 18:00–23:00.
* Thursdays at the Heritage Suites Hotel, a Happy Hour live jazz session with Mike Maholo and friends at the cocktail bar, 18:30–20:30.
*Fridays at The Victoria Hotel, the inimitable Kevin and friends play rock, country and blues from 16:00 until 19:00. Happy hour and bar snacks.
* Fridays at the Warehouse: Open mike night with Richard Besley, rock, folk and blues, from 21:00.
* Fridays and Saturdays at The Station: A dance, music and comedy special with the Lady Boy Revue, from 21:00.
* Saturdays at Linga Bar: The fabulous Diamond Paradise Drag Show, from 22:30.
* Saturday 31 at the Warehouse: Karaoke Mayhem from 22:00.

Food
* Cooks in Tuk Tuks street food tours run daily from the RiverGarden Hotel at 16:00.
* Monday to Friday at Molly Malone’s: Early bird specials on the restaurant and steakhouse menus from 17:00 to 18:30.
* Wednesdays at Soria Moria: $1 training night. An excellent selection of special small dishes and drinks all available for $1, 19:00–23:00.The
* Fridays at the Ivy 2: $1 tapas night, including $1 cocktails and a wide selection of vegetarian dishes, from 18:00

Film
* Tuesdays and Sundays screenings at the Siem Reap Film Society. Check out their facebook page for an update on what’s showing at this really special little art-house cinema. This month is Oscar Madness, and every film shown was nominated for this year’s event.
* Mondays at Soria Moria on Wat Bo Road is movie night on the rooftop bar, with free popcorn. From 20:00.
*Wednesdays are the new movie nights at Rosy’s Guesthouse, from 19:00. See our full film post here.
*Sundays, the newly established Angkor Photo Café Gallery has started hosting film nights on Sundays. Check out their Facebook page for more information.

Sports and leisure
* For information on the Hash House Run, check out the website of their local organiser.
* For information on yoga in Siem Reap, check out our post here. Sadly Uberoum has closed but the Peace Café has  revamped its schedule and is worth checking out online.
*Pilates at TH!NK Fitness Studio, Tuesday and Friday at 20:30, on that little half street parallel to Samdech Tep Vong Street (Opposite the Angkor Hospital for Children).
* For information on Siem Reap’s famous pub quizzes, check out our guide here.

A few weeks ago, I described a short walk on the north riverside of Siem Reap, and attempted to paint a picture of a lively slice of of the town, one that you won’t see around Pub Street or wandering through the temples. It’s a part of ordinary, everyday Cambodia, full of bustle and barking, gossipy roadside haircuts, the heave-ho of negotiations over prices for food and materials, and the smells of dinners being cooked. Here was the sound of kids playing up and down the road, women gathered and laughing, of weddings being celebrated (usually, it must be said, to the horror of expats), of music, and the clatter of motorbike repairs. It was real life, in all its mess and beauty.

A sewing workshop, whose workers have reportedly been given an alternative location nearby so they can continue to work in the area by the RiverGarden Hotel.

Last Monday many of the people who make up that lively scene received their marching orders, and were given a week to pack up their things, walls and all, and leave. They went about the task quietly, and the only real sounds came from the bang of hammers, and the scrawch of rusted nails being hauled out of old planks of wood. An air of resignation prevailed. There was no chat and laughter, but no crying either. Some have been compensated and given an alternative site on which to relocate, though not all. That some are happy about the move and its conditions, there is no question. But there had been protest the day before I went to have a look, and the police and army were present for the rest of the week to keep a lid on things.

This view is of the same stretch as appears in the Travelfish.org covershot for Siem Reap.

The principal reason for the eviction is that the river is going to be widened, and the riverside developed, which seems a bright idea, especially in view of the devastating floods that hit Siem Reap last year, and stayed for six long weeks. Others point to the amount of litter constantly ejected from the stilt-houses that line the riverside, polluting the river, and creating an unsightly mess in downtown Siem Reap, hence the net drawn across the river to trap it all, which was never going to be an adequate long-term solution.

It’s true too that in any country, you can’t expect people to continue living such a precarious existence, in darkened, dishevelled huts perched on scrawny stilts over the edge of an unpredictable river. The fact that these structures survived the merciless hammering of the floods is a testament to the capacity and know-how of their builders; but they couldn’t survive the smooth stroke of a supposedly benign administrator’s pen. They would have had to move one day, that was inevitable. Questions remain, however, about the justifications, the timing and also the manner in which the eviction was conducted.

Not all the buildings went at once, but they will.

With regard to the justifications given for the eviction, it seems questionable whether any widening would be sufficient to prevent the incredible scale of flooding that we saw last year, and in 2010. I'm not sure what's happened to the plan to divert part of the Siem Reap River to Roulos, which seems a more effective solution (to my admittedly non-expert mind).

Moreover, there are questions about the need to evict entire communities in such a manner, when the authorities have failed to dredge the river as promised, a significant factor in the flooding last year, and they've certainly had much more than a week to do so. I wonder too about the littering, and the extent to which any attempt was made to educate people about waste disposal, or an alternative solution offered.

While the residents have long known that they would have to move, the sudden order to do so, with a deadline of a week, seems harsh. Questions remain about the compensation that has been awarded to the riverside residents. It would seem there are differences in the amounts of compensation paid, and the Vietnamese community in particular appears to have received almost nothing. There are also some who may have received compensation they did not deserve, having set up camp on the riverside as soon as they heard a census was being made for removal purposes.

Even the kids were quiet.

There are questions too about the site chosen for this relocation of almost 1,000 families. It's on a flood plain, five kilometres from Siem Reap. That may not seem much to some people, but when you're earning $3 a day that's a petrol bill that quickly becomes unsustainable. For others, building up a business again will be difficult and, for many who relied on passing trade, impossible. The new development has government built stand-alone brick toilets, of the kind I've seen littered around parts of the countryside, filthy and unused. The site is next to a sewage processing plant.

I guess the questions in relation to all of this can be distilled into one basic one: is the eviction for the benefit of the people that live here or for the benefit of tourists? Sadly though, little in Cambodia is done for the benefit of Cambodians (or the Vietnamese communities that live here), unless they happen to be members of the elite.

Skeletal remains.

One of the children's drop-in shelters in Siem Reap is trying to raise funds so that they can set extend micro-loans to some of the families affected in order to help them deal with the move, as some of the children who are registered come from families affected by the relocation. I'm familiar with the organisation (disclosure: I stepped in to help out briefly three years ago while the director was sick), and they are one of the few with their heart and their head in the right place. If you'd like to help, Anjali House has a donation page on Virgin Giving.

Floods, fire and eviction, all in the space of six months. How's your day been?

The same shot from a few weeks ago.

In relation to the walk it is, of course, still doable and it will still give you a wonderful slice of Cambodian life to appreciate and take home with you. It'll be a bit quieter though. And oddly enough, removal of the houses has revealed that there are not so many trees after all, and that much of the cool and shelter came from the presence of the close-knit homes that these families lived in.

Tags: evictions, floods, walking tours