waiting

waiting
Originally uploaded by bigfatbeetle.

cambodia is one of the places u must go if you can. NOT because of its ancient ruins, NOT because beer cost as much as coke, NOT because a pack of cigs cost u 35cents, and NOT because things are cheap (its not).
Knowing the history of a place, recognizing its influence in daily life of the people, makes u appreciate every colour, every smell and sound the city gives out. i took this photo in siem reap. apart from the angkor temples, i don't see myself visiting siem reap again. this town basically exist because of the angkor temples. almost everyone speaks english, every other person on the street is trying to sell you post cards and pirated lonely planets, and the child beggers only accepts US dollars. its a very touristy place. determined not to over indulge in tourist acitivies which is basically a super big rip off for us, we spent the 1st day exploring siem reap, walking along its dirt road, jay walking in triple-quadruple traffic lanes, and try not to be knock down by tuk tuks. nothing much to explore really...i was disappointed. i didn't get to see where the locals stayed, what they do for a living ( the ones i saw working were the ones in the tourism industry ), and what makes cambodia, cambodia.
i named this photo 'waiting' because it seemed like most people in this part of the town are in this 'waiting' business. tuk tuk drivers waiting for tourist, people waiting for tourist to buy their stuff, locals waiting for sun to set, and enjoying that waiting with a bag of steamed snails and their friends, sitting along a river.
perhaps, my fave siem reap exprience was sitting along the river, having picnic with my friends, and giving away candies to the amazingly adorable and friendly khmer kids, who entertained us with their cheeky laughters and doing back flips jumps into the river. its my fave becuase it was that instance i felt like a local. locals enter angkor for free, and they love to go there after work or sch, to enjoy the sunset outside angkor wat. they have picnics there, and they bring their kids there to play in the river. i guess we were the only few tourist who paid 40 USD for a picnic outside angkorwat, and still feel that it is worth every dollar we paid for.
trust me, its not a plesent exprience to be surrounded by middle aged tourist who can't stop taking photos of themselves with angkor wat as the background just to make sure they get back every bit of that 40usd entrance fee.