Siem Reap is a great place to travel. Not only does it neighbor the ancient temple complex of Angkor Wat, but it's just a great small town that provides everything a tourist needs in walking distance while not feeling too touristy. If you want to see my post on exploring Angkor Wat, go here, because this post is only about the Siem Reap nightlife.
Anyway, that was a regular night in Cambodia. The last night I was there I gave my friend a call who I'd met earlier in Cambodia and it sounded like a party in the background.
Now this whole time we haven't been paying the girls anything. Supposedly they're satisfied with the free drinks and company, but I can tell they're getting antsy. The tuk tuk driver wants to take us all to a club, and the great thing about hanging with a taxi driver is no worries about transportation! Things of course started to get hazy at that point, but the girls ended up disappearing and the tuk tuk driver was quite unhappy about that. My friend and I were unsurprised, and we decided to head to the club of our driver's choice.
On the way there, I realized that nearly all the bars in the area where we were had these 2 benches lining the entrance, and some of them had a bunch of girls sitting along them. I realized that these were probably all escort bars where people can pick up a girl as you walked into the bar.
My first few nights were all spent on Pub Street. There are huge neon signs that lead you directly to this one street where virtually all the backpacker action is. There are tons of restaurants and bars to suit your needs, and all of them are plenty cheap. Draft beer can be as low as 50 cents a beer, so we'd go out and get drunk on a few bucks. ANOTHER ROUND!
Here I am eating some Cambodian BBQ. They had crocodile, snake, frogs legs, and of course, chicken. I think snake is the one in the picture.
When it started to get late and the restaurant only places started to close down, the entire street became the party. The biggest place was definitely "Angkor What?". It's so much fun to yell out that name. "Say whaaaat? Angkor Whaat?" It was always crowded with tons of backpackers, and it had a funny slogan:
It would often turn into a party down the entire street. They had this long rope that we'd use to either play tug-of-war or jump rope.
It would often turn into a party down the entire street. They had this long rope that we'd use to either play tug-of-war or jump rope.
Anyway, that was a regular night in Cambodia. The last night I was there I gave my friend a call who I'd met earlier in Cambodia and it sounded like a party in the background.
"Come party with us! We're at Cambodian Pub Street! It's like the local version of the backpacker Pub Street," he said. "My tuk tuk driver took me here!"
I made my way over there in a tuk tuk and was dropped off in front of a quiet looking place. As I walked in there were two benches lining the entrance. They was one pretty girl sitting on one of the benches, so I started talking to her. It was quickly apparent that she didn't speak enough English for us to really talk, so I continued on to look for my friend. I find him in one of the walled in booths with his tuk tuk driver, both with girls under their arms. They're yelling and drinking and I'm quickly welcomed in and told about their girls...or should I say escorts?
My friend says that they come and sit and drink with you apparently for free. It seems obvious that they'll want more from you though. The tuk tuk driver asked, "Do you want a girl too?" Sure, why not. The tuk tuk driver called over the waitress and told her to bring me a girl. Ok, this is weird. Guess who she brings? The same girl I was talking to at the front haha. These girls seem to not speak a word of English, so the driver is talking freely about them without a second thought. He says that we can take the girls and go "boom boom" in the hotel next door. I don't plan on trying.
My friend says that they come and sit and drink with you apparently for free. It seems obvious that they'll want more from you though. The tuk tuk driver asked, "Do you want a girl too?" Sure, why not. The tuk tuk driver called over the waitress and told her to bring me a girl. Ok, this is weird. Guess who she brings? The same girl I was talking to at the front haha. These girls seem to not speak a word of English, so the driver is talking freely about them without a second thought. He says that we can take the girls and go "boom boom" in the hotel next door. I don't plan on trying.
While we're hanging out there we're doing some serious drinking. We all have short glasses that are being constantly filled up by the girls with ice, and then filled with beer. We all clink glasses as we yell cheers in Khmer. "Chol Moi!" We all yell. Since the glass is filled with ice, there's not too much to chug, and it's customary to chug the entire glass every time we do a cheers. It also keeps the beer cold in the sweltering heat of southeast asia. You never let it sit long enough to melt entirely and make the beer watery. The beer here is even cheaper than on pub street! If I heard the tuk tuk guy correctly it was about 50 cents for an entire jug here. He picked up the tab on the entire thing, and we were drinking for a while. We continued to laugh, drink, and convince the waitress to drink with us while she brought us more beer, ice, and random snacks.
Now this whole time we haven't been paying the girls anything. Supposedly they're satisfied with the free drinks and company, but I can tell they're getting antsy. The tuk tuk driver wants to take us all to a club, and the great thing about hanging with a taxi driver is no worries about transportation! Things of course started to get hazy at that point, but the girls ended up disappearing and the tuk tuk driver was quite unhappy about that. My friend and I were unsurprised, and we decided to head to the club of our driver's choice.
On the way there, I realized that nearly all the bars in the area where we were had these 2 benches lining the entrance, and some of them had a bunch of girls sitting along them. I realized that these were probably all escort bars where people can pick up a girl as you walked into the bar.
We end up at a club that has seemingly more locals than backpackers. After a beer with my friend and the tuk tuk driver, I decide it's time to head to the dance floor since it's way too loud to hear anyone. On the dance floor I start rocking some moves. It wasn't long until some pimp was trying to sell women to me. It became uncomfortable quickly as I realized that the dance floor was literally full of pimps and hoes.
Perhaps the tuk tuk driver was just trying to make his share by bringing us to all these prostitution related places, but that was about the time I had enough of my evening.
It turned out this place was pretty close to my hostel, so I decided to just walk home. As I neared my hostel, there was one dark street I had to walk down, and it was covered in stray dogs just hanging out. Dogs in foreign countries are always a little scary since they're so unpredictable. I made it past them, but not without some of them barking pretty viciously. Maybe the hunger keeps them from being friendly, but dogs in the darkness are no fun!
And with that, another night survived in Cambodia.
Perhaps the tuk tuk driver was just trying to make his share by bringing us to all these prostitution related places, but that was about the time I had enough of my evening.
It turned out this place was pretty close to my hostel, so I decided to just walk home. As I neared my hostel, there was one dark street I had to walk down, and it was covered in stray dogs just hanging out. Dogs in foreign countries are always a little scary since they're so unpredictable. I made it past them, but not without some of them barking pretty viciously. Maybe the hunger keeps them from being friendly, but dogs in the darkness are no fun!
And with that, another night survived in Cambodia.
