The Angkor Archaeological Park contains many old temples, of which Angkor Wat is the most famous. Echo, Juli & I wanted to dedicate one full day to only check out the other temples in the region. Soon after breakfast, we met two other travelers - Talita (from South Africa) and Paul (from the USA) who had similar plans, so we all decided to get together and share a tuk-tuk to take us around. We negotiated a deal with an old tuk-tuk driver and got on our way. But we hadn’t even passed five houses down the street when Echo got into an argument with the tuk-tuk driver. I didn’t even know how the argument started but before long we had to disembark with the tuk-tuk driver showering us with what I assume were the finest Cambodian swear words.

Echo said she had changed her mind and now wanted to go by herself to click pictures for a photo album she was working on. So the four of us negotiated another deal with a young tuk-tuk driver this time. He seemed to be a friendly chap and we were all looking forward to a fun and relaxed sightseeing day.

My personalised three day pass for the entire Angkor Archaeological Park

Paul, Talita, Juli & I with our initially friendly tuk-tuk driver

With a young Cambodian girl selling flutes

Tender coconuts here are HUGE and really heavy, so they're usually sliced at the bottom to allow them to stand freely

We visited Banteay Srei and one other temple, and then stopped for lunch. We had heard of there being two menus at every restaurant in Siem Reap - one for the tourists and one for the locals. Rumour has it that tourists pay upto five times as much as the locals for the exact same dishes. So when the waitress at the restaurant brought us the menu, we insisted on the “locals menu”. They never showed us that menu, but agreed to charge us only half the price listed on the regular menu.

The restaurant people probably gave the tuk-tuk driver an earful for having brought these stingy tourists to them, because the tuk-tuk driver’s demeanour changed drastically when we got back on his ride after lunch. He was suddenly snobby and super impatient. He said the temples tour was over and we would now be going back to the guesthouse. But we reminded him that that was not what was agreed upon. At one point, he took off his helmet and banged it hard on the bonnet of the tuk-tuk. This shocked every one of us, but I put up a brave front and said in the calmest voice I could muster that we wouldn’t pay him any money if we didn’t go to all the agreed upon places. Even though I hoped that I appeared unfazed by him; inside, I was more than a little scared. This guy was clearly a psycho and I was half-expecting him to hurl his helmet right at me. But that didn’t happen. Instead, he muttered something under his breath and stopped at the next temple on the route - Pre Rup.

Conversation in the tuk-tuk had been reduced to hushed tones, and we were glad when we were finally out of it and safely back in the guesthouse. Needless to say, the tuk-tuk driver didn’t get any tip.

Green countryside

Roads in Siem Reap are generally very good

Sunset from the rooftop bar in the guesthouse