Siem Reap

Siem Reap is the main town to be based in for trips to Angkor Wat. It had a more welcoming and slightly safer feel than we experienced in Phnom Penh - although unfortunately we did not get to see very much of the town, other than at night, as we spent most of our time at the temples.

Siem Reap gets a special mention though because of the fabulous Khmer food that we had there (and some fairly excellent cocktails). Highly recommended are the Khmer fish dishes and curries. Eating in the old town area provides a rest from the usual hassles as they kindly cordon off a 3 block area where all the main restaurants and bars are and very few touts and sungthaew drivers can bother you there - so you can choose your dining location at your leisure and eat your meal in peace (if somewhat artificially created!)

One of the most saddest but impassioned and moving evenings we have spent on our travels was to attend an evening concert in Siem Reap by "Dr. Beat", a hosptial doctor from Switzerland who also plays cello as a fund and awareness-raiser for the Children's hospitals that he has established. It is heart-breaking to hear about the challenges of delivering quality health care for severly sick children in Cambodia. Dr. Beat talked about there being 3 main reasons why so many Cambodian children die from treatable diseases: 1) "Tuberculosis" - over 60% of the population suffers tuberculosis at some point in their lives which severly weakens their immune systems to other diseases; 2) "Attitude" - The developed world and aid community believes that poor countries should have healthcare, facilities and medical equipment that matches their economic status i.e. poor and not the expensive diagnostic medical equipment that we have in the rich world and 3)"Corruption" - present at many levels, corruption is a way of life even at schools and hospitals.
Dr. Beat's hospitals have attempted to eradicate the corruption that is so endemic in Cambodia - by paying proper wages to its staff, and making treatment entirely free to Children, and as a result they are able to save 90,000 children per year, entirely on donations. Here is the website if anyone is interested in learning more: http://www.beat-richner.ch