it's the economy, stupid!

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SO what to make of Cambodia. Partly like Thailand, partly like nothing else. There is the sort of friendliness normally associated with thailand, which is impressive in itself considering their late history. There are some signs of the sudden infusion of tourism dollars and lack of public funding as well though.

First off, the local currency is called riel. Seemingly impossible to find the "true" exchange rate for. In Cambodia the currency officially has a high value, although no one wants it. The preferred currency is the us dollar which is even available in local ATMs. This all takes a while to find out however as the guides and tourist handling people at the border will tell you anything to make tourists buy riel. why? beats me, as no one seems to have any sympathy for the government and it is more or less obvious thats there is a feeling of free for all. Not like in India but it is a marked difference in the view of authority to thailand. even the first guy we met told the incoming crowd, "not rule of law in cambodia, people only respect the dollar and the power".

The fact that the lowest official amount is 1 dollar creates some strange situations when one beer is 1 dollar a basic meal 2 dollars and a nicer meal 3 dollars and so on...5 new blockbuster movies can be had for 3 dollars as well by the way. It all adds up to the much poorer Cambodia being a much more expensive place to be in than the comparatively well off thailand. go figure...

There are some good things though. Beerlao is often supplied, angkor wat is everything it is made out to be and the khmer rouge museums are thought provoking.

We will soon head on to Vietnam. Which makes me think of Indian air travel. It is filled with heavy security similar to going to the united states due to their own terrorist issues which means that i showed my ticket about eight times on the last trip. ID? not so much. 8 ticket showings along with 0 occasions of identifying myself...how does that work. im even in full bloom with a dark taliban looking beard but could have travelled on anyones ticket and under any name. humorous...

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