Luxury in Siem Reap

My parents have been visiting me in Cambodia, so this has given me a wonderful opportunity to experience some much-missed luxury in Siem Reap. Because it is near to the amazing Angkor Wat temple complex, Siem Reap has become a tourist town with new flashy hotels and expensive restaurants springing up all over the place. There is a glaring contrast between Siem Reap, with its manicured gardens and gastronomic menus, and the rest of the country, and most tourists do not get to see the real Cambodia. The prices in Siem Reap are up to ten times that of elsewhere, and this tourist money will only make rich people richer and poor people poorer. Inflated prices and begging are the norm here. Even in our posh hotel, children are dressed up to play musical instruments for tourists – easy money for the short term, but with no education this is a poor long term investment for them.