My Final Thoughts on Siem Reap

First of all, I added an album on our shutterfly site: Siem Reap, Cambodia. Beware though, there are just over 400 photos in the album... and that's after I eliminated a couple hundred! I know it's a lot, but hey, it gives a couple special people I know cooped up at home, treatment rooms, and hospital beds something unique to look at. :)

Many of you have asked me a variety of questions about Cambodia. I'll attempt to answer some of them in this post. 

Where were you?  
Some of you were wondering, "Sooo where were you exactly?" Hopefully the map below can help you figure that out.  

Map is from here.

Was it safe?
Cambodia is one of those places that I never had any desire to visit. Then I moved to Japan, and it's all expats can talk about. Everyone that's been there has absolutely loved it. So we added it to our list of places to visit, and then I had E. We constantly asked ourselves (and everyone else)... Can you take a baby to Cambodia? Is it safe? Is kidnapping a problem there? What about mosquitoes and diseases? Is it clean? Will we be ok? After much research, talking to doctors, and getting recommendations from friends with first hand experience, we decided to go. Now that we've been there, every time I look back and think about all those questions and negative feelings that we had, I can't help but laugh! Out of all the places that we've been, I honestly think I'd have to say Cambodia is the safest. And sure, it's not as clean as Japan, but it's better than Thailand, Vietnam, China, and the Philippines. Now we are the expats raving about our Cambodian experience!

How was the food?
Excellent. Typical dishes included a variety of curry and stir-fry dishes. I was really worried about what E would eat - but I guess it's ironic that I was worried about food, because there's more foreign foods in Siem Reap than there is in Japan! We were able to find E a whole variety of snacks and foreign foods to eat from the grocery store. And when in doubt, we ordered her a fruit shake, which is something she loves and you can't get in Japan.

Were mosquitoes a problem?
No, not in Siem Reap. But there are disease carrying mosquitoes in rural areas of Cambodia. However, the hotel did provide us with a mosquito net for the crib. And we of course brought bug spray with us, just in case. But actually, the only time we got bit was sitting in the hotel restaurant. I imagine they're much worse during the summer monsoon season.

Is it really a poor country?
Yes. Children were begging at every temple we went to. Local babies and children were often running around without clothes on... and if they did have something on, it would just be a shirt. I'm assuming that's the same reason as China - no diapers. Well, yes there are diapers because we bought some for E, but many families can't afford them.

Are you glad you booked a personal tour guide?
Yes. Even though we booked a tour guide for our entire trip because of safety reasons, which turned out to be unnecessary, I'm still glad we booked one. It made our trip less stressful, so we were able to just sit back, relax and enjoy the sites. The tour is personalized, so we were able to go anywhere and do anything we wanted. Of course they provide an ideal itinerary for us, but we were able to tweak it to fit our needs. Plus, they provided an air-conditioned car - which is a must! It really was brutally hot in the afternoons.

Elodie really took to our tour guide, Chaya. She often preferred to be carried by him (which was fine by us!). Since he escorted us almost everywhere, he was especially helpful during meals and shopping - our own personal babysitter! ;)  I would recommend hiring a personal tour guide - it just made the trip easier.

I can't tell you enough how much we LOVED Cambodia. It far exceeded our expectations! It's a once in a lifetime trip, and becoming more and more popular... so I recommend you ALL visit before the tourists overwhelm the city.