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Cambodia
Going
Out
Food and Drink
Eating out is big business Cambodia,
with many good restaurants in Phnom
Penh, Siem Reap and Sihanoukville.
Food stalls are also common in all
towns and cities, and are a great
place to sample Cambodian food.
Khmer cuisine is very similar to
Thai, but with fewer spices involved
and a preponderance for coconut
milk.
National specialities:
• Prahok (fermented fish
paste) is used to flavour most
dishes.
• Succulent fruits include banana,
coconut, the durian fruit (known for
its distinctive odour), jackfruit,
longan fruit, lychee, pineapple and
rambutan fruit (which has
translucent white flesh).
• Crispy fried spiders are a snack
for the adventurous in Northern
Cambodia.
• Amok trey (fish in a
thick coconut curry sauce, wrapped
in banana leaves and steamed).
• Rice noodles proliferate and can
be bought covered in curry sauce
from street vendors.
National drinks:
• Fresh coconut juice.
• Green tea.
• Rice wine.
• The local beer is called
Angkor.
• The most popular, and refreshing,
Khmer drink is soda water with a
squeeze of lemon.
Legal drinking age:
There are no age restrictions.
Tipping: Tips are
appreciated in hotels and
restaurants where no service charge
has been added, and by tour guides.
Nightlife
The nightlife in Phnom Penh and Siem
Reap, and to a lesser extent in
Sihanoukville, is pretty
vibrant, mainly
because of the large number of
visitors and expat residents. There
are
bars and restaurants
but very few clubs and live music
venues. Bars and restaurants range
from dingy, smoky bars to
upmarket cocktail bars
and elegant restaurants. Major
tourist areas of Phnom Penh can be
pretty seedy, with numerous strip
clubs, so make sure you check out a
venue before paying the cover
charge.
Major hotels offer entertainment,
and weekly
Apsara (traditional
Khmer dance)
performances are
often held from November to March in
hotel gardens, mainly in Siem Reap.
Gambling is a major past time in
Cambodia and there are several
casinos in
Sihanoukville and on the border with
Thailand.
Shopping
Cambodian artisans are very skilled
and there is no shortage of
handicrafts to buy. Unique to
Cambodia is the
krama, a checked
scarf made of cotton or silk.
Silk is still
handwoven in Cambodia and is a ‘must
buy' either as lengths of material
or in the form of scarves, bags or
purses.
Silver is another great buy in
Cambodia. Khmer silversmiths craft
delicate anklets and necklaces,
which make fantastic souvenirs. You
can also buy silver cutlery and
dining-ware.
The
markets in Cambodia
are always a great source of
souvenirs. Try the
Central Market, in
Phnom Penh, which is well worth a
visit as it sells clothes, gifts and
jewellery.
Gems are a
particularly good buy but only spend
large amounts if you know a bit
about what you are buying. The
Russian Market (Psar
Toul Tom Poung) is
crammed with stalls holding a vast
selection of bargain souvenirs
including clothing, silverware,
jewellery, silk, bags, DVDs, CDs and
ceramics, as is the Old Market in
Siem Reap. Bargaining is expected in
the markets, which are open daily
from around 0700 to 1700 hours. Look
out for shops selling
handicrafts to raise
money for disadvantaged Cambodians.
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