One night in Siem Reap

This is not going to be like one night in Bangkok although I wish it was, for I might be in a better mood. I’m still sweating after sitting down for five minutes at one of the nicer Western establishments here in Siem Reap drinking my overpriced mango smoothie and swatting away the occasional fly. There shouldn’t be flies in a place like this! I unfortunately noticed the ‘NO INTERNET TODAY’ sign after I placed my order. Figures. Shit like that happens when you’re in a foul mood.

On the flip side though, the mango smoothie is pretty damn good as is my chocolatine - a flaky chocolate-filled pastry. But I would have never come here had the no internet sign been a bit more eye-catching. Probably made it small on purpose. Oh, I’m sorry sir. We have a sign on the counter. Yes, conveniently blending in with everything else and located behind the tip box. On with the story!

So it was a dude’s birthday party last night. We gathered unusually early only to wait nearly an hour in uncomfortable wicker chairs with sweat-inducing plastic covers for the late coming Khmer contingent. Just as well, I wasn’t hungry yet anyway and got to partake in some semi-fluent English conversation and listen to some arguably bad music. The food was bland and the dirty condiment bottles seen on every table in every cheap restaurant were nowhere to be found. Pity it was.

Getting closer to ten now, I was feeling antsy as I do after over two hours in one place. Gotta go, gotta go, gotta go. I dropped my share of the bill onto the table and pedaled quickly back to drop off my dollar bicycle before the travel agency where I rented it from closed. I didn’t want to be responsible for it overnight in case the piece of shit got ripped off and I had to overpay to replace it. Naaaaah!

I walked back to the Angkor Town Hotel, conveniently located near the center of town to have a quick moment of isolation and slip into something more comfortable. I chose a red lacy number and then hiked my body hugging jeans up around it, inhaled deeply and got them buttoned - just barely.  I walked first to my almost nightly outdoor dinner spot to have a dragon fruit shake before imbibing more less healthy concoctions.

After slurping down the rather cooling beverage I walked around the corner and found my friends at the Khmer Family Restaurant, a nice looking place with a 2-for-1 cocktail special running all night. I don’t usually imbibe such beverages, but for $1.75 and not in the mood for that bloated sensation, I opted for the Cuba Libre. It went down smoothly. From there, we walked around the corner to the Mezze Bar for a drink in an overheated space, which didn’t keep us there for long.

Pushing twelve now, we walked a block to Mikey’s – the main hooker hangout in Siem Reap. It’s not a hooker bar by Thailand or Phnom Penh standards, but rather a place they can go and seek customers. We didn’t go for that, but the scenery is always an added bonus. The beers are cheap and it's one of the few late night, busy, non-club options. Before we went in, I entered the adjacent convenience store and quickly downed an M-150, a necessity if this was going to be a late night.

While at Mikey’s I received a text and a telephone call. A girl I met online was going to be at Hip Hop later and we still hadn’t met in person. And another girl I met at Hip Hop earlier in the week was there and asking if I was coming. I was, just not yet. Eventually after conversing with the owner of the bar for a bit, we wandered over to Sunny’s, the only other lady bar in town. It was dead so I decided it was time to make a move and walked over to the club alone while my friends stayed scattered behind.

I didn’t see the girl who was already there. I got a call, but couldn’t hear anything once inside the building. And then I got a text from the other girl. I’m wearing a pink shirt. Ok, I’ll look for you. Meanwhile, I had been distracted by yet another girl and decided to sit with her for a minute. She spoke zero English, but her friend spoke a little. Usually I don’t even bother, but I hung on to see where it would go. Eventually her friend asked You like my friend? Sure, I said. How much you pay? I figured it was leading there.

I walked away in pursuit of my online friend surprisingly not seeing any recognizable faces on a Friday night. Eventually I met her outside and I ended up dancing with her group of friends for a while, before sneaking away after just not feeling it. I went back to Mikey’s and sure enough the gang was still there and had expanded. It was now nearly 3am. I was still playing phone tag with the girl I knew from the club. Now she was telling me to come back to the club. Fuck that.

I said I was on Pub Street and eventually she called and said she was on Pub Street. Surprised, my expectations for the evening began to rise. I got up from my Sprite and walked down the street seeing nobody resembling my friend and only getting hassled for a tuk-tuk as the Pub Street clubs were closing. I called her and there was no reply. What. The. Fuck. I hate this game. I walked back to Mikey's, sat down and realized my heightened expectations had put a damper on the evening.

I was already tired and now I was frustrated. Been there before. I bullshitted with my friends for a few minutes to release some tension before heading down the road back to my hotel. Not a bad night just slightly uneventful for all the goings on. And now, a day later, I’m sluggish as a result – as you are – and can’t find any motivation to get out of this chair and do anything.

But I must do something so I will rise up from this oppressive and confining Western establishment and ride my bicycle. Just go! To the west young man! Or wherever that road goes. It’s hot in here, it’s hot out there, it really makes no difference. I can take a cold shower later. Hope to tell you about another night out soon. And here’s hoping that night will have a happier ending. And you can read into that however you like.