Last day in Siem Reap! We only had time in the morning until a little bit after lunch time, then needed to head back to the airport. Since we haven’t looked around the Old Market, I suggested to go there. It should be a great place to buy some souvenirs from Siem Reap. Besides, I love walking around in the market and seeing what kind of product they sell and if they have any local / authentic product to bring home as souvenir.
Old Market
This place is in the center of city near Pub Street so it is very easy to reach. If you have been to Vietnam or Thailand, you will not be surprised with the scenery around the market. Although, this one is dirtier than the other two. As expected, there are a lot of things to see! I enjoyed strolling around but I don’t think my friend enjoyed it as much as I do. It is really a great place to look for souvenir or just to shop for yourself. Don’t forget to bargain for a lower price though. I usually try to lower it around 20% to 50% of the offered price, depending of the item. If they don’t agree, just leave and find another shop. BUT, if they agreed with it, you should buy the item. That’s the general rule of bargaining in the market to avoid angry seller, bargain and if they accept then you have to buy it. Unless, you don’t care if they angry at you then it’s up to you 😀 So, try to bargain as lower as you can as long as it’s still reasonable. I bought some peanuts with special spices from this market to give to my friends. They said it was nice but I didn’t buy it for myself. Bummer! Anyway, to see the overview of the market, please take a look at the pictures below 🙂
Hap Guan Street
Hap Guan street is a very nice area to hang out, and even shopping! There are cafes and small local shops standing side by side along the street. It is a perfect area to hide from the buzzling city center. Too bad a lot of shops were closed when we were there. At least, we managed to visit a local spice shop and a coffee shop!
Mademoiselle Thyda.
Located in Hap Guan street, this place is a must-visit for spice lovers. They are selling local spices and also the mixture of it. There are some unique mixtures that is great to buy for a souvenir or even for youself. Assorted spices that they sell are kampot pepper (famous from Cambodia), curry powder, wild turmeric, lemongrass, amok spices and many more. While the mixture of spices for example chili & pepper and salt or black pepper and salt. They also have a unique mix spices such as wasabi and salt, sun salt ( turmeric, chili, pepper, salt), flower salt ( white hibiscus, butterfly pea, keffir lime, marigold, salt), healthy salt (white maringa, spirulina, green tea, lime, salt) and many more. All of the salt mixtures are homemade with kampot salt. Other than spices, they also sell Alcoholic Jam. Interesting, isn’t it? Even the jam in Cambodia has alcohol in it! lol
The Little Red Fox Espresso
After shopping for spices, we found a small coffee shop nearby so we went inside. The name is cute! The little red fox espresso. It was packed inside so we sat on high chairs until we found out there is a second floor! So we moved upstairs. More spacious and artsy. My friend was up to the challenge and ordered Charcoal Latte ($3.75 (small), $4.25 (large)). Unfortunately, it was disappointing. We couldn’t taste anything but milk. Even too milky for a latte.
Vibe
After a long chat over coffee, we felt hungry (if you think how is that possible to feel hungry right after a cup fo coffee, it is very possible for us! lol). We looked for a place nearby for lunch and found Vibe. It’s a vegetarian restaurant, but hey it won’t be that bad right?! I ordered Japanese Macro Bowl ($6.5) and it was a very huge portion! It has a lot of vegetables (well doh! it’s a vegetarian restaurant…). So what’s in it? It contains wild seaweed, homemade kimchi, miso tempeh, radish, cucumber, pickled ginger salad, sesame, peanut, with ginger dressing. Yup, really huge and packed with veggies. I couldn’t finished it. Apparently, this restaurant is famous with their campaign . For every meal we buy there, the money will go to The Good Vibe Foundation that aims to feed 10.000 healthy meals to school children in Cambodia. How nice is that! I just wish the food tasted better as well to support that.
We decided to go back to hotel by walking (also decided no more vegetarian food for a while). As we walked, I took some photo of the city and enjoyed it the last time before we headed to the airport.
At the airport has a lot of souvenirs to choose. If you don’t have time to shop in the city, or too lazy to haggle in the market, can go directly to the airport and buy from the shops at the airport. They are combined in one big area and you will pass by there anyway to go to the boarding gate.
The trip to Siem Reap has come to an end! Thank you for everyone who gave suggestions to us and for those who stop by at my blog to read the story 😉
Ciao!
tastymonial 