some cambodia advice
 

I'm writing from Bangkok now having spent the last three weeks here, Cambodia, Pattaya and Kho Phi Phi.
Just got back today from Siem Reap. Great.
But just wanted to recommend an excellent guide while he's still top of mind. His name is Chea Wanna. Call him Wanna. 27 year old, ambitious, overly concerned with your happiness and speaks English well. His email is [email protected] You can tell him Sam gave you his name. Unless I'm wrong judging the sincerity of his nice words to me, he'll remember. Even so, it won't make a difference in your treatment.
One other thing. Shopping.
Wanna took me to a shop (don't even remember the name - don't care to and he took me there to show me where NOT to go) that had good quality clothes statues and pretty much everything else, but with high prices. You can haggle and get them down, and you can ask if that silk tie is really made in Cambodia, be told yes by the smooth talking pilot-fish-like sales lady, and look at the label inside the box and see "Made in Thailand", OR you can go to the best local shop I have ever been to in my life in any country. It's called the Artisans d'Angkor. It is a school for, you guessed it, artisans...carvers sculptors and silk weavers. They give you a short tour of the classes in session ( ask as many questions as you'd like and take pictures - the silk school is 16 kms away, I went to the carving and sculpting school) and then after superfluous begging, they take you to the gift shop. You know everything is handmade by locals because you just saw them doing it. The prices are fixed and fair. The quality is impeccable. They get orders from hotels in Europe and the states for stone carvings and fill only what they can handle.
I bought a silk shirt for my sister for $40 that I can guarantee would sell for $400-$600 ,even more, in New York, Toronto or London. I bought an exsquisite (SP?) black jewelry box hand painted with gold leaf stencil for $45 for my mother. I know she'll treasure it for the rest of her life and it will be handed down for generations. I could go on...trust me - why else would I take precious time from going nuts in Nana to write this? Call me crazy, but I would tell someone to go to Siem Reap just for the day to go to this shop. Needless to say, I spent more money there than on any stop during my trip.
Just thought you might like to know.

Yes, the cognoscenti on this board who have travelled to Siem Riep have bought merchandise at Les Artisans D'Angkor. You don't have to tell us how special it is. If you wanted even better prices on Cambodian silk you should have gone to the Central Market. Actually, Thai silk is of better quality than Cambodian silk.

My husband and I bought several pieces at Artisans d'Angkor, I highly recommend visiting the school and shop too. It was interesting to see the students working on pieces. We bought a carved stone head, a laquer piece with Apsara's, and a carved wood Orant (kneeling praying figure). I can't imagine what some of the pieces would cost in the US.

Where did Wanna give you the tour? In Siem Reap only? Or did he take you to Angkor Wat as well?
How did you like Ko Phi Phi? Worth going to visit?
Did you enjoy Siem Reap? Did you feel safe there?

juice, Angkor Wat is at Siem Reap.

siem Reap is very safe. Wanna does all the temples in the area. Phi Phi is definitely worth the two hour ferry ride away from Phuket. I stress "away". Stunning colors, growing yet quaint village, and good food. Scuba diving, even with no experience is easy and excellent.

As to shopping in the central market for better prices, I must say I was told much of the fabric is not actually Cambodian. A lot of it is actually from China and machine woven. Best to feel confident you're getting the what you're asking for. As for the Thai silk being of better quality than Cambodian, I wanted to be someone "in-the-know" as well so I contacted my good friend who is in the midst of inheriting a textile firm in the states. Amazingly enough he received his PhD in Biology generating his thesis on the modern cultivation and harvest of silk. (One of the reasons I was so excited about my Cambodian find) He told me most big producers of silk - Thailand being one - have learned to genetically alter their worms for higher output. The result is more silk but with shorter individual strands...on average. The downside is the fabric is slightly weaker with a shorter life span than natural silk. In fact, legally, at least in countries with responsible laws regarding textiles, Thai silk must be referred to as "fabric" not natural silk. The Cambodians, whether due to lack of funding or good old fashioned integrity, do not employ this tactic. Therefore I dare say Cambodian silk is in fact superior to Thai silk. Let's hope this doesn't change.
Cheers.