Kimchi in Cambodia
January 19, 2012 11:40 AM Subscribe
The small village of Siem Reap, Cambodia has mushroomed since the
19th century French discovery of
Angkor Wat. It is now Southeast Asia's most visited tourist destination, notably among South Koreans. In 2010, they accounted for 12% of foreign visitors to the region,
ranking just below neighboring Vietnam. But the sprawling temples of Angkor may not be the first stop on every South Korean's itinerary.
On the frosty Korean Peninsula, relations between North and South are perennially tense. But here amid the balmy breezes of this Cambodian tourist town, Koreans from both sides of the border are enthusiastically fraternizing at the North Korean restaurant as if reunification were just days away [NYT].
FTA:
A meal at a Pyongyang restaurant is one of the more expensive in town. In a country where a bowl of noodles costs $1.50, a hungry customer can easily pay $100 for a simple meal of kimchi, beef shoulder, stir-fried squid and a bottle of wine.Cash-strapped North Korea has been exploring capitalism outside its borders, opening several more "Pyongyang" restaurants in
Dhaka (Bangladesh),
Dubai and
Vientiane (Laos).
Then further out near the local hostel there was a weird ex-pat, backpacker vibe. One place was opened by a Cambodian who worked for several years under an ex-pat but left after learning to make exactly 7-8 popular semi-western dishes like "Banana pancakes" or "chicken curry pizza" that comprised his entire menu. He had a signed Headshot of Angelina Jolie framed by the kitchen and would talk about her in an excited voice. He was located next to a place called Happy-Pizza, where, we were all sure the eponymous happy pizza was served with roasted weed nuggets (or something that looked like weed) as one of the ingredients. One place was owned by an ex-pat who visited in the 90s, wanted to stay, wife disagreed, so he left his wife and opened a bar.
Then, near Siem Reap river, which smelled exactly like you imagine a third world sewage ditch to smell like, there were open air food courts that seemed the most likely to serve both westerners and the locals who had a couple dollars to spare. It was also the only place that served what one would guess to be "Cambodian" food. Downtown or by the hostels even, every restaurant that seemed to have English singage advertised itself as Western or Thai or Chinese food. It was just as good as the food served anywhere else, just more likely to come on a paper plate instead of a ceramic plate.
I guess I'm not describing anything totally different than Ulaan Bataar, or other less developed tourist destinations... but I guess what made Siem Reap special was the whole ephemeral nature of the Rule of Law in the area. Even though the hospitality sector seemed mature and developed, you could tell the who enterprise sprung up when the country stabilized in the 1990s, and even the ex-pats are largely holding their breath for things to go chaotic again. In the meantime, there's a real any-thing goes mentality of "what can we throw together and make money off of right now."
Oh, and one guy I met at a food stall asked me if I wanted to fire AK-47s with him the next day. That was unique as well.
posted by midmarch snowman at 12:19 PM on January 19 [7 favorites]