Bargaining

Probably the most fun I had all weekend at Siem Reap was the bargaining I did. Now, at every temple we went in, there would be the cutest little Cambodia children who would walk with you until you got the entrance, trying to sell you whatever they could. Bracelets, bags, musical instruments, books, t-shirts, scarves, post cards, water…you name it and they were probably selling it. There were usually a few tents set up too as you walked out of each temple. And at Angkor Wat, the big one, they had a huge line of tents set up along one side, with everything from above along with temple rubbings, art, sculptures, food, beer, etc. So after I left the tour and finished my exploration of the temple, I meandered on over to a line of tents to check it out.

I could go into detail about the tactics I used, how exactly I haggled them down, how many times I walked out of tents to be called back in with a lower price, but I’ll just give you the final damages: I visited 3 spots, or 3 tents different tents, and ended up with a painting of Angkor (box included), a t-shirt, and 10 postcards. Total amount they were going to charge me: 29 dollars. Total amount I ended up paying: $6.50. I bought the painting first, which I actually wanted, and ended up getting it knocked down from 25 to $5 dollars, with the box included. And really after that, I think I just bought the other stuff because I wanted to bargain some more. Like I didn’t really want a t-shirt, nor need postcards, but apparently haggling with old Cambodian ladies is my calling in life. Sure it was cheap tourist crap, but hey, I’m a tourist. So now I have thing to remind me of my trip! Hope everyone is doing well back home, it’s supposed to be 95 today. Just so you all know.

TPLWWT: ‘Holidays’ – Jim Gaffigan. “Easter, the day Jesus rose from the dead, what should we do?” “How bout eggs?” “Well, what does that have to do with Jesus?” “Alright, we’ll hide em!”