Whether at Angkor Wat or the markets of Phnom Penh, you will be pestered by kids selling you stuff. Don't just ignore them, talk to them.

You'll find them bright and intelligent kids, just doing what they can to earn some money. Talk about school, England whatever - all of the kids we came across were happy to chat and appreciated your interest. And then at least they'll stop trying to sell you stuff. For a short while at least ...

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I recommend you attend a Shadow Puppet show at La Noria Restuarant. Shows are on Wednesdays at 1930hrs at a cost of $12 including a meal. The shows are given by street children trained by Krousar Thmey. They operate the puppets and provide the voices for the characters. Programmes include folk tales and extracts from the Ramayana. Your enjoyment will be enhanced if you can go along with a local who can guide you through the nuances of the plot.

An interesting daytime visit is to the workshop where you can see the children making the puppets and meet the puppet master. You can buy a puppet of your favourite character which makes an unusual souvenir. Unfortunately the belligerent Water Buffaloes are very popular and supplies had run out when I visited.

La Noria Restaurant

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The Silk Farm and Carving Workshop are excellent places for free and informative tours of the work the Artisans d'Angkor group is doing to re-invigorate the ancient Cambodian arts.

Better yet, you can browse the air-conditioned gift shop of beautiful creations at the end.

I learn something new everytime I go!

The Silk Farm is 20km west of town in Puok District.
The Carving Workshop is within walking distance of the Old Market.
wwww.artisansdangkor.com

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Although the US dollar is accepted everywhere (and preferred as it is stable) in Cambodia... make sure you keep Riel with you for small purchases.

It will often work out slightly cheaper to pay in Riel than in dollars (as they like to round things up in their favour).

You won't be saving that much relatively speaking but every little bit counts.

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