Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

Clean water and sanitation have been difficult and expensive problems. The prospect of running entirely new utility systems through established, busy neighborhoods is a daunting prospect. Imagine if the local government stopped by your house and said "We're planning on digging up the entire street for the next couple of years to install some new pipes". 

That's exactly that is happening here in Siem Reap.

My hotel is along High School Road, a significant road that goes to the east of town and loops around a bit. It's also the road we use to get to Khnar Tmei. I was amazed to see how the condition reverted to nearly the same state as my first year. Apparently the new sewer and water was installed recently but they are not done. Until that time, they have no desire to fix the roads. The result is massive potholes. I'll take some pictures today for a future post.

Aside from the exciting travels dodging craters and people, a few other things caught my eye on my first day back:

• They opened a Hard Rock Cafe. I guess this will be good to help drive tourism. 
• It's the low season for tourists, but I would call it about average. The drivers agree that the economy is "good and slowly getting better"
• The exchange rate between the USD and Cambodian Riel is still firmly pegged at 4000 KHR to 1 USD.
• The recent flood of Cambodian migrant workers who were in Thailand does not seem to have significantly changed the mix of people. I'm sure the story is different at the border. Apparently the Cambodia government is trying to get people passports at a greatly reduced rate so they can go back to Thailand when it settles down and enter legally.

Time for breakfast. Perhaps I'll eat light so I can check out that Hard Rock Cafe later.