Siem Reap

This city has become a tourist mecca and is now overrun with tourist based businesses. Restaurants and bars are cheek by jowl with t-shirt stalls and clothing merchants. Tuk-tuk drivers (a sort of open rickshaw taxi pulled by a motor scooter) constantly ask if you want a ride, and massage spas, seemingly legitimate, offer their wares on every block. Someone has even created a t-shirt with a "no tuk-tuk, no massage today" message, spoofing the constant harassment of passers-by.
The sidewalks are regarded as convenient parking spots by car and tuk-tuk drivers, and no-one pays the slightest attention to traffic signs or stop lights. Traffic coming from all directions barely slows for intersections, and pedestrians wade cheerfully into this maelstrom, barely breaking stride as they cross. Drivers merely avoid them and continue on their way. Motorcycles dart into traffic from whatever direction, crossing lanes of oncoming traffic if that's what's required. Helmets seem to be optional. Foreigners are not allowed to rent motorcycles, which would be suicidal if permitted. The fact that we haven't yet seen an accident can only be attributed to some sort of divine intervention, in fact it's the best argument for the existence of God I have yet seen.
Markets function all day and

late into the night, and bars stay open until the small hours. Unique (to me) chilled soft drinks in unheard of flavours like grass jelly and chrysanthemum can be bought on the corner. There are many NGOs who try to support education, or orphans or other worthy causes by selling handicrafts, and some of those that are fairly traded will be featured at the Tea Room next season.
The French colonial period has left a cultural legacy that includes Le Malraux, a French Bistro style restauant named for a French leftist writer, intellectual and Gaullist cabinet minister. Interestingly, Andre Malraux spent part of his early 20s in Cambodia, investigating temples in the jungle. He was arrested at that time for theft of a bas relief from one of the temples.
The restaurant bearing his name, although a bit of an anachronism, served excellent food and had a decent wine list, mostly from Bordeaux and Burgundy, of course. Starters included pork terrine with salad, which was quite delicious. Barb had rack of lamb and scalloped potatoes en croute, and I had a pork rib chop, (shades of Au Pied de Cochon) and mashed green papaya, followed by an acceptable tarte au citron. The meal was quite delicious.
On the last day of our stay in Siem Reap, we found ourselves at Rosie's Guest House watching 4 Oscar winning movies. The copies we watched I'm sure were not pirated. There was free popcorn and 75 cent draft beer.