New influences for the residents of Siem Reap

Siem Reap is the town that services Angkor Wat just 3 minutes down the road. 10 years ago it was likely still a sleepy little town with small river flowing through it and a series of three-storied french colonial buildings at its center. Today it is showing the signs of an tourist economic boom town. Numerous 4-5 star resort hotels are now prominent parts of the landscape. The international currency is flowing through the town, the ATMs spit out US dollars, and unfortunately we hear that 70% of the Angkor Wat entrance concessions are contracted to a private Vietnamese entrepreneur. Still there is some economic growth at all levels. We stumbled upon a brand new three-storied mini-mall yesterday. At first we could not understand what the event was that was presumably happening on the upper floors up the escalator stairs that was causing such a stir with the children and parents. Then we realized that the event WAS the escalator. Many of the locals had never ridden one. It was a magical event for us to watch for well over a half an hour.