On the last night in Siem Reap, our tuk tuk driver took us to this night market far away from the city centre. The night market is not a touristy place which was a big relief. As we arrived at the place, I could see rows of stalls on both sides of the road. And the stalls were actually placed right by the road side that people had to walk on the road and the vehicles would have to stop and thus caused a traffic jam.
We were there not to really buy actually but to see if we could find anything extraordinary there. I was happy to see local fruits on sale and just wished I could buy them and bring back home.
Eventually, we found what we had been looking for: bizarre food. Siem Reap is known for its bizarre food i.e. crispy crawly creatures - insects that were fried/cooked/preserved to be eaten. And people did buy and eat them. When we were in the commercialized Pub Street in the city centre, we saw a sign asking visitors to pay 50 cent (US) if they wanted to take photos of this special food without buying. However, you could snap away the photos of all the insects as many as you want. Even the person at the stall was very friendly when I asked her permission to use my camera.
There were also a lot of food stalls. People simply enjoyed the food by sitting on the mats laid on the ground beside the road.
There was also a small amusement park for parents to entertain their children in the evening at one corner of the night market.
Life is much simpler and relaxed here. People do not need big shopping malls or franchised western restaurants for their leisure time. I guess happiness had a different definition here in Siem Reap.
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