Dealing with Angkor Wat's Children Touts - Siem Reap - General Tips & Advice Reviews

THE TOUTS: They're your regular touts except that they're younger, from 8 to 14 years old. They're extremely friendly and articulate in English by Cambodian (even Asian) standards, and almost always have that winning smile and very charming demeanor. They show off their counterfeit travel guide books, cheap postcard prints, bottled water or whatever else they can easily lug around practically in your face, single-mindedly closing in on a deal.

YOU: You are only excited about getting inside Angkor Wat. You want to get there fast, maybe check out the nooks and crannies of this exquisite monument normal guided tourists don't see. You tell one of the touts, "Maybe later."

WAR: To them, this constitutes a promise. After an hour or two on foot inside the temples, you proceed to your rented car, dying to go back to your hotel or a nice comfortable bar for an ice-cold beer perhaps. The tout suddenly appears out of nowhere, shoving back in your face the goods you said "Maybe later" to. You said you're not buying, that you have a similar book or you've seen the place yourself and you don't need the book, and so on and so forth. The tout "reminds" you of your "promise." You say you said maybe. The tout says, "Maybe is a promise!" You stand firm on your decision, not to be outwitted or coerced or intimidated by a tout. "Sorry, I'm not buying," you said in all finality.

Inside your rented car you can still hear the tout saying, "Liar! Liar! Liar! Your mother is a *****!" Fuming mad, then shaking your head in disbelief, you drive off.

Lesson learned: Don't say "Maybe" when you mean, "No, not really." WELCOME TO ANGKOR WAT!