General observations Oct2022 Cambodia

General observations Oct2022 Cambodia
Gay bars and discos, massage places, saunas, travel between Phnom Penh and Siem Reap, gay venues in Siem Reap, money boys, online dating, Grab and Passapp. Details on gay venues in previous post.

Gay Bars and Discos
Blue Chili open, Heart of Darkness open (not a gay disco, but I had some gay encounters there last year), POC Pride of Cambodia open (show Fri and Sat 11 pm), Space Hair open, Toolbox closed for good. I didn't go into any of them, other than poking my head in and asking for details and looking if there are any cute boys (there were none).

Gay massage places
Places I went to confirm location on google maps and check if they are open, enquire prices and have a look at their staff, but didn't get into business with any of them: Heco, Man World (now U&Me Massage), Om Massage. Several more that I didn't go to.

From asking and from my one massage last year, 20 USD seems the universally expected remuneration for special service, which is about the same 700 THB as I pay in Thailand, but expensive* for Cambodia with a much lower GDP. The boy would have to be very cute for me to commit to 20 USD.

*This is general. For me as a tourist, everything in Cambodia is a bit more expensive than in Thailand and a bit less comfortable/convenient/value for money. Everyone else I talked about this subject thinks the same.

Gay saunas
Arthur & Paul (entry 6.50 USD quite expensive, but I like their facilities and everywhere well lit).

Hero Spa (sauna) facilities okay, lighting okay, I had fun there, will be back. Name is misleading, the place is a pure gay sauna.

Route 38 facilities okay, but everywhere too dark, I won't be back.

Travel between Phnom Penh and Siem Reap
Travel by bus/van between the two largest towns should be a straightforward experience, but it is not. The trip should take 5 hours, but I recently spent 7 hours on a bus. A friend observed maintenance issues on his bus.

When I ask others or read on internet, Larryta (only vans?) and Giant Ibis (buses, bus station in Siem Reap town) are recommended. I would add Capitol Tours because they have a shuttle from Siem Reap bus station (out of town, 2 USD for tuktuk) to their office in town, saving the haggle and expense of 2 USD to get into town.

Siem Reap
Gay bars Barcode (show Fri Sat Sun from 9:30 every 10 min – info from friend), Look@Me and gay hotels Men's resort (with sauna open for everyone) and Rambutan. New gay bar Luuma Bar-Tapas-Siem Reap.

Moneyboys
I came across several money boys on online dating. They said so at the very start, however we didn't get into price negotiations because their pictures were not clear and my questions for more pictures were met with befuddlement. However I met two from last year, both for 20 USD happy to see me again. I established 20 USD as a fair price last year (I spent entire 2021 in Cambodia). After one total dud for 20, I started offering 10 and half accepting, half refusing. I rejected some demanding 30 or even 40 or 50 as greedy. A friend has been asked for 300 USD (three hundred!!!).

Online dating
I was busy on Blued, Grindr, Hornet. The level of fake profiles, and some assholes/bullshiters/idiots/retards/time wasters, and in addition slow internet and aggressive advertising made me stop online dating for a week when I had enough. However once you get past all these barriers, the percentage of boys I would meet again is higher than in Thailand.

Grab and Passapp
Summary: use Grab in Phnom Penh, Passapp elsewhere.

Grab works well in Phnom Penh, but has no drivers elsewhere. For Kampot, I signed up on Passapp and tried a few times in Phnom Penh, only to find Passapp is slower in PP (i.e. drivers from a km away accept the ride and I have to wait for minutes). No more Passapp for me in PP.

In PP, prices are about the same (I checked several trips, up to 10% difference). In Siem Reap however Grab is about 50% more expensive than Passapp. E.g. from airport to my hotel in town 10k8 on passapp, 17k9 on grab.

One driver asked me to cancel the ride and he will offer me the same price, and I foolishly agreed. I had to tell him the destination, he just got the street but not the house number, and I had to direct him the last km.

Prices asked for without app are 2-3 times more expensive, with negotiation can be brought to 1.5 times. I arrived at a bus station and as usually tuktuk drivers descend on passengers, even after showing him I can get to my hotel for 5k5 (about 1.40 USD), he would not go lower than 2 USD (from originally asking for 3). In Kampot even worse, 2 USD (down from originally 5, didn't accept my offer of 1) for 1.7 km, I walked. But as long as there are people like a friend who paid 10 USD from PP airport to town (can be had for 4.50 USD on grab), overcharging will continue. Even worse, that one ride nullifies all my efforts of an entire month.

Locals are being overcharged as well, a friend negotiated 6k KHR for a ride that I estimate 3-4k on grab.

Pagodas and Temples
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pagoda says: A pagoda is an Asian tiered tower with multiple eaves common to Nepal, India, China, Japan, Korea, Myanmar, Vietnam, and other parts of Asia.

Whereas in Cambodia, "Pagoda" is a name for what we would call monastery, temple or wat.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple says: A temple (from the Latin templum) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice.

Whereas one Cambodian friend says, a temple is an old religious place, another says a place for Gods with no resident monks.

Here links and quotes to illustrate the usage:

https://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/govt-set-renovate-pagodas
Gov’t set to renovate pagodas 08 June 2018
According to a survey by the Ministry of Cult and Religion, there are approximately 4,932 pagodas, including 563 ancient temples, throughout Cambodia. There are also 68,654 monks.

https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501160009/cambodia-has-over-5000-buddhist-pagodas-official/
Cambodia has over 5,000 Buddhist pagodas, 70,905 monks: official  September 30, 2022
Cambodia currently has 5,104 Buddhist pagodas with 70,905 monks, Ministry of Cults and Religion secretary of state Seng Somony said here on Thursday.

7-Eleven in Cambodia
Last year, the first 7-Eleven opened in Cambodia and now there are over 17 (judging by their numbers, count starts at 30,001 for the first). The first 7-Eleven (number 30001) is 7-Eleven Chroy Changvar in Phnom Penh, and I saw branches in Siem Reap and Poipet as well.

Golden Sorya Mall
Golden Sorya Mall is being demolished, and the entire block behind is surrounded by corrugated iron wall and will be a construction site (for what?).

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