One Dollar Madam!!

One dollar madam! One dollar sir!! One will hear loud exclamations such as these in crisp American accents. But, this place is not the United States of America, but Cambodia, which uses the green back as one of its national currencies. These exclamations are made by young boys and girls mainly and some times adults selling you all kinds of souvenirs inside the Angkor Archaeological park in Siem Reap, Cambodia. Souvenirs could range from fridge magnets and postcards to hats, local cotton clothes to books about Angkor and local musical instruments to traditional art work.


These are extremely poor people who eke out a living by selling these goods to tourists, but sometimes they can be real insistent and the one dollar madam/sir can ring in your ears for a very long while. Here’s the thumb rule to handle these hawkers in the Angkor complex. Unless interested, do not engage in a conversation with any of these hawkers. Simply, say NO and look uninterested. If you express interest and do not buy, these hawkers will get dejected and/or might resort to pestering you. If you do plan to buy, bargain hard depending on how much extra you want to give to these poor people.