I was in a tuk tuk with Henry one evening when he exclaimed 'what the f***!' He had just seen a sign for the 'Pyongyang Friendship Restaurant'
South Korean tourists possibly form the largest number of visitors to Siem Reap and the North must be trying to foster good relations through food and entertainment. It has taken until this evening for me to go, along with Lori, who had never been either.
Readers, I have to tell you that the experience is almost worth the airfare to get here. It is a bit out on the airport road, hardly in the thick of things. Phiron, our driver, didn't think be should be going there and obviously thought we were nuts. We arrived, at 7pm and entered a huge room, with a wonderful 7/11 ambiance, full of tables, many fully laid up, some not. There was also a stage area with a huge picture of a caldera as a backdrop. There were some instruments, a television screen and a large sound system. Oh, and there were also two fully decorated Christmas trees and today is February 13th. All very promising. It was deserted. There were many girls, in amazing dresses and clippy cloppy shoes fussing around us telling us where to slit and giving us the menu. The menu, of course, was totally incomprehensible to us. There were some helpful pictures of the food but, quite frankly, they could have been of anything. My only stipulation was that I did not want to eat dog. No one had a word of English but they were very smiley. We pointed at several things to order them, hoping that none were spaniel, including a photo of two fried eggs and a fish. Hard to go wrong with that, we thought.
The girls, in their fancy dresses, brought out plates and a couple of odd things that were pickled cabbagey type things along with metal chopsticks. We started to eat this but they got a bit agitated as we were obviously not eating correctly. They brought us forks, which seemed a bit unnecessary, and then stood very close to us, touching shoulders with us, holding hands with each other, and giggling. Bye the bye lots of other plates of stuff were set before us.
After about 20 minutes the doors flew open and two tour buses full of South Koreans arrived. They rushed in and food was swiftly served. At exactly 7.30 the entertainment started. The girls who had been serving us went on stage and started to sing and dance. The t v screen showed a wonderful propaganda film of the magnificence of the North. This seemed to consist mainly of daffodils, hyper-green grass, windmills and the airport. The girls were really very good. They could sing, the show was very slick, they played instruments and there were costume changes performed, on stage, so swiftly that I am still puzzling over how they achieved it. By this time though we were practically under the table. It was more magnificent than I can possibly say. We both feel that, as very seasoned travellers, we have seen some things but this was right up there near the top of the weirdest evenings ever.
Then, at 8.04 the show finished. The South Korean tourists were out of the restaurant and back on their tour buses so quickly Lori wondered if they knew there was a fire in the building and we didn't. The lights went down, the fridge with the beer in was turned off. The girls were clearing the tables and we were the only ones left in the restaurant. It was 8.07. The whole thing had taken 1 hour and 7 minutes. A model of efficiency.
It was one of the best, most bizarre evenings it is possible to imagine. We have not stopped laughing about it, and may not for some time. It would have been weird enough in Korea but in Cambodia...!
What a priceless evening. Worth treble the cost just for the experience. A new definite 'must do' on the guesthouse list.
South Korean tourists possibly form the largest number of visitors to Siem Reap and the North must be trying to foster good relations through food and entertainment. It has taken until this evening for me to go, along with Lori, who had never been either.
Readers, I have to tell you that the experience is almost worth the airfare to get here. It is a bit out on the airport road, hardly in the thick of things. Phiron, our driver, didn't think be should be going there and obviously thought we were nuts. We arrived, at 7pm and entered a huge room, with a wonderful 7/11 ambiance, full of tables, many fully laid up, some not. There was also a stage area with a huge picture of a caldera as a backdrop. There were some instruments, a television screen and a large sound system. Oh, and there were also two fully decorated Christmas trees and today is February 13th. All very promising. It was deserted. There were many girls, in amazing dresses and clippy cloppy shoes fussing around us telling us where to slit and giving us the menu. The menu, of course, was totally incomprehensible to us. There were some helpful pictures of the food but, quite frankly, they could have been of anything. My only stipulation was that I did not want to eat dog. No one had a word of English but they were very smiley. We pointed at several things to order them, hoping that none were spaniel, including a photo of two fried eggs and a fish. Hard to go wrong with that, we thought.
After about 20 minutes the doors flew open and two tour buses full of South Koreans arrived. They rushed in and food was swiftly served. At exactly 7.30 the entertainment started. The girls who had been serving us went on stage and started to sing and dance. The t v screen showed a wonderful propaganda film of the magnificence of the North. This seemed to consist mainly of daffodils, hyper-green grass, windmills and the airport. The girls were really very good. They could sing, the show was very slick, they played instruments and there were costume changes performed, on stage, so swiftly that I am still puzzling over how they achieved it. By this time though we were practically under the table. It was more magnificent than I can possibly say. We both feel that, as very seasoned travellers, we have seen some things but this was right up there near the top of the weirdest evenings ever.
Then, at 8.04 the show finished. The South Korean tourists were out of the restaurant and back on their tour buses so quickly Lori wondered if they knew there was a fire in the building and we didn't. The lights went down, the fridge with the beer in was turned off. The girls were clearing the tables and we were the only ones left in the restaurant. It was 8.07. The whole thing had taken 1 hour and 7 minutes. A model of efficiency.
It was one of the best, most bizarre evenings it is possible to imagine. We have not stopped laughing about it, and may not for some time. It would have been weird enough in Korea but in Cambodia...!
What a priceless evening. Worth treble the cost just for the experience. A new definite 'must do' on the guesthouse list.
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