Street Massage

 

Siem Reap has no shortage of massage places. Some, very nice legitimate spas and others, well rather questionable. There is a road between the Angkor Night Market and Sivatha Road. It is actually Street 7 across Sivatha.  This road is lined with $1 dollar massage places, boldly signed and numerous girls sitting in front calling out to all passer-bys. They usually start in the early afternoon but when the sun goes down they get very aggressive.

I’m a very friendly person. As I am not interested in a “$1” massage, I politely decline with a smile and continue through the gauntlet. I had to walk through this road each day because my hotel was on one side and all the restaurants, Pub Street and Night Markets were on the other. By the second day, the same girls realized I must be alone since I never walked with anyone. They began, in a friendly way, to block my path 3 or 4 at a time. One would single out and grab my arm. But not in a gentle way. She would latch on and not let go! I had to rip my arm away several times.  This happened every time I walked through! No matter how polite I was, it continued. Finally I had enough, put my angry face on and told them to stop. Strangely enough this did not work!

So I came up on the spur of the moment with an ingenious idea. Take their photo! Wow! This worked great. They ran and scattered like cockroaches when the lights go on. After two days of doing that, they got to know me and left me alone. Even the threat of taking their photo worked. I added pictures of it and blanked out the faces.

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