Like many other curious tourists, it was the thousand year old temple complex that drew me to the land of the Khmers—Cambodia—Siem Reap to be precise. Spread across some 20 kilometers, Angkor Wat boasts of one of the most ambitious and magnificent construction projects of that period comprising an incredible cluster of nearly 200 temples.

About forty minutes after we departed from Bangkok, the Airbus started descending. And, there was an announcement that we should fasten our seat belts as the Bangkok Air flight was coming to a close. I looked out and the Siem Reap Airport came into view. I looked around as I pulled out my pocket camera. I could not locate the Angkor Wat temple complex from air. Before I could carry out any further survey, the plane landed and taxied on to embarkation area. I felt sad that I could not capture an aerial view of Angkor Wat in my camera.

Siem Reap is a very small airport by international standards. But, this small airport handles an amazing number of tourists. After, emigration check and baggage clearance, I was heading out of the airport. Suddenly, I realized that I needed some local currency to pay the cabby who would take me to my hotel. I turned around and went back into the Airport.

I was surprised beyond measure when the airport staff told me that I did not need to exchange dollars…that I could spend dollars in the city. Now, that was something I was not prepared for. “What about the cabby?” I asked. “Dollars would work,” they told me. I was a little confused. I thought they were pulling a fast one on me. All the way from the Airport to the Hotel, this thought kept bothering me. “What if the driver refuses to accept the payment in dollars?” I thought. “If worst comes to worst, I would exchange dollars at the hotel and pay him,” I decided.

As the cab pulled up at the Hotel porch, I opened the door and stepped out quickly and spent some anxious moments as the cabby offloaded my luggage and walked over to me. I pulled out a 20 dollar bill from my wallet and handed it over to him. And, he readily accepted it and returned 5 dollars. I couldn’t believe it in spite of the prior warning! “He is a cabby. He moves around. So, he should be able to exchange the dollars,” I thought.

I got up early next morning and rushed to Angkor Wat to view the main temple at Sun rise. I peered into the ticket counter and asked the gentleman seated there: “How much for the ticket?”

“Twenty dollars for one day; forty for three days and sixty for a week,” he responded.

I stared at him in disbelief as he printed out my ticket. But, my eyes popped out when he opened his cash box to put in the 20 dollar bill I gave him. It was full of dollar bills! The whole day I traveled from one temple to the other shopping in between. I purchased books, picture post cards and a fan from street venders; I bought coconuts, juice and souvenirs from shops and I had breakfast and lunch at restaurants. All of them quoted in dollars and gladly accepted dollars in payment and returned the change!

The next morning I settled my hotel bill in dollars and made for the Airport. At the Airport, I discovered that I had to pay a departure tax as it was not included in my ticket. “How much for departure tax?” I enquired.

“Twenty five dollars,” replied the lady with the beaming face.

I checked into my return flight and went through the immigration. I sank into a sofa in the departure lounge and pondered over the events of the past two days. Suddenly, I realized that I had spent three days and two nights in Cambodia and I had not seen any Cambodian currency.

I walked up to a security guard and asked him: “do you have Cambodian currency?” He was a little surprised because he was the one who was supposed to be asking questions—not I. He appraised me from head to foot.

“What you want?” he quizzed in a puzzled way.

“You have some Cambodian currency notes? I want to see Cambodian currency.”

He gave me a queer look and pulled out a 1000 riel bill from his purse. For the first time in my trip to Cambodia, I saw Cambodian currency. I wondered why it was not in circulation. I have not visited other cities in Cambodia. But, I suppose it must be the same everywhere. In fact, I learnt that it is the same in Laos and some African countries.

As my flight took off, I pulled out my camera again to shoot the aerial view of the Angkor Wat. Again, I could not locate the Angkor Wat temple complex from the air. The aerial view of Angkor Wat eluded me again.

I realized that I was sitting on the wrong side! But, then, so is Cambodia. “How can any country let the currency of another country be used as legal tender? Is Cambodia trying to save on printing its own currency by letting the dollar prevail? Does the government of Cambodia realize the repercussions of this short cut? What will they do when they need to control the flow of currency in the country? How will they do it? That is a million dollar question. After all, it is a dollar economy!