Shopping in Cambodian

Shopping

There are a wide variety of items available for purchase in Cambodia. The country was once well-known for its superior silk weaving, metal work and woodcarving. After decades of neglect, many of these arts are being revived. Visitors can find silver items, jewellery, gems, colourful cloth for sarongs and hats (variegated silks), wood carving, paper maché masks, stone copies of ancient Khmer art, brass and bronze figurines and oil paintings in the different markets and shops on main avenue in the larger cities.

The traditional clothing for both men and women is the krama, a long, narrow checked silk or cotton cloth available in most markets and shops. Jewellery is generally not up to international standards for design and workmanship and buyers should use caution when purchasing gold and gems. Bargaining is essential for all souvenir shopping, it travellers are to obtain reasonable prices. Reductions of up to 20 percent are possible.

A number of rehabilitation programmes have sprung up since the eighties, such as the gift shop at Wat Thanh in Phnom Penh, a co-op that trains Cambodians disabled by land mines in making attractive items out of silk and cotton fabrics, rattan, bamboo, wood and clays. The result is a pleasing selection of purses and handbags, clothing, furnishings, paintings and many other items.


Markets In Phnom Penh
the Central Market opened in 1937 is a famous city landmark offering a wide range of goods, including souvenirs, jewellery, silks, electronic goods, stationery, second hand clothes, and bric-a-brac. The Russian Market is good for souvenirs such as objects d'art, trinkets, coins, miniature Buddha images, etc. The Olympic Market is a three story covered market near the Olympic Stadium which was upgraded and reopened in 1994 and now specialises in wholesale items. Markets can be found throughout Cambodia, often only selling produce and bric-brac, but at times real souvenir bargains can be found.


Weaving
Silk is still handmade using traditional methods with the pattern dyed into the threads before the silk is woven, thus the task of dying and weaving a single piece can take several weeks. Older silk pieces (pre-1970) are increasingly prized and thus the prices for these items can be high. Weavers can be seen in action at the historic silk centre of Koh Dach outside Phnom Penh. Some nice handiwork comes from Kompong Cham, Takeo and Kandal provinces.


Silver
Numerous silver shops have sprung up in Phnom Penh , selling carved decorative and practical items as well as in village centres such as Tul Mau, roughly 30 km north of the city. Silver in Cambodia is an alloy containing 70-80 percent pure silver and prices are based on a combination of weight and artistry, which puts bargaining skills to a good test.


Basket weaving
Basket Weaving is carried out mainly by women, many of whom cultivate and harvest the reeds by
themselves. It is an important aspect of rehabilitation programmes for victims of landmines and the
dexterityof the local people is beautifully reflected in products of all kinds, including baskets, bowls, plates,
and many other useful items.


Antiques
Antiques The sale and export of registered antique pieces is strictly forbidden. This, alas, has not prevented
thousands of priceless artefacts from Angkor being stolen over the years and sold overseas. You are unlikely to come across genuine antiques openly on sale in Cambodia.
Note: The export of antiques is subject to approval of the Ministry of Culture.


Sculpture Reproductions
Using the same locally mined stone used to build the ancient temples artists here produce sculptured copies of ancient carvings of such quality that, with artificially induced weathering, have even fooled some experts. There are also bronze copies of small statues, Buddha figures, heads and apsaras for sale.
Note: These can be exported freely, but if you pass through Thailand on the way home, be aware that the export of Buddha figures from that country is not allowed and you won’t get through customs with them in your luggage


Wood Carving
A traditional, addition to your baggage allowance are carved wooden apsaras and a variety of other attractive and decorative wooden items, including furniture, which can be shipped home. Since the quality and maturity of the wood dictates its value as much as the handiwork, care in selection is needed, especially for more expensive items and it pays to shop around.


Custom Tailoring
Following the lead of Bangkok's ubiquitous and often over-persuasive purveyors of made-to-measure clothes, ready in a day or even less, there are now many tailor shops opening in Phnom Penh offering similar deals. Tailors will happily copy from a photo or from a sample in your suitcase.


Betel Nut Boxes
These cute containers once reflected the status of their user according to its size, design and the material from which it was made. Mostly of silver, many carry ornate designs and are often crafted into animal shapes. Originals usually contain a higher quantity of silver, but the newly manufactured varieties are still handmade and a careful choice can provide you with attractive souvenirs or thoughtful lightweight gifts.


Gold and Gems
Here buyers will find that 24-carat gold is used for most pieces in the Chinese tradition with prices fluctuating with the daily market value. Jewellery tends to be simple and unsophisticated and although locally mined precious stones, especially rubies, sapphires and emeralds, can make excellent buys, beware of increasing numbers of fakes.


Lacquer Ware
Most pieces originate in Vietnam or are made locally by expatriate Vietnamese craftsmen. Local markets normally have a good supply and the prices are often more competitive (with suitable bargaining) than in the markets of Vietnam.


Rice Paper Prints
("Temple Rubbings") are a lightweight, decorative, inexpensive and attractive buy. Made by placing rice paper over a mould taken from a bas-relief carving from one of the Angkor temples and lightly rubbing over it with soft charcoal, it produces a wonderful memento of your time in Cambodia. When framed and suitably illuminated, they can look superb.


Cotton T-shirts are always popular souvenirs no matter what country you visit and in Cambodia none the less so. Some very cheap and amusing designs are available, which make excellent small gifts or souvenirs.


The Krama
The typical locally worn chequered scarf is an inexpensive and practical souvenir.



Shopping for Jewels, Cambodian-Style

The kick off point for most international visitors to Cambodia is the neighboring country of Thailand. Here in the capital of Bangkok, tourists make the most of the discounted travel gear, clothing and variety of tour providers to organize their adventure into this ancient and fascinating land.

While it's possible to find good deals, one can't help but notice the warnings posted in guidebooks and brochures, advising them to be weary of the “gemstone scam.”

Unsuspecting tourists who are herded into jewelry stores by pushy tuk tuk taxi drivers are sold so-called bargain stones. They are then persuaded to avoid the “import duties” by having them conveniently mailed to their home countries. If they turn up at all, the stones usually turn out to be well short of the value quoted.

In the red, dust-coated province of Ratanakiri, in the northeast of Cambodia, the locals are hard at work cultivating a range of produce, from cashews to bananas, sugar cane to glorious blue onyx gemstones. From the main township of Ratanakiri, it's a short 18 mile (30 km) two-hour drive over roads so rough they are nicknamed “dancing roads" to the mining town of Chum Rom Bei Srak.

Here, we found sorters busy at work shifting through freshly-mined stones.

As they expertly work their way through the pile, stopping occasionally to trim the stones with wire cutters, they check for cracks and flows that will determine whether the stone ends up a precious five carat jewel or less expensive one to two carat stones.

This town with its modest, wood slab stores and stilt homes is no more than a cluster of buildings along the main road at the entrance to the mine. In contrast to the rest of Cambodia, it has a barely lived in feel, which is hardly surprising, as the mine was only discovered four years earlier.

No fancy equipment or structures are in sight, just a rough field of simple, square holes with foot holds cut into the inside of the mine. Some are more elaborate, connected by shafts, but most look no more sophisticated than an oversized rabbit hole.

The miners work in teams of close friends and immediate family. Implicit trust and honesty are required to work the mines successfully, as a good stone could be the equivalent of a month’s salary in this heavily impoverished country.

The work is hard, with only simple tools at hand, a bucket and a hand turned wrench to dig out the minimum eight feet (2.4 m) deep mines. The stones don’t show themselves until at least this depth below the surface.

The day we visited, Chinese New Year celebrations saw most of the miners enjoying rice wine parties rather than working their mines. However, Mr. Yuen, a 24-year-old, four-year veteran of gemstone mining, was hard at work with his cane-woven sieve in a water-filled slush pit. He paused long enough to show us some of his earlier finds. In our hands, they were rather uninteresting looking cola-colored pebbles.

While we took in the hard labor and patience it took to extract these stones, our ex-commodities trader tour guide could not help himself, and out of old habits, he started negotiating a price. When we realized that in town we could have these expertly cut to reveal the blue jewels, the US$5 price tag for three stones was a worthwhile investment to see the end result.

Upon our return to the township of Ratanakiri, we dropped by one of the three gemstone stores. These simple, tiny rooms open directly onto the street without even a wall, door or window: Tiffany’s they are not!

Instead, just a glass-cased counter in front displays the cut stones with a workbench behind. The lack of furnishings allowed us to view the skilled cutter at his craft, working the rotating wheel in the style of a potter’s wheel to turn the brown stones to blue gems.

Our chosen cutter took some convincing to take on our three-stone commission. Normally dealing in lots of 50-100 stones at a time, he couldn’t work out why we crazy tourists would pay more to have our stones cut than what we would spend to get ones already processed.

But with some fast-talking by our local guide named “Lucky,” our request was met, with a deal struck at a US$ 1 a carat.

Because the heating and cutting process takes two hours and it was near day’s end, we were going to have to wait until the next day to see the finished product.

But the following day, our freshly cut, freshly polished “babies” arrived. Like any new parents, we fussed over and photographed our new arrivals at every angle. Our “eldest,” biggest stone came in at a whopping four-carat, our middle two-carat, and the runt of the litter, the one we were told would turn to dust under the cutters tools, a respectable one-carat. Total investment, including cutting -- US$ 12!

Had we beaten the scammers and made a good investment? Who cared? For 12 bucks we got to take the journey from mine, to gem cutter, to finished stone. It was an added bonus when a visiting geologist, on the hunt for Asian Rubies and Sapphires, declared our modest investment for our three blue Ratanakiri Onyxes gemstones a savvy buy, worth at least US$ 100! Definitely the most satisfying jewelry shopping I’ve ever done!!

Should your visit to Cambodia not provide you with the time or opportunity to buy your blue Onyxes gemstones direct from the mines, no need to panic. These can be readily bought either loose or set in jewelry for between US$ 20-50, depending upon the carat and quality.

While you won’t find rubies, diamonds or sapphires on offer, I wouldn’t trade my gemstones from the Chum Rom Bei Srak mine for all the