Music in and around Siem Reap

By some of the ancient temples and also by the night markets in town you see these groups of landmine victims playing traditional Cambodian music. The music is very beautiful, and I always gave them a buck or two, just like I do with good buskers back home. The groups by the temples tended to be more professional. The ones in town usually had one adult mine victim and a bunch of street kids.

My first afternoon in Siem Reap I was walking by the river to the main cafe and restaurant area. From the other side of the river I heard what had to be live music, but it was 4PM on a weekday. The tune was "Black Magic Woman," an instrumental version, and they were doing it justice. When I came to the next bridge I crossed over and backtracked to where the music was coming from. It was on the grounds of a public ministry, and there were tables set up. I found out that the musicians were doing a sound check for a party that night. They did a long Santana medley, of which I caught the last ten or so minutes up close.