A nearby mega resort recently opened, and even though we can't afford a night there, I managed to get my wife and I a VIP tour of the property.
Am I Unethical? 🤷♂️
I have passed this resort property so many times while taking my kids to school, and recently they place a signboard on the highway, so I knew they were officially open for business. On this day my wife and I were passing by on the moto when I pulled in without warning. My wife was a bit nervous because it's clearly a VIP type place and very exclusive.
While passing by the unmanned security checkpoint, we had to leave the narrow private road for a Range Rover full of VIPs to pass by. Even I wondered if I was in over my head, but I pointed out trusty Honda Super Cub 90 straight ahead and told my wife to play along and follow my lead.
I should mention that because I was driving the moto and doing most of the sweet-talking, I don't have many pics of this adventure. If you want to see better pics of the resort, you should check my wife's post because she had free hands and was more of the observer on this trip than myself.
After making our way deep into the property, we could see the place was still very much under construction. I noticed a guy welding and I pulled over to spark a conversation and put my plan into action. After a bit of chit-chat, I showed interest in renting one of the bungalows, and within a few minutes the manager manifested himself on a motorbike.
The Lie Begins 😜
Speaking the Khmer language fluently as a foreigner definitely opens a lot of doors here that I wouldn't normally be granted access to as a non-Cambodian. When the manager showed up, I began by explaining that we live on top of the mountain pass, our place is not very nice, it's super windy, and my parents from the USA are coming to visit soon and will need a place much nice than ours to feel comfortable and safe.
It was at this point my wife's eyes lit up as she realized how I was going to pull this off. Just this little notion caused the manager to want to show us all the various bungalows, from the 2-bedroom $150 USD a night bungalows down to some slightly simpler 1-bedroom units. The property must be at least 200 acres, and it took at least 30 minutes to follow the bossman around and document the bungalows for my "parents."
Not Our Cup Of Tea 🍵
On any given month, our net family income would only afford us three nights at a place like this, but the experience of getting the tour gave me a feel for this business and the clientele they attract. I asked if they had much foreign guests, and the manager told me it's been exclusively Chinese folks that are in the area for the casino on the border. It's not the same type of people that would be interested in our much wilder and primitive location, but it was really nice to find out that these pre-fab mini bungalows can be rented for as much as $150 a night.
My wife and I have been researching various container and pre-fab mini bungalows online, and most of them are between $1,500 and $3,500 USD, so that means this place is earning their investment back in 30 nights of rent. Realistically though, another thousand or so dollars was probably spent to finish the interiors with a bed frame, mattress, linens, etc., but this is still an incredibly quick turn around time on investment.
My Parents Are Never Coming 🤦♂️
I must admit I want my lie to be true, in the 12+ years I've lived on and off in Cambodia, I've never had a visitor from outside the country that came exclusively to visit me, neither friends nor family members. If it was going to happen, it would've already happened years ago. At this point in life I realize that we will never get a US Visa and that nobody from my stupid little farm town is ever coming to Cambodia.
Everyone back in southern Indiana has many incorrect stereotypes burned into their brains, especially that Cambodia is a third world country. Well, there isn't one Range Rover owner in my hillbilly town, and there certainly isn't a motel in town that costs more than $70 a night, so if it's about money and wealth, there is certainly more wealth here and the property values are also three times higher than where I'm from, so it looks like Indiana is actually the third world country.
After all, the most common form of accommodation where I'm from is a trailer park, and these places provide a sadder existence for the working poor that I have ever seen in this country, where even most working poor actually own property and a home, albeit small. So who knows, perhaps in the end my parents will see the pics of this fancy resort and actually want to come visit. As for me, I don't feel bad about lying to get a quick VIP tour, the manager earns a salary, and he seemed happy to have a break from his normal work routine. The way I see it, everybody won on this day.
I will not mention the name of this business in my post because it will likely be indexed to the first page of google results, and because it's a new establishment there aren't much search results. I have provided a Pinmapple location though just in case anyone may want to visit the place some day.
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