Chilling out in Siem Reap
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Siem Reap,
Cambodia
Monday, November 5, 2007
Had a fairly chilled afternoon - the first time this trip, and it was great! I spent a while downloading my morning's photos on to my Spectator, and enjoyed having a look at everything. Then I shared a tuk tuk into Siem Reap town with Juana and Carlos. I went to the Artisans of Cambodia and had a look around the workshops and looked at the things they made. Really stunning quality but too expensive for me on my shoestring trip. Afterwards, I took a walk along one of the two main streets and did some people watching.
Having done so much walking these past few days, I decided to treat myself to a foot massage. What total Heaven! An hour of massage, not just feet, but legs, arms, shoulders, and hands. I could have sat there for another hour with no problem at all. All this for the enormous sum of $5!
I wandered on to National Road 6 (it's very long and straight and runs from Poipet to Phnom Penhm, the one I arrived along the other day) and managed to find a Chinese restaurant that I'd seen from a tuk tuk. The Beijing Dumpling House was a fantastic choice. It made me feel as though I were back in Beijing: the scruffy walls with mirrors and menus written in Chinese stuck to them; the chairs covered in plastic, and not forgetting the melamine tableware. However, this is often what it was like in China and I was quite happy. They had an extensive veggie menu so I chose vegetarian dumplings and a plate of spicy fried tofu. Good choice, both were delicious.
After my meal, I wandered along the road back to my hotel, people watching and generally enjoying the time out to do nothing very much at all.
I'm about to go off out for dinner with my new friends. Four of them are leaving tomorrow to go back to Bangkok so this is a farewell meal with them.
Tomorrow I have an 8am start to catch a bus to Phnom Penh which will take about 6 hours. I'm hoping it won't be as bumpy or adventurous as the ride into Siem Reap, mainly because I'm so battered and bruised, I look as though I've been beaten up, not gone on holiday to Cambodia!
