Easing into Cambodia

We took this day fairly easy after the stresses of getting to Siem Reap the night before. Siem Reap is considered the most touristic area of Cambodia because of its main attraction; Angkor Wat plus the surrounding temple ruins that were built from the 10-12th century.

Huiyen had recommended a place for lunch called "The Sun" although its location on "pub street" raised some concerns straight away. As you could imagine this street is full of bars and stuff for the western markets and we did mention in our first chat on the previous night that we wanted to avoid it if we could. It was actually ok, if not a bit pricey. I started my Khmer eating with a Beef Curry that straight away reawakened my mouth with flavours (lemongrass, lime leaves, maybe a little coconut).

Then I experienced a 60 min Khmer massage. It's the only time Tash will allow a little Asian lady to climb all over me! It was different to other massages I've had before, for the legs they would bend your knees and then raise them (I guess to apply more pressure), same with the arms too. It cost $10. On the way back we visited the (Buddhist) temple close to where we were staying called Wat Bo. I've decided I will only keep a count on temples I have actually visited as it got far to hard to keep track last year.

Prices are displayed in U.S. Dollars here but they do have their own currency (Riel). I'm sure we pay a mark up for a dollar price, so to ask to pay in Riel would probably mean paying more again (the ATM gives out dollars anyhow). Might see if that changes as we move around.

For dinner we went to "Khmer Kitchen" and paid $4 for a dish of Tofu and Basil. I've tasted Asian Basil back home and tried to grow it but this was so much more intense than I remember tasting, it powered the whole dish (along with a bit of chilli and other flavours) and I could have easily eaten another helping. The lemongrass ice tea was also nice (I think it must have had a lump of Palm sugar in there). We also watched people come in, blatantly ignore the queues and just try sitting down as someone looked like they might get up from a table. One of the waitresses who was trying to restore order walked past and said "Every Night!" so our Chinese friends must make a habit of doing this!

Later that evening we got to the circus run by a NGO called "Phare Ponleau Saplek. The performers are all youth who have come from tough backgrounds that have been trained up and given a direction/purpose. I wasn't sure what to expect having been to Cirque Du Soleil before I left home but it was very good. There were about 7 different youths in the show, but they all had multiple skills that they showed off to the crowd, along with 3 musicians. It was based around a story of confronting your fears. Some of the shapes the ghost characters twisted themselves into at the start was unreal. At the end they remained on stage for pictures and to answer questions and even then they were full of energy and smiles.

Bowls of rice; 20
Tuk-Tuk rides; 5
Cambodian Temple Count; 1