After Ankor

Two days of temple exploration was fantastic but exhausting. Little shelter and little respite from the heat except for the breeze when in the tuk tuk or peddling the bike. We agreed the bike ride through the temple countryside was unanimously amazing. The next day we went for a change of pace and woke up early to go to the market where we bought many fruits to snack on: dragonfruit, rambattan, lychee, mangosteen, mini bananas, and one I couldn't figure out the name in English and had never seen before. We then decided on a tour of a silk farm to complete our morning. A van took us out to the farm where we watched various stages of silk worms in action. There is an on site factory as well where we saw boiling of the cocoons to gather thread, spinning, dying, and weaving. After perusing the gift shop, we sat for a cup of coffee on the breezy patio at the farm.

Upon return to town, we made the tuk-tuk driver's day by giving him work. He took us to the post office for stamps, then an exhibit on Cambodian culture/fishing life and the Tonle Sap Lake ecosystem, then a temple. Not five minutes after arriving at the temple, a thunderstorm struck with high winds too. A little boy lead us into a covered temple building where he showed us where we could donate money at the shrine. After the obligatory donation the boy wanted a tip but unfortunately the small cash was now gone, slipped into the slot in the box next to Buddha The boy was quite upset. Nonetheless we stood on the temple porch for the next half hour and watched the five or so children play in the rain until it let up at which time we headed back to our tuk tuk where the driver had been waiting for us and eating a bowl of Khmer noodle soup brought by a roving soup vendor.

Unfortunately Elizabeth and I had been separated from Justin and Sarah because a meeting point didn't work out. We are so used to the ease of cell phones, well phones in general, and not having that really makes meeting times and places essential. Nonetheless, we found a note from them at our guest house front desk and were able to meet up with them for dinner. We went for another traditional Khmer dinner and enjoyed some 5o cent beers again along with a traditional dance show. My favorite part was the peacock dancers costumes. I spent the latter part of the evening showing google earth street view of Boston to the guy who worked the front desk at the guest house, which enthralled him as he desperately wants to go to the United States but says it is not possible for Cambodians now that there is no war to escape.

Another highlight of Siem Reap were the massages: a full body massage at "Seeing Hands" massage by blind, and Dr. Fish, a biting fish foot massage. A big downer were the 45+ mosquito bites I got while doing internet in the guest house lobby while wearing a skirt