Wat's Up? - Siem Reap, Cambodia

I find myself once again in the middle of the afternoon seeking asylum somewhere indoors. The internet places here don't have A/C, but at least the fan is going and it's something of a reprieve from the elements. Even sitting in the shade doing nothing is reason enough to work up a lather, let alone actually walking. And of course, climbing all over temple ruins is a different thing all together. So yeahh, I'm complaining again about the heat. Sue me.

I ended up revising the plan I had established a few days ago wherein I was going to visit the temples in the morning and the afternoon. I still did the morning visits. I woke up at 5:15 each time and at times, I had entire temples to myself. There's a method to the temple viewing madness that involves trying to see certain ones at different times of the day so as to enjoy them more. This is an important thing for the pictures, of course. The first day I went back in the afternoon ater visiting in the morning (see last entry). I returned to find the place swarming with people. Think Disneyland in summer. That one morning spoiled me. I decided to cut out the afternoon visits and extend the morning ones. This morning was the last one. And I saved the best temple for last. Unfortunately, the gloomy haze gods weren't aware of my plans and I didn't get the pictures I wanted. The temple itself, Angkor Wat, is world-reknown for a reason. Wow. And really, the entire complex is just an amzing thing to see. I wish I were more learned on the subject so as to appreciate the different styles, eras, symbolism and the like. I haven't a clue. I just know what I think looks cool and that's good enough for me. I doubt I'll see anything like this the rest of the trip or for that matter, too many other places in the world.

So I've been doing other things in the afternoon such as getting a $2 haircut. I know what you are thinking: I got charged by the follicle. It was nothing like that. I'll remember that experience because while I was in the nicely air-conditioned shop, another customer's cell phone went off. His ringtone? A Michael Jackson tune. I started to laugh and then quickly did that thing where you pretend to cough to mask a potential international incident.

Last night, the streets were jumping with folks. It was quite a spectacle. Little street stalls sprung up all over the place and I did something I rarely, rarely do when travelling. I ate at one of these places. I tend to stick to established restaurants especially in places like this where the standards of hygiene are a little different than what I am used to. I can't say it any more diplomatically than that. Anyway, the stirfried noodles and veggies were $1. The beer was $1. It was piping hot, tasty and not a problem at all. In fact, later I went back for some rice. Ah, the carbs, the carbs...

Today I spent about 3 hours and $10 in a Khmer cooking class. There were seven of us in the group, a couple of gals from Japan and some folks from France. The class was a whole lot of fun and we each made more food than we could eat. We were allowed to choose our three dishes. I chose a mango salad for a starter, a curry dish for the main and a banana dessert. Everything was incredible. I had never had the mango salad, but me and mangoes...don't get me started. The thing is that the only mangoes I've seen here are hard and green- nothing like the soft orange ones I'm used to. I'll spare all the details of all the food except for the mango salad because I intend to eat this in the futre- a lot. Shredded green mango, shredded carrot, sliced onion, basil, chopped peanuts, fish sauce, chili and pieces of chicken. It all gets mixed and served room temp, though cold would be amazing, I think. We all had a great time, shared stories of our travels and compared war-wounds. Oh and we got a t-shirt too. All for $10. The Japanese girls said that Vietnam is cheaper than Cambodia. Not sure how this can be, but I can't wait to see for myself.

I've avoided buying anything, but I think tonight I may have to break down and drop a few bucks here and there. I'll compensate in my suitcase by ditching a pair of old tennis shoes I brought. Honestly, I can't see where I would need to wear them and given the heat, why I would. Tomorrow I am hopping on a bus for Phnom Penh. The ride should take at least 5 hours. As far as I am concerned, the trip begins in earnest tomorrow since it's a big city (relatively speaking) and I won't be spending any more than three nights in any one place from this point forward. So, a lot of moving around is coming up after having stayed pretty much in one place since I got here.

Tonight I plan to eat some Indian food for dinner and then go to the night market where for $3, you put your feet in a shallow pool and for fifteen minutes, dozens of a particularly disturbing breed of fish nibble all the dead skin off your feet. I am not making this up, I swear. I plan to video the experience and torture many of you with the footage at some point in the future. You've been warned.

Cheers.

Another World Pt. II - Siem Reap, Cambodia

Back to the Guatemalan reference...I thought of it because like Guatemala, this place is beautiful with very warm people and a prevelance of poverty that boggles the mind. Also, the two countries have had a very turbulent past, although all the problems of Central America can't compare with the Pol Pot years here, to be sure. Another thing is amidst all the very humble and meager living conditions is this town of Siem Reap. The town exists for one reason and one reason only: The Temples of Angkor Wat. Surprisingly, despite everything, the downtown area is teeming with smart hotels, great little restaurants, hip bars and coffee shops, etc. It's like an oasis...again, like the cty of Colonia in Guatemala. The prices in this area are still Cambodia-cheap, however! Last night I had a 6-spring roll appetizer, a Khmer curry dish with chicken and 2 Angkor draft beers for $6. The food thus far has been pretty good. It's kind of like Thai food, though not as spicy. For lunch earlier in the day, I went veggie: spring rolls and tofu in a lemongrass-based sauce over rice. Breakfast is included in my $28 for my hotel room. They bring it to your room where you can have it outside on the patio.

It's been not quite two days and I'm getting the feel here. This morning, I hopped on a bike at 5:15 am and pedalled about 9km. to begin to take in the temples. The advantage is that it's cooler and there are only a fraction of the hordes that appear within a few hours. My plan is to spend most of the next three days seeing as much as I can. I plan to go for a few hours in the mornings very early and late in the afternoons. I'll spend the middle of the day taking it easy waxing philosophic in internet cafes and trying to keep cool. But back to those temples...in a word: stunning. I literally was able to watch how as the sun rose, different aspects of the ruins were revealed, little by little. The fact that there was next to no one there made it all the better, especially for the photos. I explored some more and by the time I left three hours later, seemingly all of Siem Reap had shown up. The place was crawling with people, tuk-tuks, mopeds, tour buses and elephants too.

Glad to say that there is not a McD's nor a Starbucks in sight, though I did see a KFC yesterday. Ironically, moments earlier the driver and I were talking about the economy here and how foreign countries are beginning to invest and all. I cautioned him that though this had the potential to be good for the locals, the trade off was corporate America messing with the purity of Khmer culture. You know, my usual anti-imperialistic rant and two seconds later: the Coronel's mug on a huge red sign. Sigh...

Normally I dont'buy souvenirs until the end of a trip so I don't have to carry them with me for weeks and weeks. However, 3 t-shirts for $5 may be tough to pass up. So if I hand you something from Cambodia, understand that the value in it was the many miles it travelled with me, not the riels I spent on it. The riels are going for 4,200 to the $1. The U.S. dollar is the currency that is used for everything pretty much. You get riels in change, almost like the way we get coins when we purchase something. Well, it's hot and there's a 2,400 riel beer out there awaiting my parched self.

Cheers.