Sojourn in Siem Reap

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Bit of a retro blog at the mo. Bear with me...........

So, still back in Cambodia. This time the second week and a week of wandering and seeing further afield. It started with the wedding of one of the girl's from the "Precious Girl" magazine in a town called Kampong Thom, about 3 hours from PP. After my first experience of a Cambodian wedding on the street just outside M&E's flat (a neighbour's doo) I thought this would be equally as LOUD and protracted so was prepared for a lonnnggg and tiring day. It turned out to be a real hoot though and so I didn't really notice the noise or time passing that much at all.

Even though we got there at 9am, we'd missed some of the ceremony (I think they started at 7am!) but still, we got to see at least another 2 hours with all the various rituals and changes of costumes. Afterwards we had lunch whilst the bride and groom padded about in shorts and pyjamas. Bit of a surprise. Thought they'd make the effort for the party later. Should've known really though. Not long after they were decked out again in matching outfits and through the course of the afternoon, changed into a further 5.

Dinner was interesting. Various courses of noodles, fried duck's eggs (complete with embryos in some), squid, meat of various kinds and glazed fruit for pud. Followed by The Cutting of the Cake where the 2 families all fed each other and then got everyone dancing round the table. In the end I could have danced all night but we had to go so the others could get back to PP and I could get dropped off at my lodgings that night. Another experience...... Michael had booked me into a place called something like the Khymer Village Experience and so I spent the night in a traditional Cambodian hut. Had a really good kip (in spite of all the bugs!) and apparently was the first guest to christen the newly built toilets. Marvellous.

And so, on to Siem Reap - a town in the north of Cambodia about 7 hours by road from PP. I'd been booked on to the local bus there by the Khymer Village People and again, another experience. Sat among Khymer students, families and Buddhist monks watching a LOUD kung-foo version of Return of the Living Dead. Very bloody with heads getting kicked off left right and centre. Not sure what the monks thought but the kids seemed to like it.

Discovered the joys of cycling in Cambodia the next day. Hired a bike from the hostel and took off onto the open road, remembering seconds later that people drive on the right hand side. Just about steered clear of a collision and had to give myself regular reminders throughout the day, especially at junctions which had more of a novelty factor than anything else. Stopped off at the Singing Tree cafe at one point for what I'd seen advertised as a Pirates session. Interesting. Wondered if it might be a crafty or a drama thing. Got there to find I'd read it wrong and it was in fact a Pilates session and I'd missed anyway. Twasn't a completely wasted visit though. They had the best coffee in Cambodia and also the best loo so I stayed there long enough to make the very best of both.

My last day in Siem Reap was just a bit exhausting. Set off to cycle to the river which didn't look that far on the map. Rows and rows and rows of houses, huts and homes later, a huge straight road and a few isolated restaurants later, the beginnings of the floating Vietnamese village and some shops later and I still wasn't there. Ended up turning back and vegging out at a Mexican cafe in Siem Reap hours later. Found out the next day that I'd done about 16 miles all in all (in the blazing sun! Mad dogs and Englishmen and all that......)and I would have had to go another 3 miles to get to the river. Hey ho. And then it was back to PP on the roof of a boat along the river that connects the 2 cities. Arrived back just a bit pink and panda-eyed.

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