Like rats in a maze

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We had an absolutely delightful morning at Ta Prohm temple, which is one of those in partial ruins with huge trees growing around and through the stones. (Those who have seen the Angelina Jolie movie Tomb Raider would recognize it from the film.) We left the hotel at 6:00 am by tuktuk for the 40-minute ride to the temple, and decided that a tuktuk is a better way to travel than a car - the fresh air blowing through our hair is much more effective than the trickle of barely cool air that seems to be the maximum output of most cars here. The roads were pretty quiet on the way, and most people we saw were locals on bicycles heading into Siem Reap, most likely on their way to work. When we got to the East Gate of Ta Prohm, our driver told us he would wait there for us, and we walked through the stone gateway onto what looked like a long wide sandy trail through jungle. The air was comfortably warm, there were no other people to be seen, and birds were singing beautiful unfamiliar songs in the trees. After a few minutes walk, we came upon the ruins, and they were mightily impressive.

We were so lucky to have come so early. I think we were actually the only ones there for the first little while, and we marveled at the massive tree roots growing up and over and through some of the stone structures. Much of the buildings remain standing, though some are in a state of mid-collapse with huge stones tipped at gravity-defying angles and jumbled piles of stones in various areas. It was shady because of the huge trees, and parrots of some variety squawked over our heads. We took photo after photo after photo, all of which looked like National Geographic quality in our viewfinders, but were not nearly as good as we would have liked because the lighting was difficult - speckled shade never makes for good photos.

Midway through our exploration a little man with a lopsided gait and a uniform greeted us and asked, as everyone does, “Where you from, Madame?” When we told him, he beamed and gave us the thumbs-up sign. He followed us for a bit and began pointing out some particular features of the ruins. At first, I think we were a little sorry he had found us because we had been enjoying the silence and solitude, but he turned out to have excellent suggestions about places to stand to get good photos, and led us deeper into the ruins to show us all kinds of interesting details we would certainly have missed. He showed us amazing tree roots growing into an interior chamber, and a carved stone face peeking through a tangle of roots and vines. We were quite appreciative, and realized that when he led us out of one area, we had been well behind the ropes marked “Do Not Cross.” I don’t know whether he was any kind of actual Ta Prohm staff - he wasn’t wearing the mandatory tan shirt and shoulder patch of an official guide - but he was most friendly and helpful and gave us quite a behind-the-scenes private tour, for which we tipped him gratefully (though he gave us no indication that he expected it.)

Our tuktuk driver was faithfully waiting for us and we enjoyed the drive back to our hotel. (The tuktuk driver charged $5 for the roundtrip transportation and waiting time, a bargain if ever there was one.) We were ready for coffee and breakfast, and felt like if we did nothing else all day, we had already had the most glorious time.

But of course we did do more. By about 10:00, we were ready to walk to the ATM and then down to the main street of Siem Reap, which takes about 8-10 minutes.

On our first afternoon in Siem Reap, mom and I wandered “downtown” and into the Central Market, a warren of little shops selling mostly textiles aimed at the tourists: scarves, tablecloths, robes, purses and T-shirts, along with small Angkor-style sculptures and figurines, chopsticks, and various other trinkets. We had came across one shop with really lovely silk dresses and interesting wrap-style pants and loose-fitting blouses. We both found them beautiful, but it was too early in our wanderings to be ready to buy anything, so we made a mental note to come back later in the week. Today we did just that, but no matter how many times we tried to retrace our steps, we couldn’t find this shop. First we wandered in the general direction where we both remembered finding it the first time. We circled that area, weaving up and down and around and around with no luck. Eventually, we decided to systematically walk up and down each row in a grid. By this point we had been looking for 15 or 20 minutes and we were passing the same shopkeepers for the second or third or fourth time, many smiling and greeting us, “Hello, Madame. You come inside? You buy something?” I became convinced that after the third or fourth pass they were secretly laughing their heads off at us as we scurried around like rats in a maze in search of ever-elusive cheese. We never did find that shop, but became convinced that it must have been one of the very few that was shuttered up tight. We hope to try again this evening, and if we still can’t find it, we’ll go back again tomorrow!

After leaving the market, we walked along the Siem Reap River (more of a stream this time of year) for a few blocks, and stumbled upon a modern-style mall. It was shiny new, with white tile floors and a faint hint of air-conditioning. It had an ice cream parlor, a “supermarket” which sold mostly drinks and snack foods and healthy & beauty merchandise, and many little shops most with the word “Modern” in the name: Modern Shop, Modern Lady and Man, Angkor Modern, etc. These shops sold cheap-looking Western-style clothing, and I suppose their target market is local Cambodians looking for a modern shopping experience. It was fun to take a quick look around, especially in the supermarket, where we stocked up on drinks for our room (Fanta in orange, pineapple, and lychee flavors; mango juice, canned lattes) and snack foods that we just couldn’t resist trying: Klash Roasted Chicken star-shaped puffs, fried seaweed, Prawn Flavour cracker biscuits, and miniature packets of stick-shaped treats called Burnedmeat Flavour Biscuits. I have a feeling those last ones will probably taste like fried spider…

We stopped off at my new favorite hang-out, the Blue Pumpkin café, where we were offered an icy cold washcloth as soon as we sat down, could get free fast wifi, and ordered a Diet Coke and Orangina that came served in tall glasses with ice. We took a seat at a table out on the sidewalk and enjoyed the passing street scenes while we checked our email and savored our cold drinks.

I had intended to seek out a nice foot massage this afternoon, but after coming back to the hotel and falling asleep for a good couple of hours, that plan may need to be bumped to tomorrow. I can’t believe I’m in Southeast Asia, the land of cheap massages, and haven’t had one yet. I’ll really have to do something about that soon…

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After writing the entry above, we took a walk and searched again, in vain, for the shop we couldn't find this morning. Now, of course, we believe it be the most wonderful shop ever found on the face of the earth, with the most beautiful clothes you could ever imagine. I'll let you know if we ever find it and if it lives up to our now-inflated expectations.

To alleviate our disappointment, we stopped in at Khmer VIP Massage, where we had the most lovely one-hour foot massages for $6. Actually, besides washing our feet and then massaging our feet, toes and legs for almost an hour, then they massaged our arms, necks, shoulders and backs a bit too. It was extraordinarily relaxing, as you might imagine. There was a funny moment when the woman working on my mom's arms suddenly exclaimed in Khmer to her friend and held up mom's arm, pointing out the length of her arm hair. This caused all kinds of amusement and amazement, and a bit of good-natured self-consciousness on my mom's part, so when we went back to the hotel, we waxed her arms for some good after-dinner fun!

We had a nice dinner: more of those beautiful vegetable spring rolls with sweet chili sauce, and a fish curry with lemongrass, washed down with two gimlets and two mojitos. Altogether, a satisfying meal for $8, plus $10 worth of alcohol.

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Comments

[Marti]

Burnedmeat flavour Biscuits & Monkeys
We are all SO enjoying your adventures - maybe you should just travel the world endlessly blogging those of us who aren't such great travelers! Anyway, the other night I couldn't sleep and was watching all the talk shows alternately. Jay Leno was doing a bit where he was showing a number of unusual items available at the 99 Cent Store in LA. I swear he had the Burnedmeat flavour Biscuits , which he tried and highly recommended to all his arsonist friends! Wierd coincidence! Also , I have noticed very little blogging about monkeys on this trip...are they not really as pesty, adorable and numerous as all the travel sites lead you to believe? Had to ask - you know how I feel about them! Your mom is a real inspiration- Happy Birthday Meda! Keep it up - you are entertaining more people with this blog than you know! Thanks! Marti