Holiday in Cambodia

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We arrived by air in Siem Reap, Cambodia yesterday. The consensus was that everyone was quite tired of bus travel through mountain roads, so we booked four airline tickets through Laos Airlines and here we are. It was a funny thing, compared to the hell on wheels approach to ground transportation we had gotten used to, our three and a half hour flight to Cambodia was downright pleasant. Laos Airlines spared no expense for our comfort; hot coffee in a clean cup, a nonsuicidal pilot, and a toilet made to actually sit on. Simple pleasures, eh?


As a town, Siem Reap is generally better kept than many of the places we have been. It's not sparkling by any means, but I imagine that due to tourism it is experiencing quite the construction boon. New hotels and commercial developments are popping up all over. The city is of course known for its proximity to a ridiculous number of temples and wats, namely Angkor Wat. This evening, we watched the sunset over the span of ruins and it was pretty remarkable. We do have a full day of temple seeing tomorrow. We've hired a tuktuk to drive us from place to place. It'll be over one hundred degrees with high humidity so the cover will help.


Tuktuk is probably a new word for you. It means "tourist carrying chariot of death" and is of course pulled by our favorite contraption, the moto. Tuktuk drivers will catcall anyone on the street, attempting to solicit business. They're most common marketing strategy consists of jumping in front of you and saying something like, "Hellos Mister, Misses, you wan tuktuk to temple?". Literally, each tuktuk driver says exactly this, just like stall vendors always have "special price for you". A few drivers are more candid; the taxi driver we hired from the airport told us that once he had been a moto driver, and that he had been in two accidents which only killed 5 people. Good average or not, after hearing this, Noah thoughtfully told the guy that perhaps he shouldn't include that fact on a sales pitch in the future.


Pictures of our day at the temples, sticking our feet in exfoliating fish tanks, and more very soon.


Also, if anyone has Skype set up on their computer, we can make calls and even video calls for very little money. Char's parents are on, and its a great way to say hey.

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Comments

[Grandma Barb]

good to hear
So glad to hear what you are doinig.. We;ll have to talk about the Skype bit, as Dorie and Dan do have it.. And Amy and Casey too. Somehow while we are all here in Bozeman this week??

[Micki]

I love tuktuks
Good ol tuktuks...I think there wasn't a single day in Thailand that went by where I didn't visualized myself getting flung out of the tuktuk going full speed on some crowded highway due to an emergency brake...Basically every day I felt like my life was endanger...all part of the adventure..and seat belts are overrated anyways right?

[Laura]

Hello
Hi Chris - I have skype because Kristie's husband Kevin is over in Iraq now - so got it to communicate to him. So now all I need to figure out is how to add you! What is the time difference between there and Montana? You are going to have to write a book once you get back on all the crazy things that has happened to you! Take care! Aunt Laura