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Published: February 21st 2011
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Nellie and Monk in Siem Reap
After an 18-hour flght, changing at Kuala Lumpur, Nellie and Monk finally arrived at Siem Reap airport just before midday. Monk had booked a hotel before leaving London and coming out of the terminal, Monk saw his name being held high and, as he approached and introduced himself, a whole mob of tuk-tuk drivers laughed and starting bowing in front of him - they find Monk's real name very amusing. Samnang led Monk to his very smartly painted green tuk-tuk and they headed off into town. Cambodian tuk-tuks are not 'real' tuk-tuks like the Bangkok ones but rather, a 2-wheeled carriage that attaches to the back seat of a standard motor bike. They don't seem as nippy as the Bangkok variety so should be a bit safer if it wasn't for the general driving standards in Cambodia. Still, a damned sight safer than a 'moto' which is just a motorbike that you climb on the back of - no helmet provided - even though the driver, by law, must wear one, the passengers are expendable.
Many of the hotels in Siem Reap offer free transportation from the airport although Monk suspects that, except
for the upmarket hotels, such as the fin de siecle Grand Hotel d'Angkor, and the cheaper backpacker joints, it's the tuk-tuk driver who provides the free service as a marketing exercise for his services for the next day or two. Some they win, some they lose. Monk arranged for Samnang to pick him up from the hotel at 8:30 the next morning for the start of Monk and Nellie's temple trekking. They now had their own'driver' for the duration - sounds very grand!
Monk and Nellie are installed at the Soria Moria hotel within a 5 minute walk of the Old Market area where many of the restaurants and bars are. It describes itself as a 'boutique' hotel with a 'fusion' restaurant - both much-overused terms. The hotel is confortable and the staff very pleasant - not sure that Monk and Nellie will bother with the restaurant with so many local Khmer restaurants close-by to choose from. They tried a Lonely Planet recommendation called the Angkor Palm - funnily enough, the word Angkor is also much over-used in Siem Reap - justifiably so. Monk's introduction to Cambodian cuisine was a selection of local dishes - his favourite was the unripe green mango salad - a bit like the Thai and Lao green papaya salad but not quite as fiery.
Siem Reap offers everything from Mexican to Indian including all sorts of European along the way. Bars feature highly, particularly in 'Pub Street' and there are a number of night market areas open until 11 or midnight so all tastes from alcholics to shopaholics are catered for into the wee small hours.
Nellie and Monk found themselves actually falling asleep at a cafe table in the afternoon, having had no sleep for the best part of 36 hours so they retired early at 10 to recover in time for their rendezvous with Samnang at 8:30 next morning.
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