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Published: July 22nd 2010
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Not just an oh-so-clever pun on the name of Asia's most famous temple, but also a fab bar in Siem Reap where we had a pitcher of beer (4 pints) for $2.50 last night.
Since arriving in Siem Reap we have visited somewhere between 15 and 20 temples - its so easy to lose count! Our favourites have been Bayon (hundreds of giant serene faces carved beautifully out of dark stone), Ta Prohm which is being slowly strangled by tree roots and Preah Khan, a giant sprawling maze of tunnels and shady courtyards. The temples of Angkor are incredible, and awe inspiring, and a definite must see in my opinion. They also make for several tiring days, especially in the intense Cambodian heat. Unlike visiting monuments in England its possible to climb up the temples, walk along the walls and explore all the nooks and crannies available, so it really is good exercise when you're covering 8 temples a day. We still have one day left to see the far away ones which our super friendly tuk tuk driver has persuaded us is well worth the 36km drive.
Siem Reap itself is a lovely town, if mega touristy. Its
strange because the town itself is full of pretty, some ramshackle but mostly swanky, hotels and restaurants, backpacker bars and more upmarket joints, but also men pushing carts full of eggs, plastic tabled local joints with Asian action movies playing on a tiny TV and the occasional scuttling cockroach. Its like the whole of this region of Cambodia, extreme poverty at some ends and pure wealth at others. Unfortunately for Cambodia, the Khmer people are all clustered at the bottom end of the scale.
Driving to the temples we passed loads of little 'villages' where the locals hang their washing under houses elevated on planks of wood to protect from the rains, and get water from pumps with 'Donated by Mrs So-and-So USA' on signs above them. And yet its rare to see a Cambodian not smiling, despite their recent history. Part of these smiles seem to be a ruse though, as you can't walk anywhere without cries of 'Laidee, you buy something! You buy scarf, very good price for you!'or 'Sir you wan' massage?'. They're persistent too, unlike the Thais who will halfheartedly heckle but then just let you get on with it. The children at the temples
are even worse, and we've been conned into buying all kinds of crap from gorgeous scruffy kids who dance and hi-five you when they successfully make a sale. Its easy to forget its $1 you're parting with and that it means so much more to them, we have to keep reminding ourselves.
We've eaten some fabulous food here (Khmer curry, called 'Amok''is to die for) and we've both fallen in love with the local Angkor beer. We've also experienced some pretty hefty rain storms, one today which lasted for ages. Good job we'd taken the day off!
Off to Da Nang on Saturday where we will transfer straight to Hoi An for 3 nights. Bye for now!!
Rachel xx
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