Siem Reap - Pimms and Markets

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So another day dawned in Siem Reap, Lou was feeling well enough that she didn’t want to be confined to bed for the day so after a lazy morning which basically involved breakfast in the hotel at about 10am and then a wait while Scott and Sara arrived from the hotel they had been in last night (ours was full) and settled in. We then had to wait for our room change as we moved from the ground floor room with no outside window (which makes it very hard to get out of bed with no natural light) to the third floor with a window.

After this we decided to venture into town for a bite to eat and some shopping after visiting the post office, whilst Scott and Sara went off in search of a gym in an attempt to keep fit whilst on the road.

We exited the hotel and asked for a tuk tuk, and whilst I went to retrieve something else from the room Lou was told that the road to the post office was OK but after that it was flooded so we would need a lift into town as we couldn’t walk, which had been our plan.

So we first headed for the post office where we sent a couple of items but the main focus had been to send back a parcel to off load the Vietnam edition of the Lonely Planet so it can in the future adorn a bookshelf somewhere visible in an attempt o make us look cultured. However that one book and a couple of receipts and tickets etc once packaged and weighing in at 0.650kg would have cost us $29 by airmail, weirdly it was three dollars more to send it by sea! It looks like we will be carrying that book for a while yet!

On arrival at the post office it had become clear that the tuk tuk driver was trying to get more custom as the road was perfectly ok to walk on and despite the rain we decided a stroll to the old market was in order. We arrived and after only a short foray decided to opt for lunch first. We looked about and found the place called “The Alley” which is filled with restaurants, and settled in for a chicken satay and chicken fingers, with a pair of dips. A very pleasant lunch indeed, and some interesting signage on the walls.

After this it was into the old market for some proper shopping, Lou was after a couple of items and the next thing I new I had bought a couple too! I think it was more the fact that I had to do the bargaining which meant that if Lou was after something I was in a good position to purchase myself.
We ended up with two pairs of Cambodian Fisherman’s pants (in the American sense of the word) and I also picked up a new top.

Fisherman’s pants are a unisex item that are amazingly comfortable in turns out, and it may well be the case that more of these are purchased prior to departing Cambodia. By the way mine are blue and Lou’s are a red colour but I think she may try to steal mine!

Anyway, after the shopping we had to have another drink in one of the nearby bars before returning to see if we could find our friends. We hailed a tuk tuk that we had seen earlier which was done out like Batman's tuk tuk. On the tuk tuk ride back to the hotel we passed them walking in the other direction and after a quick stop, organised a time to meet later in the evening for dinner.

We returned to our room to recoup and I had another can or two. We headed back out to meet the others for dinner, and also for a glass of Pimms. We had as far back as Saigon or maybe even Dalat discussed this drink with them but had been unable to find anywhere which stocked it, so when we were eating lunch and noticed it we resolved to introduce our American friends to it.

After our second meal of the day in the same restaurant we adjourned for more beer in pub street. The girls not having shopped enough today decided that we should head to the night market, which was on the way home so wasn’t too bad an idea. It was also made a bit easier by the fact that this market has within its grounds a bar, cue Scott and I sitting whilst the girls shopped. From that point the night does start to become a bit hazy. I remember coming back to the hotel and Lou deciding to go to bed and not understanding my desire to go back out to the bar across the road. I also remember that Scott Sara and I were drinking with two Cambodian guys who supposedly owned the hotel we were in and another one also. Anyway I left before the others but not by much I have since been informed, and it still wasn’t that late only about midnight when I staggered into the room.

On awakening the next morning I have to say I felt a little ropey and Lou didn’t have much sympathy for me. We descended the stairs for breakfast and whilst we were there Scott and Sara arrived. Scott was also feeling a little bit delicate. I don’t think speaking to the tuk tuk drivers that we had loosely arranged to drive us to Ankor Wat and trying to explain to them that we had found a better deal was really what Scott wanted to be doing at that point but that was what he ended up having to do. Even paying them off with a small portion of the fee to get rid of them.

It transpires that the reason they hadn’t brought us to our current hotel in the first place was because they new that the rates the hotel charged were so good they wouldn’t get any business from us! As previously mentioned they will say anything for cash!

Anyway they went we finished breakfast agreed today wasn’t a good day for Ankor Wat maybe tomorrow, and returned to our rooms. At this point I took a serious turn for the worse and was rather unwell for the rest of the day!

Lou won’t hear of it, but I have had enough hangovers in my time to know that this was not just the alcohol from the night before and something I ate at breakfast didn’t agree with me as I had been ‘fine’ prior to that (at least no worse than many other times) and certainly wouldn’t have expected to be worshipping the porcelain god for so much of the day!

As such the rest of the day was a bit of a write off for me. Lou did venture out around lunchtime and returned bearing gifts, including a muffin (lemon) and also a KFC. The former was very nice when I finally ate it at about 10pm and the later didn’t even make it passed its wrapper before it was decided it was a bad idea!

Whislt we are enjoying Siem Reap it seems that one or other of us isn’t great so here’s hoping for a day or two when we can both venture out, and to seeing Ankor Wat soon!

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Photos

Prophetic Sign?
I may have taken the caption a bit too literally!

Inside the Market
Similarly crammed stalls but none of the people that have made other similat markets far less enjoyable.

Cobwebs and Lights
This was above the food area, clearly hygiene is a priority.

The storm outside.
Whilst there was a storm raging in our bathroom inside!