In & Around Siem Reap

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I managed to sleep right through the night, waking only a few times with no idea what time it was, before finally getting up around 0700. I was still feeling a little jaded but nowhere near as bad as I'd been feeling the day before. Jo had postponed our early morning tuk tuk arrangement with Manil so we had the day at leisure with no rushing about.

Breakfast for both of us was a bacon omelette with breads and pastries again... the standard fare off the hotels free breakfast menu.

The Hotel provided a tuk tuk so we headed into Siem Reap to take a further look around although our first stop was at what already was a favourite - Dr. Fish. The little guys had been doing their job, sucking off dead skin for about 15 minutes where we were approached by what was clearly a tuk tuk driver. He opened with some small talk about the fish and then went with with the standard "Where you from"

We chatted for a few minutes, telling him that everything was already booked when he suggested we spend the morning at Chong Kneas - a floating village about 25 minutes from town. It sounded like a reasonable idea and for $6 we figured we had nothing to lose so we denied the fish their full compliment and headed off with Pheap.

Most of the 25 minutes was spent going at walking pace along badly rutted dirt roads. Pheap explained that recent floods had wrecked the road surface. The tuk tuk felt like it was going to fall apart with the vibrations coming through the leaf suspension - "Free Massage", he explained.

We arrived at the same time as a tour bus (it seems to be our bad luck in Siem Reap) but were whisked away moments after buying our US$15 boat tickets. Whilst the tour group crammed themselves onto a boat, Jo and I were lead to a smaller 10 seater and we were on the water only seconds after we were seated.

The floating village moves up to four times a year as Tonle Sap Lake floods and dries out again but in the wet season we were able to take a boat down what, for much of the year, is a main road. The only signs that there was any land beneath us were just that - street signs barely poking out from the watery expanse. On the way up the tributary to the main lake we saw floating pig farms, billiard halls, houses and bars. But two places in particular stood out. The floating volleyball and basketball court was a large fenced in area where kids were sweating it out on the volleyball court whilst at the school, class was in session.

We were told that many of the children were orphans and slept in or around the school so we berthed at the local shop and bought 50 packs of two minute noodles (US$25) and headed across the water to the school.

The teacher welcomed us into the class and took the large box of noodles off us. We spent a few minutes taking photos and watching the kids being exactly the same as all schoolchildren are the world over - bored.

The final stop on the boat trip was to a floating crocodile and catfish farm. Much like its mainland competitors, this farm was more depressing than interesting. The amassed Chinese tour group was lapping it up though.

On the way back into the port our "guide" explained that we were not on an official boat - something hadn't seemed right at the wharf, but we disembarked without incident.

Pheap was waiting for us and before leaving back to Siem Reap I enquired about the possibility of getting lunch on the way back - I wanted to try snake and on the journey to Chong Kneas he mentioned that a lot of people in the area eat it. Pheap stopped a few times to ask the locals where we could get some before stopping at a restaurant that was no more than a pathway on stilts set up from the road to the waterside. The owner put a mat on the wooden floor for us and we waited around ten minutes before a snake was produced for us. It was already very dead but Pheap took one look at it and said it would be good. He spoke to the lady running the restaurant and we were told it would be US$15. We agreed and waited... and waited.

In the hour it took to slow boil our snake, we talked about everything from life in Cambodia to life in New Zealand. Pheap was a top bloke who was very open about the difficulties in his country but very proud of the many good things. At 37 years of age, he was married with three kids and was the sole earner of the family as his wife studied English at university... English was the future he said.

The snake showed up around 1300 and we were all starving. It was served sliced in four or five inch chunks, boiled in a juice with lemon, water and some sort of light herb. It was worth every second of the wait. Pheap served us first but had to show us how to eat it. He deftly peeled the skin and meat from the bones but when he realised Jo and I were having trouble he suggested we eat it more like corn on the cob. Both of us agreed that it was one of the best meals we'd had whilst away. The meat was tender and the juice not too overpowering as to ruin the subtle taste of the snake. Pheap was immensely grateful for the offer to eat with us and said he wouldn't be able to afford snake that good himself. He dropped us back to the hotel feeling rather good about life. We tipped him handsomely and asked if he could book us in to take us to the airport on the Friday.

After a quick swim in the hotel pool we took their tuk tuk into the night markets that were supposed to open at 1600. When we pulled up at 1530 there was absolutely no sign of life so we took a walk around the tourist part of Siem Reap around Pub Street (No thanks - we didn't want massages).

We grabbed a small wood fired pizza (US$5) each and found X-Bar, a cool rooftop spot where live bands play - although not at 1600 in the afternoon. Their main feature was a 6ft skateboard half pipe on the rooftop looking over Siem Reap. Back in the day I'd have been all over that but now I was just a tired traveller looking for a cold, cheap beer.

We finally made it to the half opened markets around 1645 where we booked in to see a 40 minute documentary on Pol Pot on a projector screen. Jo didn't think much of it but I found it quite informative.

In the middle of the Night Markets is a flash looking open air bar who made the best iced mango juice I've ever had (US$2) so we sat back listening to Nirvana's "Bleach" while I downed a few of the divine glasses.

For the next hour or so we (well, mainly me) went crazy at the markets, buying t-shirts, hammocks and Angkor Wat souvenirs amongst all sorts of other bits and pieces. We even needed to buy a 55 litre bag (fake The North Face no less) for US$13 to hold it all in. The trip was winding to an end and we had a maximum weight limit on the flight home to reach. A kilo under is a kilo wasted.

We called the hotel on the complimentary mobile they had provided us with and booked a tuk tuk.

We collapsed into bed, quite content, around 2200.

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