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Published: November 16th 2012
Tuk Tuk ride at 2 am
I think I'm wondering why Phil is taking a picture instead of hopping in after our long journey :)We traveled from Laos to Cambodia the first week in November. The border was relatively hassle free, though we did stand in a long run because they insisted on taking our temperature before stepping into Cambodia. We left Don Det by ferry at 8:30 am, and arrived at Siem Reap at 2 am the following day. Although we hadn’t booked a place to stay in Siem Reap before arriving, you can always count on the Tuk Tuk drivers (motor bike taxi) to take care of you. Not only were they ready to give us a ride at 2 am in the morning, but when the first two places he had in mind were full, he persevered, and found us a wonderful place to stay, at 2:30 in the morning. Can you imagine being somewhere like NYC, and the cab taking you from hotel to hotel, ensuring that you have somewhere to place your head at night? Nope.
We woke up the following morning, happy to be in the European-esque little city in Cambodia. The Siem Reap river lines the main street, trash on the streets was kept to a minimum, and great restaurants and interesting shops lined the
Dr Fish
I can hardly sit still as they fish nibble on my toes! streets.
We pampered ourselves on the first day, walking around town and getting pedicures (yes, Phil too), foot massages, and I even got a manicure. The highlight might have been something called “Dr. Fish.” This involves placing one’s feet in a tank of sucker fish. The fish swarm and suck on your feet, theoretically removing dead skin. It was ticklish and I was quite hesitant at first, but I finally managed to settle in and become comfortable with hundreds of fish nibbling on my feet.
After spending the first few days exploring the temples in Angkor (see previous post), we switched venues to a mediation treat called Bodhi Tree. Here we enjoyed several meditation and yoga classes a day, homemade vegetarian meals, and some good hammock time in which to relax. The owners are Australian, and have spent the last several years developing a guest house, yoga retreat, and café in Siem Reap. They give a great deal back to the community, and it was great hearing their insights about Cambodia and the Khmer people, having lived among them for several years.
During the last two days of our stay, we
Floating Village
Outisde of Siem Reap.. . volunteered at a local school. Siem Reap is a great place to volunteer. English speakers are always welcome, even on short notice, and the English schools trusted us to take over the classes and do the best we could.
I do wish I had a bit more ELL training. The blank faces on the students rivaled only teaching dividing fractions to 6
th graders. We worked with them in their ‘western’ workbooks, which proved a little bit ridiculous for them. An entire lesson was devoted to describing a home (as one might find in America). Among the vocabulary words were ‘microwave’ and ‘cds’—pretty hard to understand when most don’t have anything but an open fire to cook over, and although many might have phones, very few have ever seen a cd. The monks who ran the schools really wanted us to focus on reading words, with the kids repeating what we said, to improve their pronunciation—I’m not sure this is the best way to teach, but the kids were pretty enthusiastic about it. They were very greatful to have us, very polite, and sorry to see us leave.
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peg Kauffman
non-member comment
I'll bet those fish never had more tasty morsels!! XXXX. Love the blog