Cambodia: Siem Reap
June 4: We had to walk up 5 floors, but Central Hostel was awesome: 6-bed dorm rooms, private bathroom, air conditioning, under-bed lockers, and a balcony for $3USD/night each! INCREDIBLE value. Whoa. And we met a super cool Canadian in our room, who knew we were Canadian when I said 'frickin' haha. Turns out, we know some of the same people! Small world!
I was still feeling kind of off from the bike crash, and had a severe anxiety attack, and Andy was also having a really hard time, so we decided to have some self-care time: sleep in, reading, ice cream, naps, and cuddles. A very easy day.
June 5: Angkor Wat. These pictures do NOT do the place justice.
Hilariously, and unsurprisingly, the driver of the Tuk Tuk dropped us off at the back of Angkor Wat, and we thought we were going to Bayon first, so we were thinking 'damn, if Bayon is this big, how big is Angkor Wat going to be?!' Such fools.
Also, not one person, ever, told me that a sarong wrapped around me would be inadequate to enter the tallest tower of Angkor Wat. Apparently it's not enough of a real skirt. Such bologna. The only reason I was even in Cambodia was to go to the temples, and it was fine everywhere else. Ugh. Anger.
It poured rain while we were eating lunch, but cleared when we headed out to hit up four more temples.
The food at Central Hostel was really good. the drinks were fun, and we liked the staff a lot. Miss Chanda knew I love mango, so brought me 4 from her family home! So generous, and such fun to talk to.
June 6 & 7: Continued anxiety, and I was getting worried about money so wanted to spend time working. If anyone has any Virtual Assistant work they'd like done, hit me up! I'm really good at my job, provided I have good WiFi.
Similar self-care as June 4. BUT, on June 7 we decided to go to the circus; it's like Cirque de Soleil, but with Cambodian street kids who have trained and gone to school for 10 years. They were absolutely incredible! We went to a show called 'Same Same, but Different' and really enjoyed the social commentary on tourism, specifically Westerners. It wasn't offensive, but demonstrated how many view tourists and how most of us are completely unaware of how locals might view us or the customs. For example, they laughed at how we really don't like/avoid rain and how we often overstay our welcome when out eating because we don't realize they're closing or don't know how to ask for the bill.
June 8: Preah Vihear .... almost
There's a super cool-sounding temple on a mountain a few hours northeast of Siem Reap. We bought tickets, thinking it would be a tour to the temple. Sigh, wrong. We were dropped off at an intersection in the town of Preah Vihear, 120 km from the mountain temple. Thank goodness for Maps Me! Without it, we would have been so, super duper lost.
We spent a very frustrating hour wandering, talking to a woman at a hotel, talking to two drivers, and then going to the bank to try to get more money without a debit or credit card present. Since we thought we paid for a tour, we were not anticipating needing much money. We decided that we didn't have enough money to be able to stay another day and get to the mountain temple, so got on the back of a scooter and were taken to a guy who gives rides to Siem Reap regularly. What started out as four of us in the car, in a 5-seater, turned into 7. We had 4 in the back, and 2 in the driver's seat. It was bananas.
It was, by far, the most frustrating day of our travels and I was ready to get the hell out of Cambodia.
June 9: Siem Reap
We ate another great breakfast at the hostel, wandered to the post office, and then to a neat workshop by Artisans Angkor. These artists are schooled and train out in the country and then come to the city to work with silks, stone, wood, copper, silver, and gold. It's really neat.
We went for dinner near Pub Street, and went back to the hostel to pack for Thailand!
I was still feeling kind of off from the bike crash, and had a severe anxiety attack, and Andy was also having a really hard time, so we decided to have some self-care time: sleep in, reading, ice cream, naps, and cuddles. A very easy day.
June 5: Angkor Wat. These pictures do NOT do the place justice.
Hilariously, and unsurprisingly, the driver of the Tuk Tuk dropped us off at the back of Angkor Wat, and we thought we were going to Bayon first, so we were thinking 'damn, if Bayon is this big, how big is Angkor Wat going to be?!' Such fools.
Also, not one person, ever, told me that a sarong wrapped around me would be inadequate to enter the tallest tower of Angkor Wat. Apparently it's not enough of a real skirt. Such bologna. The only reason I was even in Cambodia was to go to the temples, and it was fine everywhere else. Ugh. Anger.
It poured rain while we were eating lunch, but cleared when we headed out to hit up four more temples.
The food at Central Hostel was really good. the drinks were fun, and we liked the staff a lot. Miss Chanda knew I love mango, so brought me 4 from her family home! So generous, and such fun to talk to.
June 6 & 7: Continued anxiety, and I was getting worried about money so wanted to spend time working. If anyone has any Virtual Assistant work they'd like done, hit me up! I'm really good at my job, provided I have good WiFi.
Similar self-care as June 4. BUT, on June 7 we decided to go to the circus; it's like Cirque de Soleil, but with Cambodian street kids who have trained and gone to school for 10 years. They were absolutely incredible! We went to a show called 'Same Same, but Different' and really enjoyed the social commentary on tourism, specifically Westerners. It wasn't offensive, but demonstrated how many view tourists and how most of us are completely unaware of how locals might view us or the customs. For example, they laughed at how we really don't like/avoid rain and how we often overstay our welcome when out eating because we don't realize they're closing or don't know how to ask for the bill.
June 8: Preah Vihear .... almost
There's a super cool-sounding temple on a mountain a few hours northeast of Siem Reap. We bought tickets, thinking it would be a tour to the temple. Sigh, wrong. We were dropped off at an intersection in the town of Preah Vihear, 120 km from the mountain temple. Thank goodness for Maps Me! Without it, we would have been so, super duper lost.
We spent a very frustrating hour wandering, talking to a woman at a hotel, talking to two drivers, and then going to the bank to try to get more money without a debit or credit card present. Since we thought we paid for a tour, we were not anticipating needing much money. We decided that we didn't have enough money to be able to stay another day and get to the mountain temple, so got on the back of a scooter and were taken to a guy who gives rides to Siem Reap regularly. What started out as four of us in the car, in a 5-seater, turned into 7. We had 4 in the back, and 2 in the driver's seat. It was bananas.
It was, by far, the most frustrating day of our travels and I was ready to get the hell out of Cambodia.
June 9: Siem Reap
We ate another great breakfast at the hostel, wandered to the post office, and then to a neat workshop by Artisans Angkor. These artists are schooled and train out in the country and then come to the city to work with silks, stone, wood, copper, silver, and gold. It's really neat.
We went for dinner near Pub Street, and went back to the hostel to pack for Thailand!
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