Tuesday morning was a later start. Well, it would have been if Debra wasn’t awake crazy early and ready to get up and go. I made myself awake and we went out to try to source some food. Instead of heading towards the cafe mentioned in the guide book we took off towards a busier street hoping we would have more options. Turns out Phnom Penh is not much of a morning town. We stopped at one place that had tables set up under a canopy and signed for a menu. There were some things listed in English, but were a bit nervous what “eggs” might be and no one seemed to speak much English. We decided that since we had several bus hours ahead of us, we wouldn’t risk it and moseyed on. We were then tempted by what looked like dough being fried in a vat of oil, but as it was also street side dining, we didn’t want to risk our digestive systems and continued to look, but were quickly running out of time. Not even finding a convenience store, we decided that the crisps and biscuits sold at the guest house would have to serve as breakfast.
At 8:30 we were aboard the bus and headed towards Siem Reap. There was no leg room, and not much butt room for two, normal sized, western girls. There was a TV playing a DVD of some of the worst music videos ever. There were subtitles so that we could see just how atrociously bad the lyrics were. We were doubled over laughing, or would have been if there was room. When the guy across the aisle started singing along, I thought we would not survive the hilarity.
The rest of the ride was pretty dull. There was a rich American kid sitting behind us that was having a sometimes interesting conversation with his German seat mate. The German girl was in Cambodia working, the guy was taking several months to backpack through Southeast Asia. Just as I thought I was going to lose my mind from the boredom and the discomfort of the seats, we stopped for lunch in Kampong Thom; just over half way. We were given 30-minutes to get food at one of the many restaurants near the stop. The staff was anxious to serve us in the alloted time, and even turned the menu pages for us if we appeared to be taking too much time trying to order. The staff also stood next to all our tables watching us eat; just in case we needed something. It was a bit too much attention, so we ate quickly and got out.
We arrived in Siem Reap early afternoon and negotiated with a tuk tuk driver to take us to our guest house. He stopped midway and tried to get us to book him for the rest of the day or the following day. We eventually got him to take no for an answer and continue the journey.
We were booked in at the Ivy, a restaurant/bar/guest house. The rooms were HUGE. We even had a balcony that we could step out on; as long as we were careful not to touch the power lines that ran in front of it.
Our first stop was the coffee shop next door for some much needed caffeine. After the pick me up, we chose the friendliest looking tuk tuk driver stationed outside and made arrangements for the following day to see the temples. He also suggested taking us that evening to see the sunset at Tonle Sap or at one of the temples. We opted for the temple and used a bit of free time to wander through the old market, Psar Chaa.
There were a lost of clouds so there wasn’t much of a sunset, but it is still a lot of fun to climb around the temple and explore. On the way home, he suggested dinner at an Apsara show and for $5 extra he agreed to pick us up as soon as the show was over.
A long, but another nice day.
August 30th, 2008 | Category: General | Leave a comment
