Siem Reap

The bus ride to Siem Reap was pretty cool. We usually complain about the long stopovers at the restaurant of the bus driver's sister's husband's second cousin, but this time we were loving it - fresh fruit, water, food, fried tarantulas.... did I just say friend tarantulas! Yes, they eat them here, along with cockroaches, crickets and a host of other bugs.
This girl is actually playing with a live tarantula (one that escaped the frying pan) she's pulling at it's legs, putting it on her head, in her mouth - usual behaviour for a ten year old girl in Cambodia I'm sure...


We arrived in Siem Reap, a vibrant little town in the West of Cambodia, a few hours later. The centre of town is very tourist-orientated, with lots of good restaurants, bars, internet cafes and market stalls. It's great fun. If you walk about five minutes down the river though you can see where most people live - a lot poorer than the five star hotels along the river, but far more picturesque.


We found a great little hotel located just off the main drag, next to the river - Angkor Park. It was a new hotel and really good value, extremely clean and seriously comfy beds with an ensuite bathroom, for only $9 a night. Round the corner we found a little cafe which did delicious breakfasts which we ate every morning, and right below our hotel was a little food shop that sold us bottled water at a different price every day - this just added to the charm.

There is quite a lot to see here. There are a few markets - the central market and night markets, these are geared towards the tourists and the stall holders are reluctant to haggle as there are enough tourists who pay without haggling. The markets are colourful though and there are a lot of high quality tourist goods.

I cannot fail to mention the not-yet-world-famous but immensely tickly fish exfoliators:
Yes - for just $3 these tiny little fish will eat the dead skin off your feet - brilliant! You get a tickly dead skin removal treat and the fish get fed! Everyone benefits!

We also came across the local's food market, hidden in the depths of the central market. Here the ladies sat on top of the tables where they sold fish and other meats:


As it was Chinese New Year the streets were alive with music, drums, parades, dragons and bright colours - really lively!


On our first evening we walked along the main tourist drag, people watching, peering into small boutique shops, donating money to landmine victims and purchasing counterfeit copies of Lonely Planet. We stumbled across a rather brilliant restaurant called ´Cambodian Barbeque´ where you are presented with a small, round aluminium hot plate and a selection of different meats which you marinate and place on the grill. The cool thing about it is the types of meat on offer - we sampled crocodile and snake and I have to say they were delicious! Better than chicken!

Pepe really enjoyed Siem Reap. However we ate in a cheap food stall every evening and he was upset that we wouldn't go to the touristy Mexican restaurant down the road. We tried to explain but found that while you can take Pepe out of Mexico, you can't take the Mexico out of Pepe.


On the way back to the hotel each night we passed the local ladyboys, looking for a bit of business. Don´t worry girls, they aren´t as good looking as the real deal.