Early Wednesday morning (and I mean like 2:30 AM early) we got our start on the day. We had an early morning flight into Siem Reap, Cambodia. Because of the early flight we were able to enjoy pretty much a full day in Cambodia.
We were picked up from the airport in a HUGE bus to do our sightseeing. At this point I will say that Singapore had a pretty decent bus. Bali had a bus that had us crammed in like sardines.....absolutely NO leg room. And Phuket was downgraded to twelve passenger vans where Rick and I sat in the back EVERY time on those terrible windy roads. A perfect storm for car sickness. Anyhow, our Siem Reap bus felt like the lap of luxury. Huge seats with lots of leg room, nice air conditioning, cool wipes to freshen up with and cold water to drink!
Our tour guide was Rithi (pronounced Riti), and was so cute and fun! He spoke very clear English and apprised us of all we were seeing as we drove. He told funny stories and kept us entertained for the two days he was leading us.
Our first stop of the day was the floating village on Tonle Sap Lake. It is the largest fresh water lake in Southeast Asia. In the rainy season it is as large as 10,000 square kilometers and in the dry season (November- May) it shrinks down to about 3,000 square kilometers.
We all got on a boat and drove about thirty minutes to reach the floating village.
Our group from the front......
.......and from the back.
My cute hat I bought in Siem Reap.
There are about 200 villages on the lake. This village is called, Kampong Phluk, and the people live right on the lake. They do their fishing, washing, bathing, and drinking from its waters. Their sewage also runs directly into the lake. It is seriously amazing that the people can actually drink this water without killing themselves. Rithi told us that because they drink it their whole lives, their bodies are used to it. Still though.....that can't be safe!
During the dry season the water shrinks back and they use the water way as a road way.
So interesting!
I love this picture of the school kids making their way home after school. They are all dressed in their white shirts. I was surprised at how white their shirts actually were considering the muddy water they get washed in. The second girl is getting a little shade from her textbook:-)
When we got out into a more open area of the lake, two boats came up alongside us to sell their wares. We all bought a refreshing drink and some even bought snacks.
Rick thought this was super cool!!
This little boy went around on the boat rubbing the shoulders of the ladies on board.
Here he is giving Betty a massage:)
After we got off the boat we saw a man grilling up some grub. Skewered snakes, pig intestines, pork chops, wild bird and more! Just, WOW!
Our next stop was our hotel.
It. Was. Primo.
Such a beautiful place all throughout the resort.
That evening Rick and I took a tuk tuk into the Pub Street Night Market.
What a fun night we had! We loved our ten minute tuk tuk ride with the cool breeze blowing through our hair. The sights, sounds and smells were truly a feast for the senses!
The night market was full of people and right off the bat we found bbq flames grilling up interesting things.....frogs, full shrimp, steaks, chicken.
We happened upon this young man selling some real delicacies....
tarantulas, skewered snakes, silk worms, crickets, frogs and scorpions.
YIKES!!
We were able to find some fun souvenirs at great prices to take home with us. Score!!
After deciding on a Mexican/Cambodian restaurant we enjoyed a nice meal. No scorpions here:)
I had the taquitos and french fries while Rick chose the chicken tacos.
After dinner we stopped at a street cart for some rolled ice cream.
It was super cool to watch them make the ice cream. They use milk and whatever toppings you want (Rick chose bananas and oreos) and mix it up on a cold plate. The frost from the plate hardens the milk and gets it to a consistency that is spread out thin and then with a spatula rolled up into individual rolls to eat. I didn't explain this very well but there you have it.
This is the final product.
It's not Baskin Robbins or Cold Stone but it was a tasty treat:)
Our tuk tuk ride back home was fun!!
A night picture of the outside of our hotel....
.....and inside the lobby.
A fun night out on the town!
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