Siem Reap

Siem Reap is so far a less busy version of Phnom Pehn with a little New Orleans thrown in for good measure.  We got here and got settled into our hotel, which is SO cheap at 20 dollars a night.  I know I'm not really supposed to talk money, but come on.  That's crazy talk.  We took a tuk-tuk from the train station and the man who was our driver tried his darndest to get us to promise to use him tomorrow because he has three kids (sounds like someone else I know) and is a family man.  RM has a driver here that he is friends with as well (always a good idea to know a good tuk-tuk driver) so we had to turn him down, but he was very persistent and RM finally put him on standby.  The hotel is nice enough and has a good pool...I'm not sure if we'll have time to take advantage of it.  We have good air conditioning in our room which is awesome since it was 88 degrees here today!

We walked to the markets where there are tons of stalls to shop in.  Please weigh in now what kind of swag you want from Cambodia.  There are lots and lots of things like scarves, pillow cases, table runners, and all manner of brocade-ish fabrics.  I found wooden vases, tall!, for just seven dollars, and does anyone else need saffron?  Because I picked up some for Jessica for just three bucks.  Joe Kuebler, does Jimmy need spices?   The markets are very fun and have jewelry and dresses and so many statues of elephants.  RM says you can barter, but so far all I've bought is the saffron and I was so excited to find it, I plunked down the 3 greenbacks quicker than you can say "Suzanne ate froglegs for dinner."

Speaking of froglegs, I ate MORE than just frog legs for dinner tonight...I at a whole frog!  And delicious mushrooms as well as a mango salad which was amazing.  They also have smoothies...I had a mixed berry one that was creamy and delicious.  They are not frozen, but rather just fruity...cold, but not frozen.

We stopped in a couple of bookstores.  I bought a book on Angkor Wat, which we will see for the first time tomorrow.  Oh, guys.  I'm so tired...I'm going to have to wrap this up.

The last thing we did was walk through Pub Street.  It is exactly what it sounds like and is full of bar after bar.

Tomorrow's Plan:

Center for Khmer Studies (Library)

Angkor Wat

Other Siem Reap Temples

Sunset at a temple!

Okay, good night guys.  I'm falling asleep as I write this.