Traveling to Siem Reap

Our start wasn’t as early today as we had to wait for the other GAdventures group to arrive on the big bus we were to take to Siem Reap. We hit the road by about 8:30 and didn’t stop until 10:15ish when we came to a truck stop. This stop, however, is known because almost all the parking lot vendors sell insects. In fact, when we got off the bus we were swarmed by children holding live tarantulas!! They wanted us to take pictures of these spiders crawling all over us, but I did not partake! I also didn’t sample any of the huge beetles, worms, birds or cooked tarantulas, but we did get to try taro and banana chips, which were great!

Back on the bus, we made our way to a lunch stop at about noon. The restaurant was gorgeous as it was all in these little huts on stilts that over looked the rice fields. Brad and I tried Tong’s suggestions again of the lotus chicken and the big pancake made of pork and fermented fish. Both were delicious!

It was still two hours to get to Siem Reap, but our bus was comfortable and I managed to have a brief nap.

We arrived at our hotel at about 3:30 in the afternoon. We had to, of course, do the whole check into your room, do a quick refresh, and then let’s go routine that we become so accustomed to. After that, we went on a quick walking tour of Siem Reap, which is mostly a tourist town based on many people coming to see Ankor Wat. Fred and I went to a quick run to the grocery store to get some waters which we are constantly need to stock up on since you can’t drink the water in any of the countries that we are going to. Then at about 6 o’clock tuk-tuks came to pick us up to go to the traditional Cambodian dance and buffet.

This was a last-minute booking that our guide had recommended and we were all up for it! The buffet was something to behold. There must’ve been at least 50 dishes to try and so this was right up Brad and I’s alleys since we have been looking forward to trying all sorts of Cambodian food and lots of it! I can’t even remember the names of dishes I had but everything was so good and we had such a great time trying all the different items. At about 7:30, the dancers began and we got to see five traditional Cambodian dances. The dancers are not only beautiful, but the stories they told their dances was mesmerizing. The hand positions all mean something different, and the way they could bend their fingers back was astounding! It was such a great show, and we all had so much fun!

It was an early night for all of us because we have to be up at 4 AM tomorrow so we can leave the hotel at 4:30 and drive to Ankor Wat to see the sunrise! Although I’m not excited about the early morning, I think it will be one of the coolest experiences of my life to see the sunrise over Ankor Wat, which is the largest temple in the world.もっと詳しく