Siem Reap is such a charming town. After the hustle and bustle of Phnom Penh, it was great to take meandering bike rides along the river and out to Angkor Wat (although meandering became lung-killing, leg- wobbling speed as we realised we might miss seeing the sunset from a mountain overlooking part of the temple area), discover walkways bursting with restaurants and quaint boutiques, very little traffic and a laid back atmosphere.
After our Angkor Wat adventure which included walking around the temples for hours before going home for a break and returning on aforementioned bikes for the sunset (which included a roughly 16km cycle both ways and a hike up a mountain only to discover we'd missed the sunset) we spent the evening at a restaurant called Temple whose selling point was the opportunity to watch a free show of Apsara, traditional Khmer dancing. Delicious chicken amok served in a banana leaf (I'd tried the Cambodian signature dish of fish amok for lunch), ice cold coke, beautiful dancing and good conversation followed by a roadside banana, chocolate and condensed milk pancake would have been enough to satisfy but we'd decided on one last treat for the evening...a Dr. Fish foot massage. For the unitiated, you sit on the edge of a big tub of water with your feet dangling in the water and little fish eat your dead skin.
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It was very ticklish and really freaked me out at first and I had to force myself to keep my feet in the water as the fish FLOCKED to them but you get used to it and it feels good, although I preferred not to watch the fish nibbling away.
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| wobbliest, most rickety bike I've ridden |
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| self portrait |
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| another part of the night market |
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| street food is changing my life |
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| view from Temple restaurant, home of delicious chicken amok |
Siem Reap was lovely and I'm so grateful for the unexpected opportunity to spend a few days there.
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