Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Greetings from Cambodia




I never thought I'd write such a thing, but we are in Cambodia.  Our trip here was simple and it is really lovely here.  Our hotel is tropical and lush with traditional Cambodian architecture.  Our room is like a little treehouse overlooking a long lazy river style swimming pool which I can't wait to hit a little later today.  We arrived in time for dinner last night.  We took a tuk tuk (this is a scooter with an open air cart behind it in which to carry passengers) into town for $3 and were very surprised to find a bustling town that reminded us quite a lot of Duval Street in Key West - lots of bars and restaurants and tourists.  There are several places where you can get a fish massage and we watched a couple try it out.  You sit on a bench over a large tank, put your feet in, and the little fish eat the dead skin off your feet!  Doesn't seem like a very good idea to me.  Since we were so hungry we first stopped at a place called the Red Piano Bar for a drink and some pomme frites.  Then we found a bbq place for some steak and potatos.  There is a place called Blue Pumpkin where we had the best ice cream in the world.  We had our tuk tuk ride back and hit the sack. 

Our new guide - don't know how to spell it but it's something like Suen - is our age.  He had 12 brothers and sisters but now only knows where 4 of them are after the Khmer Rouge events in the 70s.  His English is very good and he is very charming.  He and the driver, Ret, pick us up in 30 minutes to take us to see Angkor Wat complex.  I can't wait!! 

The people here greet you by putting their hands in prayer position in front of their chest and bowing a little bit.  I didn't know what to do in response, so I've just started doing the same...

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