Cambodia is beautiful from the air. As we were flying in to Seam Reap yesterday we had a nice view of the area around Tonle Sap, the huge freshwater lake that takes up a large chunk of the northwest of the country. Everything was lush and green, almost uninhabited until we got closer to the city.
A couple of guys from the hotel were waiting with tuk-tuks to take us into the city. The local variant of the tuk-tuk is a motor scooter with a covered trailer that sort of looks like an old rickshaw on the back. Two to four people can comfortably ride in one if a couple don't mind facing backward, but I swear we saw about a dozen Khmer hanging off of one on the way in from the airport.
We decided to keep things mellow for a bit -- 2 days of solid travel will do that to you. We did walk down to Psar Chas, the old market, and wandered about for a bit. The place is dark and cramped. Crammed full of vendors selling everything from t-shirts and photocopied guidebooks to large chunks of dead animal.
After that, we took a tuk-tuk up to the Grand Hotel d'Angkor in the city center to get tickets for dinner and a traditional Khmer dance tonight. We wandered around the Royal Gardens. the whole area smelled of incense and rang with music from the Temple of Preah Ang Chek and Preah Ang Chom and the Shrine to Ya Tep nearby. We couldn't get to close because it was prayer time and the places were packed with people, but we'll be going back.
Today we'll be starting in on the big temples outside the city -- Bayon and Angkor, I believe.
Still no pictures yet, but I swear I'm shooting them.
Today we'll be starting in on the temples -- Bayon and Angkor, I believe. Gotta run.
Enjoy.
3 comments:
Whew. I'm tired after that trip.
Talk about seeing Cambodia from the air, makes me think of ("flash-back" to) films from military aircraft in the 60s. Not that I was ever "in country".
Mellow sounds good for a bit, but it sounds like you're getting immersed into the culture pretty quickly, too.
Sounds great, keep up the postings.
Dad
Curious, the lack of photos. Almost as if you aren't really in Cambodia . . . but giving you the benefit of the doubt, if you are, what's the food like?
Big E,
I'm starting to see Benjamin's point. No pix. No messages from Meg. Hmmm.
Although you may actually be huddled in your basement, tapping out your "travelogue", and sharpening your scythe in readiness for Armageddon, I like your descriptions of the street life and markets. Just a tad different than Philadelphia, eh?
Safe journeys (I'll play along),
DrC
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