This place is far too big--and we took far too many pictures--to do it justice in one post. Thus, some shots of Siem Reap here and separate posts for each of the wats to come. Hopefully that'll satisfy your Kienzle + Moon jones for the next week.
I do love these regional jets--so Indiana Jones. Angkor Air has been banned in the UK for what it's worth; I doubt they've ever flown there.
Siem Reap is half frontier outpost, half tourist mecca. Hot and dusty when we were there, the barely paved downtown feels practically deserted after the chaos of Saigon. Tuk-tuk drivers lounge on the corners, the agent at DOA Travel languishes in her un-air-conditioned office, and Happy Herb's Pizza gently beckons a certain class of adventurer.
But there's a couple of food alleys that satisfy the craving for Khmer cuisine. We've posted about it before--milder than Thai, more curry-based than Vietnamese, and ridiculously cheap.
And this was just kind of weird. Though in dusty, hot Siem Reap, strangely inviting.
Markets persist everywhere, of course. Siem Reap's was remarkable for it's ability to instantly gross out Karen.
And we hadn't even gotten to the food she doesn't eat.
Back at the hotel, 'twas the night before nuptials, and everyone was stirring, prepping hundreds if not thousands of gift baskets and warming up the amplifiers for their 5 am serenade (actually, they played really good Cambodian trance music for the first two hours, so I got up at seven feeling fresh as a lotus flower in a baray).
Oh--and did we mention we were there on xmas? The tuk-tuk drivers totally got in on the act.
Cool town--if you can avoid the tourist resorts and time shares springing up on the north side--but the weird manifestations of Westernism persist. And not just Statler and Waldorf and the use of the papyrus font--this bar had a cocktail dedicated to Angelina Jolie and her role in Tomb Raider (it was filmed at one of the wats).
I do love these regional jets--so Indiana Jones. Angkor Air has been banned in the UK for what it's worth; I doubt they've ever flown there.
Siem Reap is half frontier outpost, half tourist mecca. Hot and dusty when we were there, the barely paved downtown feels practically deserted after the chaos of Saigon. Tuk-tuk drivers lounge on the corners, the agent at DOA Travel languishes in her un-air-conditioned office, and Happy Herb's Pizza gently beckons a certain class of adventurer.
But there's a couple of food alleys that satisfy the craving for Khmer cuisine. We've posted about it before--milder than Thai, more curry-based than Vietnamese, and ridiculously cheap.
And this was just kind of weird. Though in dusty, hot Siem Reap, strangely inviting.
Markets persist everywhere, of course. Siem Reap's was remarkable for it's ability to instantly gross out Karen.
And we hadn't even gotten to the food she doesn't eat.
Back at the hotel, 'twas the night before nuptials, and everyone was stirring, prepping hundreds if not thousands of gift baskets and warming up the amplifiers for their 5 am serenade (actually, they played really good Cambodian trance music for the first two hours, so I got up at seven feeling fresh as a lotus flower in a baray).
Oh--and did we mention we were there on xmas? The tuk-tuk drivers totally got in on the act.
Cool town--if you can avoid the tourist resorts and time shares springing up on the north side--but the weird manifestations of Westernism persist. And not just Statler and Waldorf and the use of the papyrus font--this bar had a cocktail dedicated to Angelina Jolie and her role in Tomb Raider (it was filmed at one of the wats).
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