First Full Day in Siem Reap

We (and by that we really mean Sasha, because Leah hardly slept all night) got up at 8am this morning after crashing last night at 3:30pm. After dressing, we headed downstairs where V&A Villa gave us a complementary breakfast of bread, fruit and eggs, which were all fresh and super yummy.

We discussed what to do today and ended up listening to TripAdvisor's advice to go to the National Angkor Museum BEFORE visiting the Temples (which we plan to do tomorrow). So we put on our sneakers and walked the 0.9 miles down the road to the museum. When we were about 2 minutes away, a TukTuk driver got our attention and told us that if he brought us to the museum, the ride would be free, and the tickets would be the same price, but he would get a *insert Khmer word that we have NO idea the meaning of* from a travel agency. Thinking it might be a scam, but wanting to help if we could, we crawled into the back of his motorcycle carriage and sat as he drove us in the opposite direction of the museum to a nearby travel agency. Deciding that the agency looked legit, we went inside and purchased our museum passes: $12USD each (the same as what TripAdvisor told us was asked at the door of the museum), we still took a business card from the agency... just in case. Our TukTuk driver, Array (pronounced with rolled R's), was very grateful and then took us straight to the museum where we got in no problem. Array's English was above the norm of all the other drivers we have had, and we really enjoyed our little conversations with him, so we asked him if he could pick us up tomorrow morning to accompany us on our journey through the Angkor Temples. He very happily accepted our business.
The museum was beautiful. And air conditioned. It held sandstone, bronze, and wood carvings from the real temples that dated back to the 5th century all the way up to the 17th. Unfortunately, pictures were not allowed, but we doubt that any camera could capture the beauty and detail of these statues anyways. There were seven exhibits total-- teaching us all about Hindu and Buddhist gods, the 7 kings of the Khmer Empire, and the earliest civilizations in Cambodia (which date back to the FIRST century!)
The museum was really magical.

 

When we left the museum about two hours later, we were ready for lunch. On our walk over, we had passed by a bunch of stands outside a large shrine, so we walked in that direction hoping to find some good, local street food. We walked through a beautiful park with tall statues of lions.

As we passed the shrine, we saw a man with a baby stroller that carried a baby with a hugely inflamed head. Leah vividly remembers seeing a very similar site once before on a walk up to a temple many years ago in Siem Reap, but we were both still very shaken up by the image. We averted our eyes almost immediately after realizing what was lying before us, but the millisecond image that remains both is tragic and upsetting. After doing some research, we can only assume the baby was suffering form a sunken Fontanelles, which is caused by dehydration and malnutrition, but there are no pictures on the internet that match exactly what we saw, so we are left unsure.
We found the street cars again, but after walking through them realized that the only things for sale were: birds in cages (of many breeds including pigeon), turtles piled on top of each other fighting for the inch of water underneath them, and flowers-- none of which we wanted to eat for lunch. So we selected a TukTuk from the 5 parked in front of us and made our way to a restaurant called "Haven Training Restaurant" but then ended up eating a place next door called "Khmer Taste." We ordered a local Cambodian dish called "A Mok," which is onion, mushroom, noni leaves, coconut milk, and peanut all mushed together in the center of a plate and a bowl of vegetable curry. On the side we received white rice and bread. At a great price of only $1, we also each got a fruit juice, Sasha mango and Leah pineapple. A Mok: simply delicious. Everything else we ordered: wonderful as well. Great, great meal for only $4.50 USD each.

Close up of A Mok

Picture of the A Mok featured in their menu

After lunch we decided we could walk the 0.8 miles up the road to see the B&B we are considering moving to because of their amazing long-term rental prices (as well as free bikes!). However, when we got to the location, all we found was what remained of a burned down building, so we took a TukTuk home (we were both pooooped). *Btw-- we later found the website of the B&B and they had a COMPLETELY different address than the TripAdvisor one! Almost 2 miles in the opposite direction..
We got home and wrote in our journals, blogged, bummed around, and tried to take a nap.
Later that night we made our way downstairs and shared a noodle dish that the Villa prepared ($1.50 each) and played Yatzi with the hotel manager, Sarvi. She had her 3 year old son with her, who may have been the cutest child ever.

Now we are off to bed. We have a 4:30am pick up tomorrow to ensure we get to Angkor Wat for the sunrise.

With love,
L&S