Saturday, April 29th - A Rest Day in Siem Reap

Siem Reap is the city closest to Angkor Wat which is only 8 km away, so it was the place we stayed. We were in a delightful guesthouse called the Victory Guesthouse. Of all the accommodation I encountered in this travel sequence, this had the most 'family' feel of any. In case you plan to visit you can see pictures on their website http://www.victoryguesthouse.com/. However, it was not so much the infrastructure as the very excellent customer service and sense of family working together to make one's stay as pleasant as possible. It did have a lovely, cool restaurant/hanging out space at reception.

Following our visit to Angkor Wat on the Friday night, I visited a theatrical event put on by an organization called Phare. It was billed as 'Phare, The Cambodian Circus', but I was assured it was not an 'animal' circus.



I understood that the program offered opportunities for street children to get an education and at the same time teach them acrobatics, art and drama. A poster at the circus said that circus arts in Cambodia have a history that go back a millennium. This is the site where the circus is set up in a tent.



As I headed toward the venue in my tuk tuk on a dark and very wet night, I had misgivings about my choice, as I was the only person in our group who had chosen to go. As it turned out, I'm so glad I went. It was a vibrant, engaging, yet very pertinent production.



It was not just mushy tourist eye candy, but a profoundly moving depiction of a woman's journey from the years of the Khmer Rouge killing her friends and family, her encounter with PTSD and her healing through teaching the next generation. The way it was done with acrobatics was unlike anything I've seen before. The picture above shows her struggling with the dark forces in her dreams.

Afterwards I was able to get a picture with some of the performers. I had particularly enjoyed the young man in the middle, so was glad to have a photo with him.

Day two here had no organized events going on - options were things like zip-lining, massage, visiting the city etc, things that I did not find myself interested in.  I needed to find a battery charger for my camera, so that became my task for the day. I also needed to charge my internal 'battery' so  I took much needed 'down' time and spent the day catching up on photos and writing.

I did manage to get to a museum and in the evening joined the others on a food tour of the local markets which was fun.

We set off in a convoy of tuk tuks..........

.........with cameras at the ready!

Our guide, from Siem Reap Urban Adventures, was Toneth. He had a wonderful smile. We began with durian, a very odoriferous fruit that combines just about every tropical flavor imaginable, in a yellow 'paste' that is wrapped around a large seed.



The odor when very ripe is quite penetrating and unpleasant, but the flavors are complex and very sweet. Hotels often do not allow durian to be brought into them, as the smell will linger for a long time.



It looked as if we were a curiosity to some of the locals.

Next was the lotus seed pod. When ripe, the seeds are easy to extract from the round pod.

The green skin is peeled away, then there is a layer of edible pulp wrapped around the seed . It tasted a little like a pea and was quite pleasant.

Some experiences we skipped thankfully - like the chicken feet on the left.

The market was hectic with motorbikes and pedestrians in close proximity.

One of my favorites is mangosteen.......

..........and the salted fish can be excellent.

One non-food curiosity that Toneth pointed out were these resin 'candles'. They are the shiny black things with the brown 'wicks'. The resin is sap from local trees and they are used for lights when there is no electricity.

Frog skewers were next - they were actually quite good, with a lovely lemongrass flavor. They were a good size, so were not too fiddly to eat.

We saw snake being cooked. I was a bit relieved that it was not on our menu tonight!

However, insects WERE on the menu! Silkworms on the left, I did try - just a bit - never again! They didn't taste bad - just did not have enough reward to overcome my cultural bias! The winged creatures I had tried with Sarah Lamp in Bangkok years ago, so I decided to leave them for others in the group!

 Thankfully, we followed up the insects with some rice desserts. This one resembled the mushy jelly texture of mochi, but has the rather off putting name of 'husband killer dessert'. It appears to be a reference to the fact that if eaten while still hot, the inside can burn the throat and cause choking. I was pleased that these tasty things were completely cooled!

Before leaving the market for a conventional meal, Toneth arranged for us to taste rice pancakes, which take some assembly, so we seated ourselves on a mat.

They are served with a meat sauce, other tasty dipping sauces and delicious herbs. It was quite delicious.

I never will know how the duck embryo tastes, however! Those from our group who did, said it tasted much like egg yolk!

We finished our evening in a regular restaurant eating traditional Cambodian food. I had a dish called 'amok' which was like a curry, but not spicy and a little sweeter. While it was pleasing, the flavors were not distinct enough for me to eat it elsewhere on the trip. It had been a fun evening!