SIEM REAP - THE ‘VILLAGE’ CITY
SIEM REAP – DAY 24 – NOV 8 – PART 2
Happy to meet Sandy again at our hostel, yes we tried a hostel. It was pretty good actually, shared a King-sized bed for one night. <3
We went out to Angkor Pub Street for dinner and check it out. All the clubs in town on that street. Then we walked through a night market. Then home.
Siem Reap is very different from any place I have visited. It is like a country city. No real downtown, no high rises – only village after village it seems. I like it.
Our TukTuk driver was named Heng, he offered to drive me tomorrow when Sandy flies out I want to see Angkor Wat. We will figure that out tomorrow.
I suppose the one thing is that the children are taught to beg from foreigners. Even sitting at a dinner table, nice restaurant – the children come to the table and ask for sales of trinkets. They aggressively keep asking and negotiating.
Overall, great feel to the city.
SIEM REAP – DAY 25 – NOV 9
Sandy and I went on a floating village tour. Wow, what a morning!
We started at a market, none like I have ever seen before. Chopping up skinned frogs, killing live fish and snakes to eat, selling pigs heads and chickens with heads, beaks, and feet all attached and feathers removed. The entire market was this way, selling to locals.
We carried on to the floating village. During wet season, the water is as high as the top floor of their homes. During dry season, the water is so low that they have an entire other level for living and the roads reveal themselves. During wet season, they can only get around by bamboo boats, during dry season they have bikes, and can walk all the roads.
This floating village has approximately 5000 residents. There are 170 floating villages throughout Cambodia, specifically around this massive lake. We learned that people who are born into a floating village are not allowed to ever leave. The government has placed them there forever. Families live in their home for all the generations, they have never sold a house in a floating village. The girls get the bedroom upstairs where it is dry, the boys sleep outside under the indoor part, they sleep outdoor. When a man gets married, then he moves into the woman’s family home, and they get the main living area for their wedding night. Imagine!
Their babies are born in the home. There is a pre-school, elementary, middle and high school. There is a medical office, there is a massive Buddhist temple, and a catholic church. These villages have withstood monsoons for many years. Incredible!
Some of the kids leave to get an education, but the education is free and the requirement is that they come back to live in the floating village and use their education to service their village for their lifetime.
Regarding marriage, two brothers’ children cannot marry – however if a brother and sister have children, those can marry. I gathered there were a lot of close relative relationships / marriages in Cambodia. It is widely accepted other than 2 brothers’ children – otherwise all cousin relations is A-OK for marriage.
We were able to walk the streets, meet some children and see how people live. We then got back on our boat and went up a little further where we met a Women’s Organization who take you around with little bamboo boats through the Mango Groves. It is silent. And breathtaking! Our lady was singing softly the entire time. It was surreal. Sandy and I said a prayer of gratitude for our trip and our families. What an unforgettable moment.
We rushed back as I had Heng waiting for me to take me to Angkor Wat. Sandy had to fly back to Phnom Penh tonight for the night before heading back to Canada via Teipei.
Heng picked me up at the hostel, we went out to Angkor Wat – apparently the one must see of Siem Reap. It is a 10-hour tour which we had booked, but canceled. I felt I had to see it before I left. Hiring one driver certainly helps. You don’t get all the history (he is not allowed to tell me all the history since he is not licensed and could get in great trouble). We saw the big Angkor Wat Temple (WOW). Then we saw the Tomb Raider (Angelina Jolie movie set) Temple, and many others. I ended up at the top of Phnom Bakheng for sunset (the famous temple for sunsets).
It was so very hot and so much walking up and down in the heat, you have to have shoulders and knees covered in these temples, so I wore a long dress. I was literally dripping with sweat and my face was bright red the entire afternoon I could not cool down my core body temperature wow it was nuts.
So glad I went, it was amazing to see. I got back to the hostel about 7pm at which point I realized that I lost my water bottle somewhere along the way. I remember filling it with water on our tour bus I believe after our last stop, so it had to be on the bus. This pretty well send me into a tizzy. It was the perfect lulu bottle, size with clip, it all worked so well for my travel setup. I spent the entire night trying to track down this water bottle, to no avail. MASSIVE SIGGGHHHHH…..
I ordered an authentic fish and rice Cambodian dish from our hostel and prepared for the early morning.
RECAP OF SIEM REAP
Siem Reap gives country – city vibes. It has a population of over 1.15 Million though it consists of one village along the main road after village after village. Cows walk on streets. Chickens walking everywhere. Cats, dogs, nobody owns the dogs – they just exist. They actually eat dogs in Cambodia.
No high rises. Traffic seems more normal, slightly more North American, though they still drive on all sides of the road at any time. In all of these countries, there are moving vehicles in every direction at all times, and people do just fine. I asked someone if they have to prepare for that to get a drivers license but I didn’t really get a proper response.
Cambodia has 1.7 Million cars and 1.3 Million motorcycles – so definitely many more cars than motorcycles here. The markets here open for the locals at 5am so that they can get their own groceries. The sellers – start at 3am to gather fruits and vegetables for selling. They close the markets at 7pm so they work long days.
Cambodia is made up of 26 provinces and 5 major cities. We visited 2.
I was told that Cambodia had 48 Million land mines, and after the genocide there are still 10% left. Which would still equal 4.8 Million. Yikes.. scary !!
I saw a lot more family activity in Siem Reap and in Cambodia in general. Mothers carrying babies and young children. Tons of children on motorcycles and in tuktuks. Our tuktuk drivers one night was a young married couple with a toddler who they had in a small hammock hanging across the front seat as they drove. They worked as a happy little family. I have not seen that in any other country so far on this trip.
People cannot leave this country. Or if they can, it is extremely difficult. They do not have the money for the paperwork required to apply for visas, etc..
Covid really did a number on Cambodia as well. Our tour guide yesterday used to be a high school / University professor. Since Covid, he now is a tour guide to the floating village. He said they will do anything to feed their family. He said it is all about family in Cambodia. Even our killing fields tour guyide explained
An average salary for a person who works at a garment factory earns $170 U.S. per month.
70% of those in tourism lost their jobs during Coid.
97% of Cambodians are Buddist.
The fact that they can forgive and live with the soldiers who killed a third of their population does speak to the fact these people are loving and want peace.
They keep their homes for generations and live together as several generations. That in itself would be hard to do. They love and take care of their parents.
65% of their ‘jobs’ are related to farming. This country is now 65% farming.
These stats come from our tour guide from yesterday.
I give this country high stars. I give Cambodia a 7/10. The street sales are very aggressive and rude. But the business people are the kindest you could meet. Food was ok – not really my style of food.. lots of fish with weird sauce on rice.
And my amazing water bottle forever lives on in Siem Reap, Cambodia! :( Never got it back.
Thank you for lifetime memories Cambodia!
CAMBODIA PICS BELOW:
Cows randomly everywhere, on fields and on streets
The water was dirty everywhere, so I would not do a foot fish massage here but the kids here relax at their parents shops this way, I guess they always have clean feet
This is a local market pharmacy, instead of seeing a Doctor in this town, these people go to this pharmacy for diagnosis and purchase meds here
4-17. All photos of local market, not for foreigners. This is how the locals buy their meats every day. See my FB or Insta for a couple of videos of cutting up frogs and live fish / snakes for people to purchase
18. This little boy was playing with a huge sharp knife, likely working - cutting up raw meat for his parents
19. Entering the Floating Village called Kampong Phluk - one of 170 floating villages in Cambodia with many around Tonle Sap Lake - a huge lake central in the country
20. Me loving this floating village, how fascinating to see how people live, see a great video of this on my FB and Insta
21. A close up of people’s homes
22. Tho 97% of Cambodia is Buddhist, the interesting thing is that the temples used to be Hindu. They converted from Hinduism to Buddhism a couple of generations back. Still, in this small floating village we visited, there was a Catholic Church. How random and interesting.
23. The children here play all day with nothing but their imaginations. These little boys were arm wrestling
24. I visited Angkor Wat, alone with my driver Heng as Sandy was heading back to Phnom Penh tonight then back to West Kelowna. Angkor Wat is the wonder of Siem Reap, google if you have not heard of it. WOW.
25. The entrance to Tomb Raider Temple, where Angelina Jolie filmed the movie
26. Tomb Raider pic, the sites were endlessly impressive, I am only including a couple here
27. There 1000’s and 1000’s of idols in Cambodia. As I climbed Phnom Bakheng, 100’s of people stopped to light incense, and worship Baal. They placed money and bowed.
28. As they were worshipping Baal, the older woman in this photo - maybe she thought I was somebody else - but she was deliriously trying to walk and talk with me, yelling at her family to take photos of and with me. This went on for 20 minutes or so - until I tried to shake them. It was a very strange experience, I was dripping with sweat, red in the face from the heat and walking through all the temples, now walking up hill on this one. I do not know who they thought I was but it was a family affair to walk and talk with me though I could not understand one word - they laughed and took videos and photos of me for 20 minutes. I kept walking but did take one photo so I could remember this random moment.
29. 1000’s of people at the peak of Phnom Bakheng for the famous sunset over the temples
30. On my way down the mountain, this man took off his hat and shoes, kissed the Baal idol, hugged it, layed down on it, and kissed it again. I snapped this pic as I walked past.
31. Back at my hostel, ordering a recommended authentic Cambodian dish of fish with sauce that has I believe all the fish foam from boiling the inners (that’s what it tasted like) on rice. Would not order it again
32. 6am saying goodbye to our hostel, nobody around the pool
33. Wow, check out the Siem Reap customs at this time of day YAY for me!!!
34. Siem Reap airport with a massive idol for people to worship as they come and go from Siem Reap
35. Not sure what sort of toilet this is but I found a normal one - maybe for showers in the airport?
36. Here I go again… many flights - heading to Thailand. CYA Cambodia!
37. Almost every single flight I take has a free meal. This was a tiny meal becuase this flight was a total of 50 minutes, yet they served everyone drinks and a meal! Spicy Thai chicken and rice with dessert.
