my legs hurt. That’s due to the massage… Not the one on my feet yesterday, but the Khmer massage today. I asked what that is, and the lady said „it is like Thai massage, but a bit softer“. Well my massage pro must have thai ancestors or is currently applying for thai immigration – however she did a very good job. I think. Let’s wait and see what my legs say tomorrow. On a sidenote, the problem of having to look down on the floor from a massage bed through that funny face-hole has already been solved! When I opened my eyes to the floor, I faced a glas bowl filled with water with flowers swimming in it. ***sigh***
I’ll keep it shorter today for I still want to read about the places I’ll go to tomorrow. I can’t believe it still worked but I managed to book a tour. Probably my opinion of the Lonely Planet is too high, for a lot of its tour recommendations have turned out to be outdated. Grashopper Adventure tours have vanished, and the urban bicycling tours that sounded like the perfect plan for a Friday morning don’t do their tours any more. Not enough tourists thanks to Covid.
Overall, it sinks in how the pandemic has hit Siem Reap. I mean I came on purpose NOT in high season, but there simply aren’t a lot of tourists. I still haven’t seen another one around my guesthouse, but even in more crowded hostel-areas I feel it’s far away from the ususal bustle.
And when I called the Khmer Angkor Tour Guide Association, which – you can laugh at me – took me quite a bit of courage – they told me I should use their online contact form (or – of course – whatsapp – which lead to the internationally acclaimed reaction of a speaking silence of disbelief, when I said that I don’t have whatsapp). So I did and then I didn’t hear back. So, when I got back to my place and asked for help, I was recommended to call AGAIN with the no. written in the confirmation email that unfortunately only confirmed they had received my message. So I did. And then the lady on the phone was rather short and unpolite and very hard to understand —– and she said she’d check and call me back. Which led to a nervous me not daring to take a shower for I might miss the call. After looking into my emails, however, I found she had answered pretty swiftly and suggested a full 3 day tour. Including a City Tour of Siem Reap with the Artisans d’Angkor (been there, done that, bought a silky scarf) and the old market (been there, done that, bought a Krama scarf). It starts only at 8 o‘ clock, which I find weird because I was scared I have to start at sunrise. They suggested to start later for all three days of my tour (it’s three days because that’s one of the ticket options apart from 1 or 7 days to enter Angkor Wats temples), which makes me suspicious. But I could get up on my own earlier and head out to see the sunrise and then have the driver pick me up there or they get up early with me OR they tell me the weather isn’t worth the trouble because we’re covered in clouds and rain.
My bio rhyhtm admittedly is a bigger fan of sunsets than sunrises, so I’m fine for tomorrow and will blame it on the jetlag……
The tour includes a private guide (that association thingie is supposed to have really good guides with good English, which I want – first of all because I love stories, and then because I’m out of tourists so I do want someone to relate and talk to. And go hunt „my“ relief. If that doesn’t work out, I can still prolong for a day and stroll out on my own. For sunrise. With a coffee to go. I discovered „Brown coffee“ today, which seems to be a successful chain, however their cappuccino with palm sugar or sugar palm water somehow woven into the whole thing was wow.
Talking of food, the market today made me jealous for being able to live and cook here. The fruits. The vegetables. The frehsly mended spicy paste of lemongrass, curry and I don’t know what – I hope to find that in Phnom Penh and bring a small amount. Though if that smashes in the backpack all my scarves will turn yellow. And smell wonderfully.
Anyhow while I only sniffed the spice paste and felt sorry for the crabs swimming dead in various sauces (though I must say, if someone kills me to eat me, I’d appreciate swimming in a sauce with spices and incredibly yummy looking garlic cloves.
I ended up trying a small sweet gum-like coconut-thingie, and when I thought it’s okayish, I got to the filling. And I mostly bought it because it was wrapped in a banana leaf. The second kind had something in it that I didn’t understand, so I might have to go back there within the next days. Thou shallst be open to other cultures before you catch Montezumas revenge (old barbaramexican saying).
As for dinner, I managed for the first time to get myself something on the edge of being too spicy. In the end half the empty plate was filled with tissues as I had to blow my nose so often which I think has FIIIINIIIISHED the rest of my headache.
Passing by vendors around here takes a certain kind of patience as you’re being invited to buy this and need that and why don’t you buy two scarves if you can’t decide on the colour (Krama-checks are a challenge stylewise) and if you like the design but what? you don’t want to buy now why don’t you buy 3-in-1. And then if you do buy the big Sarong-enabling Krama (I’ll have to ask someone again to show me how to do it, it’s Origami done on your hip), meaning big enough one, you can ask to sew the endings (for some reason, on the big ones they are not sewed??! Weird Cambodians!) and then the vendor will lead you to her friend in the sewing-area of the market (directly next to the haircutters, I was tempted but didn’t dare to, thanx to that lady with blue hair although that is tempting but then again not) and you’ll find yourself sitting on a plastic chair being hypnotized by a sewing machine.
My very very favourite today was an old lady in the market. I wish I had the courage to ask to take a picture. But then again it feels disrespectful in a way I cannot explain, and I hope the picture will stay with me and come back whenever I read this. Anyhow that lady sold lotus flowers. Before bloom and blooming. I would love to buy one but it’s no use while travelling really. I spent a full 5min thinking if I could take it back on the plane, but — well I guess I need to find a place where I can see one in full bloom and sit next to it. They are so beautiful. And that lady – well she did look a bit like a lotus flower herself. Her face and her eyes.
I wonder how she lives. I wonder that a lot about people here.
The funniest garbage sight today were what looked like hand-sized snail-shells, lying empty on a tiled corner. Look as if somebody ate whatever was in there. I was thinking about taking a photo, but then another tuktuk driver came to haunt me. They are as good as the any vendor in Siem Reap. It seems very hard to imagine that a tourist, I suspect a female tourist on her own especially, walk on their own and happily so through town.
However, the tuktuks are lovely. Or more so their drivers. By the way only males, I haven’t seen a single female one. If I will, I shall drive with her no matter how much I want to walk. I feel I might regret this sentence but there’s always something.
Anyhow tuktuk drivers at lunch break – meet up in another tuktuk with the other driver and play chess. It’s like their living room once they are out of passengers (which seemingly they are a lot at the moment, I sort of feel bad for walking). If it rains – the driver driving gets wet, but the pausing driver unleashes rain protection in the back of his tuktuk and then hides in the client’s cabin until it stops raining. If it’s dry and hot or humid and hot so basically any other time – he can put a hammock in the cabin from one corner to the other. I think they depict the size of a tuktuk-back by putting the driver in a hammock to get the right distance… Anyhow I love that.
My tour tomorrow of course doesn’t start with the main temple (Angkor Wat), but with surroundings far far away (about 50km which made me confirm back a tour with a car instead of a tuktuk) and a visit of a village at the big lake, Tomlé Sap — I’m excited. Finally I’ll get to see more nature. And that will be my next three days and chances are I’ll be worn out. Though so far, I’m not. Ok given a huge lunch break for at least 2 hours because it rained. And then it rained. And then it rained. And someone had to read the guide on Angkor Wat to figure out where to go and who to call. And then the break of another good hour getting massaaaaaaged. Yes, very exhausting day. Also having to put on and off my raincoat a lot. I report it’s lovely even if it gets very warm underneath but it’s very warm all the time…
Anyhow it should be fun. And if I’m still walkable on Thursday, I’ll go for the birdwatching tour on Tomlé Sap. Or a bike tour. Although that’s still a Friday option if I manage to find a tour operator that hasn’t closed down. Or I go on my own on Friday, after all that touring that might be nice. Or I meet people on the birdwatch tour. The only one to meet on the next three days will be the guide. What luxury, a private tour which means I can ask all the questions in the world on all the stories in the Cambodian ancient world.
Well now I’ve written instead of to read. That’s why I have a guide.
I need to put an alarm clock!
Slight moment of nervousness – what if I get tired tomorrow and I can’t hide in a group…..?
Good night to you whatever your clock is showing.