Day 10
It is with some sadness that we pack up our luggage and
enjoy a last breakfast on the ship. We
exchange fond farewells with Geert, the tour director, and all the staff. They will be busy re-stocking and cleaning in
preparation for the new guests arriving within 6 hours. It seems to us that the downstream trip,
doing Ankgor first then Saigon at the end, would be less satisfying.
The coach ride is 5 hours, which is a bit grueling. It is punctuated by a couple of “happy room”
stops so we can stretch our legs. We’re
saddened to bid Sattya farewell. He’s
really endeared himself with his stories of the interesting and difficult
history and obvious love of Cambodia and its’ people.
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| A fond farewell to Sattya |
Compared to Vietnam, we are impressed by the differences
between the two countries. The
Vietnamese language uses the English alphabet, whereas Cambodian people’s
language has evolved from Sanskrit and much of their culture is more aligned
with India than China. Both countries
are almost exclusively Buddhist, but there are differences in the religious
practices. Cambodia seems to have a
higher per capita income – we see many more vehicles and expensive cars than
were apparent in Saigon. Similarly to
Uganda, the Chinese government has poured much
investment funding into infrastructure development and business
projects. We are told the highway on which we ride, along with the bridges was
rebuilt by the Chinese, and many of the new luxury hotels in Siam Reap and Phnom
Penh were built by Chinese firms.
We pull up to the “Madam Butterfly” restaurant in Siem Reap
and enjoy yet another multi-course feast of delicious Asian dishes. The Hyatt hotel is centrally located and a
beautiful building which houses not one but TWO swimming pools! The Canadians are given adjoining rooms which
are very spacious and modern. The first
floor pool is styled in the manner of some of the temple designs and sports
several lounger benches with jets. The
bar service is a little slow compared to its’ Saigon cousin, but otherwise we
love the experience.
Feeling refreshed, we walk a few blocks to the night market,
which is teeming with activity. We make
a couple of small purchases then settle in an open bar advertising 50 cent
drafts and $1 bottled beers. Sally and
Nadine opted for premium beers, splurging on Coronas, but they make the rude
discovery that the bottle caps have left a rust ring around the lip of the
bottles. I guess they don’t sell a lot
of Coronas in that corner of Cambodia.
We order a pizza but by then the pub has filled with all sorts of
people, most looking like foreigners under 25 years of age, and we cancel the
order when we realize it will take forever to arrive.
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| Night market Siem Reap |
We hike the short distance back to the Hyatt and gobble down
some delicious spring rolls before boarding a bus to the “circus”. Phair is sponsored by an NGO who has trained villagers
in the performing arts. We enter a large
circular tent with bleacher seating around a middle stage and a group of four
musicians. The performance is called
“influence” and explores the way each of us interact and affect those around
us, and touches on themes of power, greed, deception and corruption. This is theatre arts and acrobatics
approaching the quality of a Cirque de Soleil performance. The audience enjoys it immensely.
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