My first valentine's day not being alone was kinda cool. We watched the sunset in what seemed to be an ancient sacrificial pit (I made that story up about one of the ruins at Ankor) and had dinner at a fine dining restuarant in the small town -it's so small you can walk around it in an hour- of Siem Reap. As much as 'fine dining' can possibly get here. As with Ko Chang (on Thailand), I'm amazed at how the local people are capable of running their establishments. Mainly the guest houses and restaurants. The interiors are all very coordinated, and everyone can speak some english -some of them can do it very well in fact- and something like one in 5 people who work in the tourist industry can speak another foreign language fluently.
We entered Siem Reap via a malfunctioning minivan on a malfunctioning road at about 11 pm at night. It was a horrible ride, to put mildly, but it was interesting. The people in the rural areas are so poor it's shocking; nothing I'd think I'd ever see. But getting nearer to the city, I was quite surprised to realize that given the chance, these people could modernize and take advantage of every opportunity that came their way really, really fast.
The minivan stopped us off at a guest house we didn't plan on staying at (actually, we had not planned on anywhere to stay at yet) but we decided to book the place for our entire trip, firstly because the people were cool and didn't look like they'd steal your stuff, and secondly, it was a pretty nice place as well. And we thought we'd stay at a cambodian establishment because I'm a self-righteous bastard and absolutely insist on making sure all our tourist dollars stay in the country. If you're coming to Cambodia, take the bus. It's very uncomfortable, but you'll not regret it. The journey into Siem Reap is very beautiful, the desert landscape is stunning, and watching the people going about their activities is quite an engaging activity. Also, all the bus companies are owned by local people...
Our guesthouse has about ten young cambodian dudes (some of them are really cute) hanging around in the lobby all the time, and it's been great talking to them and learning a little more about what everyone in the city's trying to do in order to make a living (learning a foreign language and saving up money for a Tuk Tuk so they can bvecome tour-guides). And what they do for romance; all the guys that drive the tourist around have had affiars with their charges. I helped our driver with his spelling when he was drafting out a valentine's letter to his english girlfriend. Of course he knows she's not coming back, but he says what the hell.
It's a great morning, and I'm going to the really cool bakery just down the corner for breakfast. Not going to spend such a wonderful morning in an internet cafe!
xoxox
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