From 11/12
We woke up at the crack of dawn again at 5:45am. We checked out, got some breakfast to go, and were picked up by the bus. We transferred into a bigger bus and then were off. This bus company was the best we've had so far. They provide you with water and a chocolate filled croissant. We also stopped a number of times to go to the bathroom and for lunch. That never happens.
(A much more spacious bus)
We got into Siem Reap and met with the tuk tuk driver our hostel set up for us free of charge. We checked into this huge home stay and got the lay of the land.
We walked around Alley West and Pub Street which have cool shops and restaurants. We finalized most of our little trinkets for ourselves and for others. There's so much cool stuff here it's hard not to buy things. Especially because it's all so cheap.
We got dinner on a rooftop and enjoyed some lemongrass mojitos while playing cribbage. After dinner we stopped at one of those fish foot massages. I've always seen them around but never tried it, so for $2.50 we decided to give it a go.
It was hilarious! The first ten minutes we couldn't stop laughing and pulling our feet in and out of the water. Their little mouths supposedly nibble the dead skin off your feet but it's such a weird feeling. It's like someone is delicately pinching your feet all over. They don't have teeth but their lips have rough edges with make it a little more ticklish.
We woke up at the crack of dawn again at 5:45am. We checked out, got some breakfast to go, and were picked up by the bus. We transferred into a bigger bus and then were off. This bus company was the best we've had so far. They provide you with water and a chocolate filled croissant. We also stopped a number of times to go to the bathroom and for lunch. That never happens.
We got into Siem Reap and met with the tuk tuk driver our hostel set up for us free of charge. We checked into this huge home stay and got the lay of the land.
We walked around Alley West and Pub Street which have cool shops and restaurants. We finalized most of our little trinkets for ourselves and for others. There's so much cool stuff here it's hard not to buy things. Especially because it's all so cheap.
We got dinner on a rooftop and enjoyed some lemongrass mojitos while playing cribbage. After dinner we stopped at one of those fish foot massages. I've always seen them around but never tried it, so for $2.50 we decided to give it a go.
It was hilarious! The first ten minutes we couldn't stop laughing and pulling our feet in and out of the water. Their little mouths supposedly nibble the dead skin off your feet but it's such a weird feeling. It's like someone is delicately pinching your feet all over. They don't have teeth but their lips have rough edges with make it a little more ticklish.
We stayed for a good 15-20 minutes before we decided it was time to keep moving. I could have easily stayed there for an hour - such an interesting feeling. We headed off to the night market to kill some time and see what they have to offer.
The vendors here have a weird combination of fabrics and Buddhas, but also electronics. You can buy a nice silk scarf or an iPhone charger in the same spot. This market wasn't the best we've seen, but it was an improvement from some of the markets in Vietnam. Not that the markets in Vietnam were bad, they just were focused on more or "name brand" products. We wanted local trinket stuff not The North Face stuff.
Anyways, after the market we wandered around the area a bit and then headed back to the hostel. It was a long day with travel and we have a full day tomorrow starting by 8am. We're getting picked up and shown around the entire city an temple area (Ankor) by a Instagram famous tuk tuk driver. It's awesome because we don't have to worry about anything, he just takes us to the good spots and knows we only have one day.
We blogged and read and called it a night. Aside from a low key travel day, two amazing things happened. First, my ear is finally open and I can hear things on my left. Second, the pictures I thought I lost I was able to recover today!
I was embarrassed and sad so I don't write about it, but a couple weeks ago I deleted almost a months worth of pictures. Literally from the beginning of the trip through Laos. I'm backing pictures up through google pictures and thought that automatically backed up when I connected to wifi. Well they didn't. You actually have to open the app and make sure all of them get backed up.
My iPhone was full and had no more space so I deleted a bunch of pictures, expecting them to be backed up. It was in Saigon I realized they weren't. Luckily, I was looking trough my storage space I day and it looked oddly full. Well iPhones have a space called "recently deleted"! They hold the pictures there for 30 days or so before completely deleting them! I recovered all 1,200 pictures and am backing them up an triple checking them this time.
Thank God for technology, saved the trip! Anyways, two amazing things happening on a low key day rocks. Anyways, I'm off to bed but be in the lookout tomorrow for cool temples and a lot of content!
"Travelling, one accepts everything; indignation stays at home. One looks, one listens, one is roused to enthusiasm by the most dreadful things because they are new. Good travellers are heartless."
- Elias Canetti
I love how much you guys are doing. Even the fish massage. How much does it cost for an all day Tuk tuk?
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