Chill day in Siem Reap 2008

July 28, 2008

After 2.5 days of harsh tours in and around Siem Reap, we declared our last day stay as a "chill day". What do we mean by "chill"? Well.... we woke up a bit late, had breakfast, went back to sleep, woke up again to pack and finished out last minute check-out.


We walked over from the hotel to Angkor National Museum (where Iad used to work). Don't expect too much of it though. We were quite... hmmm.... what's the word.... disappointed? shocked? curious? or well... something in that sense. The first thing that caught our attention was to see the artifacts being labeled with permanent marker. Some with liquid paper (the correction pen). Maybe they have so much of this carved stone that they didn't really treasure all of them too well. This really depreciates the significant value of the Angkor as a whole. But well... sometimes things cannot be complained for.


We later went for a chill lunch at this so-called "Blue Pumpkin" cafe. The place became famous because of its cozy atmosphere and the free wi-fi internet service.

my lunch -- good at the look, but not the taste

Later in the afternoon, we went to the craft center a few minutes walk over from the old market.

drawing
stone carving

Then.... back in town for an afternoon massage at Bodia Spa. It amazed us how you can simply find this class of massage in Siem Reap town. But it definite is a good evidence to convince that Siem Reap is now not for traveling like a local, but fully tailored for tourists.

at Bodia Spa
FYI, we went to two different places for massage during our trip. The four of us + Iad agree that Frangipani (the shop we went after our Angkor Wat tour) provides much better massage than Bodia. If you plan to go there, make sure you make a reservation before hand. It's likely you won't get any available slot when you show up without rsvn.

Our last stop for the trip was FCC Angkor. We had a super quick drink there before heading back to the hotel for airport pick up. It was so funny on the way back. We were trying to find a Tuk Tuk when it could start pouring any minute. We met one, bargained for the price we wanted, but got declined. So we started walking away pretending we were alright without one. It started raining right then. While we were having a second thought of going back to beg for the driver, he probably felt shameful for us and so offered to drive us at the price we wanted. Poor him cuz it ended up he was riding in the rain when we sat rather dry on the car! If he was slower by just a mere second, he would have had us riding at the price he wanted! =P Good for us, but probably not so good for him!!


Thanks so much P'Golf and Iad for your kind VIP hospitality! It was really nice catching up and spending time with you. Congratulations on your upcoming wedding and we'll surely meet again soon!

Bye Bye the Angkor!