In Siem Reap, Cambodia

So I hung out in Bangkok this morning and went to the main market. Bangkok reminds me a little bit of Accra, Ghana with the mix of tall buildings and poverty, the food stands on the side of the road, the way things are labeled, the traffic, etc. And boy is there a lot of traffic - Bangkok's traffic is like DC's! The market was pretty fun to wander around. I didn't buy anything though - except food - b/c I certainly don't want to carry it around for the next 4 weeks. I ate a LOT today starting with a big plate of pad thai at the market and a strawberry smoothie. I got to take my first "tuk tuk" which is like a taxi, but it's just a motorcycle with a little cab behind for 2-4 people. I took the tuk tuk to the Skytrain station, which I took to the market. So their Skytrain is way better than DC and NYC's metro/subway. It's cleaner, seems to be more efficient, all the train stop announcements are automatic so you can actually understand them, not to mention they're listed on TV screens inside each car.

After walking around the market, I made my way back to my hostel and checked out and headed back to the airport. The flight to Siem Reap is something I shóuld've booked in advance, but i didn't realize it. So unfortunately this leg of my trip was not so "shoe string" as my lonely planet guide says. I think the flight is normally about $85 when booked a week or so in advance, but it was $200 on the day of...oh well, it sucks, but what are you going to do? I booked my hostel in Bangkok ahead of time but wish I hadn't b/c i ended up paying for a private room when there was only one other girl in the whole dorm. So it's hard to say when to book ahead and when not to...

So Siem Reap. This is where Angkor Wat is...all the famous temples from the Khmer empire a thousand or so years ago. It's like the main attraction in all of SE Asia and OMG is it touristy. Kind of obnoxiously so, though I'm happy for the Cambodians if it's helping them continue to recover as a country. I took my first ride on the back of a motorcycle from the airport to town - kind of scary! I know that's how so many people get around in this part of the world, but still, motorcycles and motor bikes have always kind of scared me. I think I'll stick with the tuk tuks when they're available. Anyway, the Cambodian driver was talking to me the whole time in "English" but he was so hard to understand that I really didn't follow much. This proved to be a problem when he dropped me off at the hostel (which wasn't the one I picked - he of course is paid to steer people to particular ones and somehow i got convinced) and expected to be my tour guide for Angkor Wat tomorrow. He was very sure that I had agreed to this when we were on the bike and I had to tell him that I didn't understand his English. I took down his number and told him maybe I'd call him after the hotel manager attempted to clarify the situation. I think I pissed off both of them in the process...oops.

I went wandering around town, which is a lively place full of tourists, bars, restaurants serving pizza and Mexican food - I'm sure the rest of Cambodia is nothing like this place. Oddly enough, it's semi hard to meet people in really touristy places...this feels exactly like when I was in Ghana and chose to visit Cape Coast first. I talked to an American couple on the plane and an Australian couple for a while during dinner, but other than that, I haven't started traveling with anyone yet. It's also semi difficult to strike up a conversation with the Cambodians. They're so used to tourists that it's not that exciting.

I'm also now without a tour guide for the morning and need to figure that out. The Australian couple loved their guide and wanted to share his number with me, but they didn't have it on them. They said they found him on the street, so that's basically my plan for tomorrow.

As for right now, the jet lag is hitting me and I'm exhausted even though it's only 8:20. I'm headed to bed! At least I'll be up early and visiting the temples before it gets too hot. I've heard i will be walking quite a few miles. It''s pretty hot here - probably the 80's - and humid. Until the next posting...