The ride took about 5 hours. We stopped twice. The first stop was at a local roadside market that had a toilet (fetid hole in the ground with a porcelain apron) and people selling cut fruit and fried tarantulas and fried crickets. Not knowing the conditions under which the fruit was cut, we didn't eat any. But, Alex decided to try the tarantula. It was fried in oil with hot peppers. I took his word for it that it tasted like any fried thing.
We stopped again an hour or so later at a regular restaurant for stir fried chicken, vegys and cashews with steamed white rice.
We arrived into Siem Reap mid-afternoon. Love this city! It is the closest place to the Angkor temple area, so it has lots of hotels and restaurants of all levels. The temples were built beginning around the 9th century and are massive, with ornate carvings in the stones. More on that when we visit the temples. Siem Reap has a small river running through it and low buildings. Lots of trees. The central market area is bustling, but not with the edgy chaos of PP (instead of spelling out Phnom Penh all the time). When you step into the street, you need not fear for your life that a moped will run you down. Just off the central market is a restaurant area - lots of bars and cool places with sidewalk tables. We did our first mandatory food challenge by eating traditional Khmer food at a really cool place called Dead Fish. "'Khmer" is the Cambodian word for Cambodian and it is also the name of the language. Dead Fish is a restaurant and an internet cafe. The sign outside says, "Don't Serve Dog, Cat, Rat, Wrm". I think they mean "worms" but the rest of the promotion is reassuring. We shared a loc lac, which is beef and cucumbers, tomatoes and onions. Then we tackled the next scavenge of finding an Irish Pub for a pint. There is a fun street steps away, known as Pub Alley and we found Molly Malone's, where we saw Jackie and Sylvia who were finishing their pints. The heavens opened with pouring rain. It lasted less than a half hour. The rain briefly lowered the oppressive heat. It must be in the 90s, with killer humidity. The rain made the air smell sweet.
We went to the central market with a mission - to buy me a longsleeve white shirt for protection from the sun, and to get Alex a light bag for a daypack. We found very cheap things. There are few customers in the market. We were fascinated by the name brand goods for sale. Brands like North Face, Columbia, Abercrombie, Tommy Hilfiger hang on market stalls in abundance. Some are obvious cheap knockoffs. But others seemed real. And there was a North Face backpack with Quicksilver zipper pulls. So interesting.
The last mandatory food scavenge was a pate sandwich. Although we had seen a billboard on the road, it was hard to find and after asking in a few places, a shopkeeper pointed us to the Master Market.
All of the Cambodian people we have met have been so nice. They are warm, always smiling, and helpful.
We returned to the hotel to do the scavenge where you must get a Cambodian massage and describe what's different from American. Well, first of all, the masseuse had me get undressed and then redressed me in rough brown loose clothes like hospital scrubs. Also. during the massage, she got up on the table with me to get leverage to push harder. At the end, she gave me a washcloth soaked in eucalyptus. It was a great last activity! Heritage Suites Hotel is a great boutique - very comfy. Relais and Chateaux. Our room has an outdoor walled garden and shower. We hung out in the bar with fellow travelers and turned in early for the 4:45 AM wakeup.