Siem Reap, Cambodia: Part 2

Siem Reap, Cambodia Part 2!

A mind-blowing circus! Pottery! Street candy! All this in the final entry about the beautiful Siem Reap!

DAY 3 - Pots and Circus

To save money from riding the tuktuk (their version of the tricycle), my friend and I rented bikes from our hotel for $5 each.

Riding a bike in Siem Reap is very safe compared to Manila. There is a designated bike lane, and not a lot of cars. With lots of greenery and clean air, it was awesome. The streets of Siem Reap are so safe even if I found out that I was doing counterflow half of the time (to my defense I was merely following the motorcycles.)

 

Our first stop was the pottery class, very near the Pottery Museum. 

Using the potter's wheel is way harder than it looks. I talked to my instructor and asked about difficult clients. He said that there was once a guy who had too many to drink, was angry and wanted to make pots. I asked, "did he fall asleep in the potter's wheel?" The instructor laughed and I was amused to find out that humor can cross borders.

I wanted to make my last pot an ugly pot, without the guidance of my instructor. "Not ugly", he said. He's too polite!

We then explored the Old Market area some more to pass the time. We ate lunch in Khmer Kitchen. Food is usually good for 2 pax (and normally costs $2 to $3). Also restaurants (at least the ones we visited) rarely give water for free. But since food is usually very cheap, buying water is no big deal.

Souvenirs!

Here is a Tuktuk helping celebrate Batman's 75th Anniversary. 

Tuktuks are super cozy and can fit 4 friends!

He pedals with his hands around the street to look for book buyers.  The profit goes to his family.

It's a me! In someone's shorts!

How random can this salon location be in? It's inside the market! They don't speak English well but my friend says they're really accommodating.

Phare Circus is a mind-blowing and a must-see show! All of the performers were bursting with energy and charm the whole time. I love the fact that there are no flashy props and lights to really highlight the talented performers and the music. 

All of us in the audience were in awe that a human body can carry that much weight, can flip through the air graciously and can bend like a pretzel. 

After the show, we had the chance to have our photos taken with the circus stars. I treasure it more than the photos I have with local celebrities.

DAY 4 - Sacred River, More Temples and Candy

We rented a car to go to Phnom Kulen National Park. 

There are lots of local food outside the park. My favorite one was the flattened banana with breading and sesame seed. Almost all the food here cost less than $1 so it is handy to have your money exchanged to the Cambodian currency beforehand. 

The pancakes are also really good. Pros our driver gave me his pancake. I gave him banana chips from the Philippines. He laughed. If you go to Siem Reap, you'll know why.

Highlights include visiting a river with 1,000 lingas (male organ). I emptied my water bottle to take home the water for my family. Best souvenir ever!

Underwater Lingas

We were accompanied by children who insisted that I hold their hands. I thought it was cute. After the trip to the river they were asking me to pay them money for their service.

Reclining Buddha. The tourists like to touch the forehead. I can't. Short girl problems.

This is the 2nd waterfalls where you can also swim in the National Park. There are vests for rent. I asked a lady if the water was too deep. She couldn't understand me. To know if I was to drown, I gestured cutting cutting my stomach, my throat, then above my head. She laughed and shook her head. And so I swam!

Ah refreshing! 

Bantay Srei is one of the most beautiful temples I saw. What it lacks for in size, it makes up for its insane detail. Since the material is not made of sandstone, details of intricate carvings were preserved in the temple structures.

Gorgeous details!

On the way to other temples, our driver stopped by the road to show us sugar palm candy. The lady was nice enough to let us taste it. It's not as sickeningly sweet as white sugar. Pros said it's good to let it melt in tea or coffee.

Sugary good stuff!

More temples! Perfect for meditation

What a view!

Come sundown, my friend and I visited the Night Market. They sell almost the same things at the Old Market, but the venue looks new and less cluttered. We were looking forward for the free Samsara Dancers as told online, but the vendors told us that they only dance in the restaurants now. 

DAY 5 - Good fortune and Silk Worms

The last day was in Angkor National Museum, which I think should've been the first place to visit when you go to Siem Reap. Museums should be first on the itinerary to better appreciate the temples. At the entrance you can pray to Buddha and get your fortune. Mine says I will find an old friend. 

The musuem is well-maintained. This is the only place where I found sugar palm juice (they were not in season according to our driver). Drinking it made me more thirsty since it was so sweet. I had to let the ice melt.

 It took me around 2 hours to explore the museum.

Good fortune!

Artisans Angkor offers a free tour to their craft workshop and the Angkor Silk Farm. The craft workshop guide was in a hurry and gave few details compared to the other guide who I overheard. Less tip for you mister!

Woodwork and sketches

The guide at the Angkor Silk Farm was enjoyable. I was lucky to be with a Taiwanese family who were just as curious as I am to know more about how silk was made. The guide even told us how to kill the silk worms (you leave them in the sun to die, or have them steamed if it's cloudy).

I'm glad I listened to the good reviews about Siem Reap, Cambodia. There's so much to do and to visit, it's affordable, the people are lovely. 

What's the first country outside your home country that you visited? I'd love to know!

travel blog