All Over Asia (Part 2) - The Kingdom of Cambodia
Exhausted from my Shanghai overnight adventure I fell asleep as soon as I got on the plane and my butt hit the seat. When I opened my eyes again I was in Siem Reap, the city home to Angkor Wat.
My skin welcomed the familiar feel of tropical sun and humid air. “Feels just like Cuba,” I thought to myself. We got off the plane and walked the the equivalent of a block down to the customs entrance. The airport is the tiniest one I have ever been to, but it was clean and efficient. I got my visa, went through security, and was off. Once outside, I went to the taxi both and paid for someone to take me to my hotel. I had to wait about 10 minutes because they couldn't find the driver, which I thought was a bit funny. Finally he showed up and off we went.
Palm trees blurred by as I rode on the back of the motorbike to my hotel in the center of town. People waved as we passed them. My cheeks hurt from smiling so much. Once at the hotel the driver asked if I needed him to take me anywhere else around town. I said I am not sure but don't wait up, tipped him, and went inside. While walking in I noticed another motorbike driver waiting awkwardly, but thought nothing of it.
My friend Natalie greeted me with a big hug as I opened the door to our room. I hadn’t seen her in over 6 months. I plopped my backpacks on the dresser and we stated chatting away. 5 minutes go by and we hear a *knock knock* on the door. I open it to find the awkward motorbike driver staring at me with an irritated look on his face. "Hi," I say. "Um, do you need me to take you anywhere? I have been waiting." I looked at Natalie in confusion. "Hi. I told you not to wait because I wasn't sure what time my friend was getting here or what she wanted to do. She literally just got here 5 minutes ago and we're talking about what to do now." He looked upset, tried to negotiate a little more, then left.
We spent the rest of the evening exploring the town. We walked down beer street where there were tons of foreigners, shops, vendors, and of course bars. We ordered a huge bucket just because, sat down and talked about what we had both been up to since we last met and life in general. Our disbelief about us meeting in yet another foreign country also came up often (we first met in Spain then again in Cuba). After getting reasonably buzzed we headed back to our room to rest up for our sunrise trip to Angkor Wat.
Our alarms went off and we hurried to get ready to visit the ancient ruins of Angkor Wat. I headed out the door first to ask about calling a tuk tuk for us but no one was at the desk. To make things worse, it was pouring rain outside. As I walked back to our room I looked outside to notice the same tuk tuk driver from the night before waiting. He motioned for me to get in from outside. I told Natalie the situation and we reluctantly decided to just go with him. We negotiated a price, $8 for a ride to the ruins and back to the hotel for lunch.
*Since we spent the most time in Cambodia there is much to tell. Stay tuned for part 2b!*
