Day 12, Summer in Asia ~ Siem Reap, Cambodia
My body clock woke me up at 5 am, which is excessively annoying. You’d think an 11 hour time change would be enough to have thrown the blasted thing off. But, no. I walked around the silent hotel and out onto the street and waited for 7 to arrive to get some coffee in the rooftop restaurant.We let the girls sleep as late as possible, but breakfast hours don’t care about jet lag. Breakfast options this morning include: Corn flack, coco loops, pouched eggs, roasted bacon, rice or noodles, or porridge, hot black or milk coffee. Kier ordered the coco loops, and they are chocolate corn flakes.
After breakfast we walked around the neighborhood to buy prohibited carry-on liquids (in the volumes we need) like shampoo and conditioner. The streets are crowded but civilized, horns are rarely heard. Prices are listed in US and the bank machines also give out American dollars. We asked a bank employee where we could get local currency and he laughed at us. He said “we use American dollars here,” as if we were insulting him. Yet we saw plenty of it changing hands.
We’ve seen some interesting wiring, especially in Guatemala, but the wiring here takes the prize for being the most chaotic.
Back at the hotel we thought we’d grab a quick nap before we headed out to the night market. But sneaky jet lag had different plans for us. Five hours later we woke up having lost the entire afternoon. Paul was so confused he thought it was 6 am the next morning, Kier had slept since breakfast. Madi was the only one was up because she had assignment deadlines. Because of the jet lag sleeping follies, we didn’t eat as a family like we normally do. First I sat with Madi while she had spaghetti bolognese, then she went down and went to bed on a normal schedule. Next, I sat with Cali and Kier, and at the end of the evening, after we had gone to the Night Market, I ate with Paul. Not the most efficient, but the bonus is better one on one conversation.
Although Paul and I had already walked to the location of the Night Market earlier in the day, it was starting to rain so we opted for a tuk ride.
Love us some night market. There was a massive one in Bangkok that was a small city unto itself, the one in Phuket made you feel like you needed a shower after all the shady offers presented, the night Ladies Market in Hong Kong was also memorable and should probably be renamed.
The night market was adorable, not crowded, vendors weren’t overly aggressive or hostile if you didn’t buy, relaxed, and they’ve certainly mastered the twinkly lights ambiance. There was an abundance of fish spa places and massage options, many of them with blind masseuses–a big bonus for some reason.
We tukked back around 11 and got some food at the rooftop restaurant, my third and final dinner of the evening. It’s fine. I never tire of those tomato roses.
