Taking it easy and tuk-tuks

(View from our balcony.)

When I thought about this trip, I though about how nice it would be to be in Siem Reap for almost two whole weeks. We could relax, take things slowly, really absorb everything around us... Well, we're here and I'm having a hard time taking it slowly. While part of me is completely happy sitting in a restaurant on Pub Street having a mid morning drink, part of me thinks we have to go go go and see everything. Now that we are here I'm not sure how many times we will actually want to go to Angkor Wat or any other of the wats. And while I could happily shop every day for a while, my bank account and suitcase won't let me do that. So we talked about traveling to Sihanoukville so I could see, and show Michael, the NGO I worked at for a month four years ago. But realistically spending two days traveling on the bus didn't sound like fun. This trip was all about taking it slow, not about how much we could squeeze in 9 days. So we've decided that if we have one big adventure a day that we would be happy and would take time enjoying our balcony, sitting on Pub Street with a drink, and swimming. 

 

This morning we walked to the Angkor National Museum and learned more about the history of Angkor Wat. As Michael just put it, we saw things made out of stone there.  I maybe took in 1/8 of the information I heard and read.  Then this afternoon we kept it simple by going and getting messages. We also finalized our plans for tomorrow and are getting a car and tour guide to see the main wats around Angkor Wat. 

 

(I found some elephants while walking today.)

(Michael eating some tasty taro/banana chips.)

So far we have walked everywhere and that has worked for us. We end up hot and sweaty but are able to take in the sites around us because of our slow pace.  Yet when you walk anywhere here all you hear is "tuk-tuk sir, tuk-tuk ma'am," "where you go, you want a tuk-tuk," "tuk-tuk tomorrow?" as we'll as, "Angkor Wat too far to walk, tuk-tuk." Today we walked by a tuk-tuk where the driver was laying down in it and as he heard us walking by, and talking, he popped out of the tuk-tuk to see if he could ask if we needed a ride. It was funny to watch but being asked every 3 minutes if we need a ride gets old quickly.  This evening when we came back to our guesthouse after dinner the tuk-tuk driver who picked us up from the airport asked us if we took a tuk-tuk today. I explained that we walked everywhere today and that we didn't need a tuk-tuk tomorrow. He looked disappointed that we still didn't need a tuk-tuk, but a little relived that we hadn't taken someone else's tuk-tuk. Oh yeah, we also saw a tuk-tuk crash today. It looked like both drivers walked away relatively unhurt but it still was very unsettling.   

(One of the many, many, tuk-tuks we have seen.)

Other random things: at the night market we saw shirts from the Gap and backpacks from The North Face and Deuter.