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Hi All. Well Cambodia and Siem Reap is wonderful. The people are beautiful. the children crowd around you and try to practice their English. Thy also try to sell you stuff, like post cards, bangles, silk etc etc. Georgie bought 2 gorgeous silk scarves, one for her and one for me for $5. I got two paintings of Angkor dancers for $12 and Cal and Shane picked up Angkor shirts for about $2 each. It's really hard to stop buying, we have to remind ourselves that it all has to fit in the bag to fly home. Maybe we can post some of it.
We arrived in Siem Reap about 5pm last night. All were exhausted. It took about 8 hrs from Phnom Penh. We had our own little mini bus and stopped at lots of places. The county side is amazing, The people live in small houses on stilts on the side of the road. They all have a dam in front of them where they grow Lotus Flower. Sometimes the house is single story made from wood/leaf and sometimes it is 2 or 3 story made of brick. The taller the house the more rich and important you are. The rich people here have body guards, not for protection but for status.
Lotus fruit is quite nice, we ate it fresh and boiled. Doesn't taste like chicken! We have all got into sticky rice with palm sugar, coconut and black beans bbq'd in a bamboo shoot. Delicious. Georgie even eats it. We have also been eating sticky rice, palm sugar and shreaded coconut wrapped in a banana leaf and then cooked. Tastes fantastic. I am really proud of Geo and Cal, they are trying everything. Well nearly everything just not Tarantula ( we nibbled a leg), beetle and cricket.
We visited this town that specilises in fried Tarantula. Of course Shane had to eat one. He also ate one the night before. We were at this resturant staffed by orphans and they had Fried Tarantula on the menu. Shane ate a whole plate full. He had to de-fang one of then because they had forgotton to take them out. Callum and i had a nibble on a leg. It tasted like chicken. Georgie didn't try one because it was "fried". Shane also ordered a Red Ant Salad. I tried some and it was actually very yummy.
Anyhow at the Tarantula town there was lots of different types of food at the market. They specilised in fried Tarantula and fried beetle and fried cricket. Shane ate them all of course. We however wern't brave enough. There were also live Tarantulas which the children walked around with on thier shirts. Shane put one on his face to the great amusement of the beautiful children. We have lots of photos and Shane will upload them tonight.
Today we went to some Temples. We even went to where they filmed Tomb Raider and had our photo taken. The huge stone Temples just dwarf everthing around it. It was very difficult to stop taking photos.
Dino our guide is wonderful. We have all bonded with him. He is a wealth of info. Tells the funniest jokes especially with his accent. Tonight we are going out with him and his boyfriend for dinner and cocktails . Dino is a Khmer - Cambodian. He has really good dress sense and gets along with Geo and Cal like a house on fire. There is nothing he won't do for the 12 of us. We all feel that we have made a friend. Once dinner is done we are looking through the night markets. There is a lot of silver, so Geo and i want to buy something
On the last night in Phhom Penh, Dino took us for a walk through town. It was the anniversery of the fall of the Pol Pot regime. There were celebrations everywhere. Shane uploaded a photo of the coloured fountain. Well this changed colour and sprayed at differnt times, to the music. Beautiful classical music. It was magic.
In the streets everyone was dancing. The music boxes were going off everwhere and everyone was lined up doing like line dancing. But not country and western type. Heaps of fun.
Tomorrow we are going to see the sunrise over Angkor Wat then go up an a hot air balloon. It will be an early start, but we are all excited. Also Dino is taking us all on an Elephant ride.
Well going to go now. Hopefully Shane can get the photos uploaded soon.
see you Janie, Shane, Geo and Cal
ps we love all of the messages, we read them every afternoon. thanks
- comments
Geoff Elvin Really proud of you guys, you appear to be having an amazing time. I would'nt have put the spider on my face and I probably would not have eaten one either. Shane you are me hero. Dad
Kate Hi Hansfords, all I can say is WOW! very impressed with the spiders both eaten and wearing, couldn't pay me enough to put one on my face. enjoy the balloon ride, take heaps of photo's,been on Elephant rides they are fun, but sooooo high up. Dino sounds fun & seems to be taking you on a very balanced tour, loved the anniversary celebrations, that would have been quite emotional. Grandad still ok. can't wait for the photos. Luv M x Hey Jane F what's happening! Kate x
shaz Sounds like and awesome place to visit and sounds like you are all having a fantastic time. Shane you are a brave man to have a spider on you. The kids of the area sound like they really like Australians. Sounds like you will have to do what one of our exchange students did, post things home before you leave. Cant wait to see more photo and entries. Mum and Dad are enjoying reading about your adventrures as well, Bye for now keep having fun.
andrew stuck at home get a picture of that hot tomb raider chick , she is probably there buying more children ha ha ha