Elusive Travels

The following morning on the 22nd, my alarm rang at 8 O'clock 'Oh crap' I said to myself. I was supposed to be picking my brother up from the airport. However I was too tired and so put the alarm forward another hour and went back to sleep. I figured my brother wouldn't mind waiting a little. I'm sure he would find a place to take a little nap.  Bzz bzzz'' The phone was going off, I checked and it was a text message from my brother asking me where I was.  I looked at the clock it was 9:30am! Damnit! I had slept an extra half hour. I quickly dashed to the bathroom got ready, got dressed and bolted out of the hotel and straight to the train station.  It took me about 90mins to reach the airport.

Once at the aiport I was faced with a little drama, in my haste to get here I had forgotten to take my passport and they would not let me in past the arrival gates. Anyway, after a little convincing that I was here to pickup my brother and that he was new here and didn't know where to go, they allowed me to enter.  At the arrival lounge I gave my brother a hug and we both headed down towards the train station. A short while later we were on the train to back to 'Asakusabashi' 

Back at our hotel, my brother decided to take a nap while I once again visited 'Akihabara'. My brother charged me with bringing home some takeaway.  But you see I got carried away at the 'Kotobukiya' store that had 5 levels of film, comic,manga statues, toys, t-shirts, dvds etc. I guess my 'geek mode' had kicked into high gear and 2 hours later I suddenly remembered, "Oh damn, Aiya needs food"  So I quickly left  the shop and started asking a few restaurants and other eateries around the area 'Omochikaeri' meaning "Take-away" but they all said no. I texted my brother and told them there was no take-away.  He had still been sleeping, so I guess it was all well and good forgetting to inquire about take away.  Also in my defense even if I had asked earlier the answer would still have been the same. 

Later that evening around 7.30pm we both headed out  towards Shibuya where we were going to have dinner at a seafood restaurant by the name of 'Kaikaya -By the sea' This place had been recommended to me by a friend.  Before we could eat however, we had to find the place and it took of a lot of hunting around, asking for directions before we could find it. The funny thing is that it  was right under our noses the entire time. i.e just 2 mins away from the station. 

Kaikaya has a pub like decor and the staff all speak English. They are also very helpful when it comes to choosing what to eat.  We enjoyed a delicious plate of assorted sashimi, Ebi tempura, two  whole 'red-snapper 'and 'Yellow Tail (Buri)' and a big plate of Tuna rib steak. The food was absolutely amazing. Coupled with a nice bottle of Sake it was perfect. To top it off we also had a delicious serving each of 'Matcha" cheesecake. 

After taking some photos and thanking the chefs and the waiters,  we went back onto  the road where we walked around taking photographs before deciding it was time to get back. The next morning the real holiday would begin .  We were set for Kyoto, the historical capital of Japan and to many the real personification of what Japan truly is. Before going to bed though I jumped onto Hyperdia and took a look at the train times. I wanted to get there early morning around 10am but when I told my brother we would have  to catch the 7am, he said can you check for mid-day arrivals. Haha he really isn't a morning person, unless ofcourse there is no choice. So the next best option without leaving it too late was to arrive at 11.30am in Kyoto.

The next morning we headed to 'Asakusabashi' station where we caught the train at 8.30am to 'Akihabara' and from there the the 'Yamanote' line to Tokyo.  At Tokyo station we headed towards the JR (Japan Railway) trains to get to the platform where the Shinkansen (Bullet Train) would be departing for Osaka, with Kyoto being a stop on route. 

The train looked magnificiently cool, I had seen them in photos before and in films and as kid I would always get excited seeing them, I cant deny that as an adult they still bring out the kid in me.   We had the ordinary passes which meant we could only get in carriages 1-5 as this was unreserved seating, but there were plenty of seats so we had nothing to fear.  For standard class but the leg room we had was incredible far more so than the trains back home in blighty.  A short while later the train was on the move. It was quiet, It was fast but most of all you could not feel it, you knew it was fast due to the surroundings wizzing past. Coffee, snacks etc were served, my brother slept for most of the journey whereas I spent most of it watching the scenery and then watching my favourite episodes of "Cowboy Bebop" 

At 11:30am the train arrived at Kyoto station. It was exactly the time specified in Hyperdia. Our hotel was located at Gojo, so we took the escalators down following the signs to the subway and caught the train to Gojo station.  Our hotel was just 2 mins from the station. It was a beautiful hotel with wooden decor and really friendly staff. The room was also failry large and comfortable with an impressive bathroom. Now I must digress a little here to tell you about the toilets. If you have never been to Japan before it can come across as quite a mouth opener. Seriously the Japanese toilets are cool. They are equipped with automatic seats that are heated, have inbuilt shower, bidet functions, a dryer and also odorizing spray.  It's just incredible and I was totally fascinated by it.   The Japanese have spared no expense to make the Number 2 job a little bit more exciting.

Anyway, we unloaded our luggage and headed back out, we were really hungry now as we hadn't had any breakfast.  

The streets of Kyoto, Gojo where we were based though not as vibrant as the likes of Tokyo still had an alluring sense about it, wide roads, shops, restaurants, intersections etc.  We took a good walk around absorbing the sights and sounds and also smells before we settled at a little restaurant to have our first meal of the day. We settled for a small joint that served us a platter of sushi and sashimi. After that we headed back to the hotel to freshen up and decided to visit the Kyoto imperial palace.

When we arrived at the Kyoto imperial palace we walked around the gardens for a while but noticed there weren't many people to our dismay we found that the place was shut. We took a few photos anmd walked back to the main road. It was around 4.30 pm now and there wasn't much we could do as most of the other major sites were appraoching closing time too. So instead we headed back to the hotel where we rested a bit and then headed out to dinner.

The following morning after breakfast we took the train to the Northern Higashiyama region where to we visited the Nanzen-ji temple a beautiful 13th century Zen Buddhist temple that was built by emperor Kameyama, first as a retirement villa but  later converted to a Zen temple upon the emperor's death.   The temple is free to all except the sub temples and gardens. We visited one of the gardens which carried a cover charge of 600 yen (5.94 USD at the time of writing).  rich greenery, a beautiful waterfall, bamboo , this is all the stuff you expect to see in a typical Japanese garden. 

Splash Splash! It was starting to rain lightly.  We braved it but very soon within ten to fifteen minutes it was pouring down rather heavy.  Our next destination was the "Kinkakuji" - Golden Pavilion temple, but it turns out it was around 45 mins walk from Nanzen-Ji. We pulled out our trusted lonely planet guides and looked for what was closer, the station was onlly 2 mins walk away and it was still raining so we had to make quick decisions.  We decided to head to Kyoto, grab a bite to eat, get ourselves and umbrella and then head to the "Ginkaku -ji" - Silver Pavillion temple.

With our newly purchased umbrellas we caught the bus from Kyoto station arriving shortly afterwards (around 15-20mins) at Ginkaku-ji.  For your information the bus number you need to take is  No.5 and it is located at bus stop A. The fair for an adult is 220 yen (2.18 USD).  Anyway so back to where we were, there was a long road with signs leading upto the temple, we followed it up for about 10 mins before we reached the big gate of the temple complex. We had to pay around 600 Yen each to enter. The main attraction here of course is the silver roofed temple, o fcourse due to natural erosion and oxidisation the roof doesnt really look silver anymore, but I can imagine it must have shone brightly in its heyday. There is also meticoulously raked cones of white sand in the gardens, said to represent a mountain and river and a beautiful pathway leading further up the moutains that provides a scenic view of the pavilion from above. I can only imagine that the scenery would have been a lot more picturesque had the skies been blue, due to rain it was pretty grey but nonetheless we still enjoyed walking around here, and taking in the beauty in all its stride.

We had spent about a couple of hours wondering the gardens and temple complex and now it was time to head back to Kyoto. Most of the other temples would be closing and it was still raining. Unfortunately the bad weather on that particular day meant that we had to cut out a few places from our list.

Around 5.30pm we arrived back  at our hotel and did some research on where we could have dinner. I then remembered that a friend of mine had given me a list of places to eat in particular Ramen in Kyoto and so we headed to an area called Pontocho one of Kyoto's most atmospheric dining areas. Certain restaurants here are pretty exclusve and require the right connections and fat wallets. It is also the place where Maiko are seen. We were able to see a couple but they didnt stay inthe vicinity long enough to take photos.  We were quite hungry so I started asking people where I could eat ramen. Eventually the directions given led us to a small ramen bar tucked away in a little corner. It was your typical ramen complete with the smells  and slurping sounds making it the complete authentic experience.  I must say the ramen was so good! It was,  as they say in Japan "Oishii!!!"

It was now  close to 10pm, we had another early start tomorow as we wanted to cover the Southern Higashiyama region and Arashiyama as we were headed to Osaka in the evening.

The  next morning we took the train the Kyoto station to Arashiyama. Located in the western regions of Kyoto is famous for its natural beaut, particularly popular during the cherry blossom and autumn colour seasons. Ther are also many temples to be seen here but  what I was most interested in is the famed bamboo groves. If you have seen the movie House of flying daggers, you will know exactly what I describe.  Acres of lush bamboo trees  towering all the way up creating a breahtaking canopy. The bamboo groves are just five minutes walk from Arashiyama station. The road along the bamboo groves leads towards a few shinto shrines, a few quiet roads with small cafes and beautiful green fields. By around 1pm we had made our way back to the main streets of Arashiyama and we stopped at a restaurant where we had the most amazing lunch that I've ever had. It was a dish called Chazuke a simple dish consisting of rice and fish where green tea is poured onto the rice and eaten along with the fish. It is simple yet delicious and as always presented like a work of art.  In fact I would go so far as to say that no one presents food quite like the Japanese.

Around 2pm we returned to Kyoto station and from there caught bus number 206, around 20 mins later we stopped at Kiyomizu-michi which was about a15 min walk away from our final  destination in Kyoto. The Kiyomizudera temple - litterally Pure water temple. So named because it was built on the site of the Ottowa water fall's pure waters. I believe the temple dates back to around 780AD. Anyway it  is a magnificient temple complex that attracts thousands of visitors from all over Japan as well as from other countries. In total it takes around 2-3 hours to visit the entire complex. The main attraction is the large wooden deck and also the water well where hundreds flock to get a taste of the pure water.

 After returning from the temple grounds along the side streets were we greeted by a group of school childen around 8-10 years old who wanted us to take part in a little survey, so we obliged. They spoke to us in English telling us their names, where they were from and then asked us a few questions. I was totally amazed at how well mannered and well disciplined they were.  They thanked us with smiles for our time and soon they left our company. 


Kyoto - Japan's ancient capital rich in history, culture and food had provided us with an enriching experience that would last in our memories for a long time,  but now it was time for us to head back to Kyoto as we had a train to catch to Osaka.

Japan is a country I have been fascinated with since my teens. I guess exposure to Anime and Japanese movies from a young age had peaked my interest.  For many years I had been planning a visit to the land of the rising sun, however work and other commitments got in the way.

This year however,  I finally did and as I write this blog it has been just over  week and a half  since I returned to Singapore . I am still feeling the holiday blues. I had been touring  Japan for 8 days, visiting  Tokyo (3 nights) Kyoto ( 2 nights ) and Osaka. (1 night) It has been one of the most amazing holiday experiences I've ever had.

Let me take you back to the 20th of April where it all began. I arrived at Narita Aiport terminal 1 around 8am local time, and spent around 35-40 minutes going through immigration and customs, queues were pretty big but they more or less moved rather efficiently. 

After  clearing immigrations, the first thing I needed to know  was which train I needed to take to get to my hotel. I had decided against taxis as they were known to be very expensive over long distances, so I popped down to the train station and spoke to the staff: "Sumimasen Asakusabashi ni doyatte ikeba iidesu ka ( excuse me , how do i get to Asakuksabashi)  They gave me a number of routes, all of which seemed complicated at the time, but in reality couldn't be more simpler. I decided to take the longer of the routes as I figured I'd get to see a bit of Japan by train. The train arrived promptly without any delay and I enjoyed seeing the country whilst on the move for about 90 minutes. There were 2 changes in total.

Once I arrived in Asakusabashi, I contacted the hotel to ask them whether I could walk from the station. Turns out the hotel was just 5 minutes away. Anyway, at the hotel I dropped off my luggage as check-in was not till 3pm and decided I'd spend a couple of hours getting lost and taking photographs. The latter part however proved futile as my camera battery had died. Turns out I had left it on in the bag during the entire flight. So, instead I decide to use my iphone which was better than nothing I guess.

Asakusabashi is  a quiet area with a few busy streets, I was rather keen on finding some good food so spent a good hour or more walking around till I found this little gem tucked away ( I wish I remembered the name) I went inside and they welcomed me with the usual 'irashai masen' literally meaning 'welcome' and was asked to take a seat. I was given the menu but it was all in Japanese. Whilst I can read hiragana, my Kanji is all but non-existent so I spoke, 'suminasen, eigo no menyuu wa imasuka ?( excuse me, do you have an English menu?) the reply was 'sumimasen' which I understood to mean that they didn't.   Hmm what to do now, I don't eat red meat and the menu had no photos, so I told the waiter to recommend me something. I told him I didn't eat pork or red meat , but fish and chicken were good. He told me to wait and then suggested a few selections from the menu that he described as being delicious. OMG he was right, it was absolutely delicious, It was a serving of cold soba noodles, a plate of assorted sashimi and a side of yakitori. Simply, mouthwateringly delicious. I was very satisfied,  thanked the chef for the meal and then made my way out onto the road. It had started to rain, not heavy but enough to get wet, so I popped into a convenience store to buy and umbrella. Just as I came out of the store, the rain stopped, 'sod's law' I thought to myself and decided it was now time to make my way back to the hotel where I would take a little nap for a few hours before deciding to head out again.

At 6pm that evening I headed out to "Shinjuku"  which is about two or three stops from Tokyo on the Yamanote line. The first thing that struck me was how busy it was, restaurants, shops, the street littered with neon lights, people going to and fro and traffic flowing in every direction. I got my camera out and began snapping away, in awe of the colorful neon signs, the huge manga posters, the plethora of restaurants and the sheer vibrancy of it all. Very soon however, it started to get cold to the point where my ears felt like they were being sliced off , so I decided I really needed to cover up. After wondering around for a bit I stumbled across a little shop where I was able to buy a cap to warm my ears. Feeling rather peckish now it was time to find some food and it didn't take me very long. The streets of Shinjuku are littered with places to eat, mostly on different levels with each floor offering a different dining experience. It's a mixture of fine and casual dining. That night I was so hungry I had two dinners. The first was 'ebi tenpura' with steamed rice and an assortment of fish along with a nice bottle or I should say flask of warm sake l can still taste the food in my mouth, it was so good. The next meal I had was at a little izakaya, where I enjoyed chicken katsu with rice and another serving of sake. Back out on the streets once again snapping away, I quickly decide to whatsapp my sister to see if my brother had boarded his flight as I was expecting early next morning. The news that I received was not great, due to an accident at heathrow there had been a huge traffic jam which unfortunately resulted in my brother missing his flight. So now instead of arriving on Sunday 21st, he would be arriving on the 22nd Morning. 

Early next morning around 9 O'clock  I headed out to Akihibara AKA electric town where the whole place  is bustling with amusement centres, electronics and all manner of gadgets and equipment you can think of.  There are also cosplay style cafe's where girls dress up as maids etc. I would describe Akhibara as a mix of weird, geeky and cool all rolled into one.  You simply have to be there to believe  I spent a few hours there looking for a Naruto Statue - Gaara of the sand but could not find the model I was after. ( I never did)  and  by noon I decided to head towards Tokyo station where I would be meeting a friend.  

Jules my friend, who is actually a Japanese gentleman living in the UK and my younger sister's work colleague took me to a fantastic restaurant at the Shin-Marunouchi where they served "Oden" It's one of my favourite types of Japanese cuisine, simple but flavorful.  The closest thing to compare it to would be "Hot Pot" I guess.  After our delicious meal we headed out onto the streets of Tokyo where we walked to the Imperial Palace and took a walk through the scenic palace gardens, admiring the smell and sight of colourful flowers, lush green  trees and imperial archiecture. We also stopped by  a small museum  that gave a little insight into the history of the Imperial Palace. After we had toured the gardens, we headed towards Ginza.

Ginza, easily accessible from Tokyo via the "Ginza-Marounochi" line, is best described as an upscale area of tokyo complete with high-end department stores, restaurants, cafes etc that cater to all people local and foreign. It is said that Ginza has the highest concentration of "Western" shops in Tokyo.  We wondered through a few shops before heading into a cafe for a nice cup of coffee and some desert. After the desert I headed towards the Uniqlo store as I wanted to get a jacket and Jules headed home. 

At around 7pm after getting a jacket and taking several photographs on the streets of Ginza, I returned to Tokyo station and then caught the "Yamanote" line to "Shibuya. 

Shibuya, is best described as Tokyo's most vibrant, chaotic, and colourful  shopping and entertainment district in one of the 23 city wards of Tokyo.  It is the home of Japan's youth and fashion culture consisting of over a dozen major department stores catering to all sorts of customers. 

 The most popular exit from Shibuya station where people meet is the Hachiko  exit. Once you exit the station you are faced with one of the most spectacular city sights you are likely to ever see in Asia. It is a five-way intersection that is heavily decorated with neon signs and giant video screens. The streets get flooded with people every time the traffic light shows the green man. If you have seen the movie  "Lost In Translation" then you will know exactly what I am referring to.

 It was approaching 10 pm and  I was getting fiercely hungry, so I began approaching fellow pedestrians. "Doko ni ramen ga taberu dekimasu ka" (Where can I eat ramen?) I asked.  Most of the time the one's who would stop and talk were Japanese ladies. they gave me a few choices and I decided to go to the nearest one they pointed out to me in relation to where I was.  At the Ramen bar the menu was both in English and in Japanese. This made it rather easier to select what I wanted and soon I was gobbling up a delicious hot bowl of Ramen.  

It had been a long day of sightseeing, enjoying the sights and sounds of two of Tokyo's most popular city wards and by now I really needed to sleep, so off I went back to the hotel. My brother would be arriving the next morning and I had offered to collect him from the airport. 

Arrival in Siem Reap - 11th April 2013

We arrived in Siem Reap airport around 7pm which was actually 2 hours later than our scheduled arrival time. This was largely in part to a "technical fault" on Jetstar which resulted us having to disembark and then catch a "newer plane" (captain's words). Anyway once we arrived at the aiport we had to fill out a Visa form and then along with a single passport sized photo and 20USD our visas were processed. 

Once we exited the aiport there were a couple of options presented to us in terms of travel. There were buses that took you directly into the heart of Siem Reap and also taxi services. Seeing as we had already lost time, we opted for a taxi which cost 7 USD for a twenty minute journey into town where our hotel was.

Hotel Somadevi and our first taste of Cambodian cuisine.

The hotel located in the centre of town greets you with beautiful Ankgor architecture in its interior, a large swimming pool, courteous reception and concierge, a large dinner/breakfast hall and free wifi in the lobby. Rooms cost around 45USD a night and are of a pretty decent size, large enough to accomodate 2-4 persons. 

Feeling rather famished after a long trip we quickly unloaded our luggage and jumped in a tuk-tuk, stopping at Pub street for a cost of a 1 USD.  Pub street is littered with restauratns, on street barbecues, pubs, spas, markets, arts and crafts and plenty of tourists and localites.  After strolling around for about 10-15 mins and taking photographs we happened across a restaurant, "Cambodian Soup" where we had our first taste of the local cuisine.  For 20 USD  we enjoyed a delicious meal that included two drinks, spicy Cambodian soup, Khmer chicken curry and Khmer Amok, a local curry usually served with steamed fish though you also get the option of chicken or pork  cooked in a spicy coconut curry.

Our stomachs were now full and to help ease the digestion we took a stroll into the night market where locals and tourists alike were busy bartering for various items such as paintings, clothing, arts, crafts, watches, jewellry you name it. I myself was paricularly interested in a small vendor that was selling retro camera equipment, 8mm, 35mm, polaroids, daguerrotypes and a few other items I'd not seen before. As much as I was tempted, I did not buy anything, perhaps I should have.

Nearing 10pm it was time now to head back to the hotel as we had an early start the next morning to witness sunrise at Ankgor Wat. 

The Splendour of Ankgor Wat - 12th April

Built around 12AD Ankgor Wat covering an area of 500 hectares is the world's largest religious monument, based predominantly on Hindu architecture. It was built by King Suryavarman II and though initially a hindu religious monument it soon became adorned with Buddhist architecture at the turn of the 16th Century. Over a period of several hundred years the temple went through many changes and as a result what we see today is a marriage of two similar yet different religious beliefs adorning this magnificient wonder of the ancient world. Though Ankgor wat temple is the main atrraction it is surrounded by dozens of smaller temples each with its own unique history.

Now that you have but a small glimpse of what Ankgor Wat is,  let me take you back to the morning of April 12th.  "Beep Beep Beep" What is that noise I wonder, then I wake up and realise it is my alarm reminding me to wake up,  it is 4.30am. After slowly geting out of bed and getting ready we headed down to the lobby where we were greeted by our guide Mr Ross Savuan. 

On the road to Angkor we purchased a day pass which cost around 20 USD each and then carried on driving towards the temple complex. At 5.30am droves of visitors had already started to litter the place, all keen to see the sun rise illuminate the ruins of Angkor Wat.

SLR in hand I pressed forward finding a comortable spot with a decent view waiting for the sun to rise, we waited and waited, it was now almost 6.15am but still no sign, then around 6.30am we witnessed it arising but alas that was shortlived since there was too much cloud resulting in an obscured view of the rising sun. I did manage to snap a phew photographs but soon it was evident that we were not going to see any more, so we decided it was best to head back to the hotel for morning breakfast. 

Back at the hotel our guide informed us that he would be picking us up at 9am to continue the tour.  Breakfast at the hotel was the usual  continental, English and local foods  that are common in almost any hotel. I enjoyed a healthy serving of omlette, cereal, a nice plate of fruit and a cup of tea, after that as we all do, spent time updating Facebook until our guide arrived promptly at 9am.

Our first stop was visiting Bayon temple built in the 12-13th century for Mahayana Buddhist King Jayavaraman VII, after his death it was later redesigned according the preferences of the successive  Hindu and Theravada Buddhist kings. 

What you can expect to see here is a magnificent wall gallery depicting events from Khmer history, stories from the Mahabharatha and daily life of the Khmer people. The upper terrace of the temple is adorned with Lokesvaras who are synonymous with Mahayana Buddhism as symbols that embody the compassion of Buddha and  are also sometimes seen  amongst Theravada Buddhist art.  The guide mentioned there were around 200 of these. The most spectacular however are the faces of Bayon, 4 in total which seem to mysteriously follow you wherever you wander. It is believed that the King was depicted as one of the Lokesvara giant faces that adorn the towers, though there has not been any decisive evidence to prove that this was indeed the case.  Regardless, it is a truly breathtaking sight.

After about 1.5 hours at this site we moved to the next temple Baphuon, dedicated to Hindu god shiva, it too carries the classical style of the Bayon temple and much like Bayon was later converted into a Buddhist temple at the turn of the 15th Century.  I highly recommend you climb to the top of the towers to enjoy spectacular views of the ancient ruins.

 Lunch included we must have spent around 2-3 hours visiting the various temples before we headed back to explore the ruins of Angkor Wat, the prized jewel of the Angkor kingdom.  Our guide who was very well versed in Khmer history carefully took us around the temple over a span of 3-4 hours explaining every little detail from the smallest rock to the giant towering behemoths, every nook and cranny of the temple was described in vivid detail combinining mythlogy and history. We also explored the ruins where the film Tomb Raider was shot.  I do not do justice by trying to explain the grandeur of Angkor Wat in such a few words, one really needs to be there to revel in all its glory.

The last stop of the day was visiting another temple atop a small mountain with panoramic views of Angkor Wat. We had hoped to catch sunset as it brought the land into darkness. However, we were instead welcomed with a downpour of  torrential rain resulting in us having to quickly scurry down the mountain.

 At around  6pm  the tour had ended and we were driven back to our hotel where we were soon expecting our buddy to join us.

Khmer Street BBQ & Two Cambodian Kids

As you can imagine, with all that site seeing in the blistering heat and humidity we were now extremely hungry and needed to re-energise. Our friend arrived shortly after we got back to the hotel and we all jumped in a tuk-tuk for 1 USD stopping at Pub Street. We wondered around for a bit before settling at a streeet bbq.  It didnt take us very long to place orders for rice, tiger prawns, chicken, salad and fish and 3 coconut shakes, which seems to be a popular refreshing beverage. I highly recommend you try it should you visit Siem Reap.

Whilst  tucking into our food we noticed a few people running and appearing rather paniced, they were hiding near the tables, one had a baby as well. I looked on at them wondering what it could be.  I learned later that they were running from police, though I never fully understood why.  Soon after I witnessed something that tore me apart,  a young boy, bolted into the street to a table next to us and grabbed a few measly pieces of leftover bones, looked back in the direction he came from  and then darted around the corner.  We could see him sat a few feet  away with his back turned to us. The whole episode was playing in my head and my friend sensed this and  she said "Do you want me to go speak to him and see if he wants to join us" I nodded. She went over and had a chat with the boy, in the meantime we ordered a serving of Khmer chicken fried rice which we wanted the boy to have. 

The little boy joined us at our table, we learned that he was six years old, could speak a little English, liked to swim and had a very cool hairstyle. His mother we learned was at home sleeping, which was really sad since it was 10pm at night and this boy was out fending for himself. 

Woooosh!! Woooosh!! it started raining again, this brought out a whole bunch of kids who seemed to revel in it all, they came upto us or rather to the boy had a little chat and then darted back out onto the street. They seemd rather content in soaking in the pouring rain.  Our little friend took the opportunity to wash his mud ridden hands in the rain water, he was about to take his shirt off and join his play mates in the pouring rain when the rain suddenly stopped. It had ended almost as suddenly as it had started. 

It must have been a good twenty minutes now since the little boy had joined us, so we asked the waiters whether the food was ready but alas it wasn't.  The poor boy was starving and we were getting impatient but there was nothing we could do.  Shortly after a little girl who was a friend of the boy joined us and we were now a crowd of five, the girl was hungry too and wanted some food. The little boy told her that she could share his food. "Excuse me, excuse me is the food ready?" We asked again and this time it was. I could see the kids' eyes light up as the food was brought to the table.  We split the food into two portions and watched them devour it all. They both smiled at us several times and thanked us more than once, those smiles warmed our hearts and to me that was probably one of the most memorable moments of the holiday.  Stomachs full, the little kids soon parted our company and as it was getting late we decided it was time to head home too. 

The Floating Village & Craft School for the disabled - 13th April

Around 7.30 am our guide Savuan, picked us up and we drove a few miles down the road to Chong Kneas.  Here we took a boat which ferried us around for approximately 1 hour.  The floating village as the name suggests is a village built entirely on water. It is home to a large community of Vietnamese and Khmer folk complete with markets, schools, police and most of all people with a real zest for life.  Smiles all around, beautiful scenery all make this a truly wonderful place to explore.  The daily life for the men at least from my observation appeared to be fishing and the village itself dedicated to making fish paste  - A really foul smelling condiment which seems to be very popular here. 

We stopped for a short break in one of the markets and soon found ourselves being chased by a boy with a snake, asking for money.  Is the snake used as a scare tactic to coerce you into giving money or is it supposed to attract you? Not really sure but I'll leave that upto the interpration of whoever visits the floating village on their next holiday to Siem Reap.  Either way, we donated and soon made our way back to the boat for one last tour of the village before we stopped athe the Craft School. Here we saw many local crafts wood, painting, sculpting. silk weaving  all painstakingly bought to life by talented young artists who were either blind, deaf or mute.

Angkor Museum, The Red Piano, Tomb Raider cocktails and Acrobats - 13th April

The tour of the floating village ended around midday and after refreshing ourselves with Cambodian iced coffee we went back to the hotel, thanked the guide for all his help during the last two days, invited him for a group photo and then headed out to lunch. We ate at a local restaurant where my friend helped a group of Chinese tourists decide what to order. Somehow, after our delicious lunch we ended up being part of a group photo with the tourists, which was rather amusing.  After a heavy meal,  we were feeling pretty tired so thought it best to head back to the hotel rest for a little and then make our way back out to visit the Angkor Museum. 

Angkor Museum located centrally in town just around 10 minutes from our hotel charges 12 USD for foreigners and 2 USD for locals. There are 7-8  galleries in total each room explaining Angkor's  history from ancient times to the present day.   The most spectacular of all though  was the room of 1000 Buddhas which houses the worlds largest collection of Buddha statues.  There was also a spectacular scale model of the entire Angkor Wat temple complex.  The whole tour lasted around 2.5 hours and for  12USD we couldnt really complain.    After the tour we decided to visit the outdoor circus, "Phare" to purchase tickets for the 7.30 pm showing of "Eclipse" My friend had a voucher that would get half price and she tried her best to convince them to discount all three tickets but unfortunatley they wouldn't budge, so we decided to head to town for dinner and hope that we could grab two more magazines that had the vouchers.

We jumped in a tuk-tuk and stopped at  "The Red Piano, a Western/Khmer restaurant located in Pub street famous not only  for its signature "Red Piano" but also for serving the Tomb Raider cockail. One that was created by Angeline Jolie oduring her visit to Siem Reap while filming "Tomb Raider"  The cocktails were a mixture of lime, cointreau and some other ingredient that eludes me now, I found it a little too sweet for my taste buds. Dinner was a serving of Green Thai and Red Thai curry  with steamed rice and also salad,  which was OK, compared to the other places we had dined at the previous nights. 

It was approaching 7.30 now and in the meantime our friend had contacted a couple of her buddies, one in particular was one of the organisers for the "Phare" acrobatic circus. They drove us to the venue and the look on the faces of the salesman who denied discounting 3 tickets was priceless as we were granted free entry.   

Eclipse, is a story of a young man who is considered an outcast in his village for being different, he is bullied and beaten and unable to take it any longer, prays for divine intervention. The gods turn him into a beautiful woman who enchants the villagers, but soon find themselves in the midst of a mysterious plague. The entire  story was brought alive by the sounds of traditional instruments and gravity defying acrobats that left us with our jaws wide open and eyes popping out of their sockets! The performers were incredible, easily one of the best I had seen.   We had joked earlier that if the performance had been unsatisfactory our friend would be in trouble but they certainly delivered and more.  A truly wonderful way to end the night. 

A bit of shopping, goodbyes & The Flight home to Singapore - 14th April.

Throughout the holiday we had seen lots of arts, crafts and various other local artefacts that had caught our eye and the last day would be the day to  explore this avenue and make any purchases we deemed necessary.  My friend purchased a few paintings and some sovenir t-shirts whereas I simply settled for a beautiful painting of the "Floating Village" which is now sat in my bedroom waiting to be hung up, I can't seem to make up my mind as to where it best fits. Anyway we had great fun, touring all the different markets, looking at the various goods and haggling for better deals. It reminded me of my trip to China where I haggled at Silk street though, this was on a much smaller scale. 

By now it was time to leave and after saying our good byes we made our way to the airport, where we would fly to Phonm Penh for a 30 minute stopover before jetting back home to Singapore.

Sensational! This is the best word I can use to describe our experiences, from the splendour of Angkor Wat to the people, the food and witnessesing an entirely unique way of life in the "Floating Village" we had a truly memorable holiday.