Siam Reap - The Other Side...

We hit Siam Reap and BOY was it different from Phnom Penh. Touristy and full of white people and massive hotels (land is cheap so all the hotels are huge), this place was obviously cleaned up by the government and very rightly so - people only come to Cambodia to see the Angkor temples.

NOT US THOUGH!

Since we were there for 5 days, we decided to do some different sightseeing before hitting the temples.

First, the hotel. Angkor Palace Resort & Spa is a 5 star hotel with a sprawling landscape and a 11 hectare estate with its own golf course and driving range. My first thought when I got there was: HUUUUUUGE.

The Entrance:

Our Honeymoon welcome:


View from our room:

NICE :)

We decided that we were too hungry to do anything else, so we found a Lonely Planet (and Froggie) approved restaurant called Dead Fish Tower. Froggie only wanted to go there because they have a live crocodile pit inside the restaurant. Personally, I think that's disgusting eating next to life crocs but I'm flexible...

SO HILAR when we got there, this was the sign out the front:

Hmmm... glad I'm not eating rat. They were so adamant on people reading it that they had another sign down below:

GOOD ON YOU!

Inside was an eclectic mix of weird tables and loft-style seating, coupled with even stranger signs:


Some of the crocs in the pit. Ewww...


... and the man could still eat after that *vomits*

He then decides that it would be a good idea to hire a bike and cycle to.... the Crocodile Farm.

???

I'm like WTF but ok...

On the way we pass some humping cows:

When we get there, husband feeds them with dirty fish:

There were hundreds of them! Disgusting I tell you. YUCKS!


*Shudder*

Each crocodile is worth about US$1,500 (more than some people's lives) and they are farmed for their skin, which is a very important export for Cambodians. Also for their meat, which we tried later and tasted a little UGH.

I decide that the only way to get over that experience is by getting a fishy massage by Dr Fish:

So fun! A million little fishy eating away the dead skin on your feet. We were laughing so much in the beginning cos it was so ticklish, but then we got used to it. When I took my feet out, it was better than a spa pedicure! So smooooth :)

Yes. They sell these everywhere. Dont ask.

I also got one for my boss. And Betty's husband Adolfo. HAHA

NEXT DAY...

We skip the temples (again). LOL - what are we doing in Siam Reap?

A drink by the pool bar and some fresh flowers in my hair later, we decide to go horseback riding in the countryside.

LOL! And totally random...

My horse had a big butt just like me :P

Tonle Sap River

In the afternoon, we did something very worthwhile and eye-opening for me. We went to the Tonle Sap River/Lake, or the Floating Village.

We could have also done this in Vietnam but we didnt have the time. I thought it was very important that we see how the people live on the river before we leave.

Getting onto our little speedboat for the tour:


You can see the little huts there on the land. Those people at least have a house to live on. Others you will see below only live on these makeshift boats which are more like driftwood.

Here is a family fishing and skinning snakes. Those things on the rooftop are dried snakes. There is a huge snake market in Cambodia, and most of them are found in the Tonle Sap. They are a delicacy for eating, as well as exported to Vietnam and China for medicine. River snakes are used to feed the crocodiles:

This was amazing. I couldn't take my eyes off this kid. He couldn't have been more than 8 years old, and he was holding a sharp knife, skinning all these snakes for the family business. Sad but an ingenious way to make use of your offspring if they cant afford to go to school...

The Lake itself was beautiful. We watched the sky go from blue to amber to crimson for the sunset. Just breathtaking...

But what a huge contrast to the people who lived on it. The inhabitants of the Floating Village on this side, we were told, are all Vietnamese refugees. They live on these shitty water houses, and have to move constantly with the tide. There is no real shelter from rain and these people... they really have nothing.

It was so so so sad. I was speechless and so saddened by it for the whole night:



We made a pit stop and held some pythons. Husband was scared but he's trying to look manly in this picture. I was brave cos I've held one before :)


Onto the big boat, where we watched the sunset and had dinner. I felt bad that we were eating all this food and drinking beer, when all those people below us had nothing but the dirty water to wash their clothes in and drink from...


Then the sun set and it was so beautiful! At least they get to watch this every night:

Our sunset kiss:


Just gorgeous...