Weekend in Cambodia

As I planned, I went to the Angkor Museum on Saturday afternoon after Jane left for England.  It was really interesting with the majority of the exhibits statues and stone carvings.  There was a hall of 1,000 Buddhas and the background to the Angkor Temples was really well set out although I can't say I'm very up-to-date with Hindu Gods at all.  Just when you think that you've got their names and attributes down pat ... they change them.

On Sunday I went to the Floating Village with Mr J my Tuk Tuk driver via a crocodile farm.  It was quite interesting seeing the different sizes of crocs - from very tiny to 10 years old - but they aren't really thrilling to watch are they?  We then caught a boat (after going through a flood to get to the boat dock) and headed off across the Tonle Sap towards the Floating Village.  It was most interesting to see how the villagers fished off the lake catching very small fish in nets which they then hit with something like a strand-less tennis racquet to make the fish drop into bins so the nets could be rolled up.  They eat fish and sell the remainder in the market on shore in order to buy rice.  Alot of the houses which are on stilts had little gardens both in tubs and using drink bottles on their sides with a hole cut out where the greenery grows.  I did feel a bit as if I was staring - last week when we went to Battembang we weren't as close to the floating houses and also were on a journey rather than going to 'see' them.

After we returned to the boat dock, Mr J took me to meet his family in the nearby village.  His uncle and cousins run a roadside stand so we had some rice and fish there, then went on to his father's house.  He had been a soldier in the war and had not worked since.  He had no English but was very welcoming and invited me to his daughter's wedding in a few weeks.  We then returned to Siem Reap and I spent the rest of the weekend swimming and preparing for my first couple of lessons.

The roadside stand was interesting - we have a couple near to the small guesthouse where I am staying which are normal houses (ie on stilts with an open area underneath) and they have a row of tables and chairs in front of them.  At the start of the day they are breakfast bars, then turn into small shops when glass fronted cabinets are put on the tables.  They sell things like condensed milk, sweets and cigarettes.  There are numerous of these small stands everywhere - the one at the end of the road comes out at night and always has small curled up snakes, fruit of some kind and a variety of what the stallholder (a lady) has gathered during the day - sometimes insects and sometimes seeds.

Anyway all for now ....