The first day of travel and arrival to any new place is often one of my most favorite days of travel, and life for that matter. I feel a sense of accomplishment in getting where I wanted to go and I am engulfed by the newness of the people, landscape, and everything, especially exploring a town for the first time. It is always, almost always, amazing. On Friday, I truly I realized this first day love of mine, or it may have just been my arrival in one of my new favorite cities.
On Friday I left Ubon by bus at 6:30 am for a two or three hour bus trip south to Surin. There I caught a minivan to the border with Cambodia. In the border town, Osmach, I took a treacherous two and half hour taxi ride to Siem Reap. For the first hour of the trip they were in the process of making a paved road. All that exists now are piles of sandy, dry dirt. Furthermore, the taxi driver constantly honked, whether at the upcoming intersection or the person standing on the other side of the road.
The city is a beacon for tourists from all over the world, for it lies right next to the temples of Angkor, Angkor Wat being the most famous. Siem Reap has about 100,000 people and is a mixture of run down, rustiness and hip, laid back restaurants. It attracts the wealthiest of tourists and the most budget conscious backpackers. The tourists are young and old, individuals and 100 plus package tour groups.
Upon arrival and after enjoying some tasty pizza, we all need it sometimes, I meandered around the streets. Amidst the constant calls asking me if I wanted a massage or inviting me to dine at their restaurant, I wandered through markets, selling all sorts of clothing, dvds, Khmer scarves, vegetables, and the, always present, meat. Here many of the butchers appeared to be Muslim women. Walking up streets next to the market are cool, relaxed eateries and bars. The décors are down beat and mellow. At dusk I was sitting at the river. Men were in the midst of building a bridge using bamboo scaffolding and to its side another man threw a net into the river in hopes of catching fish. Along the river a group of 4 men were playing a wild game similar to hackysack. Except this hackysack had a weight of sorts on one end and made a whistling nose as they kicked it in the air. After decades of war, the temples, and the rest of Cambodia opened itself to tourism in the early 1990s. It is clear that in the last decade this city has been transformed with the development of restaurants and hotels, for good and bad. In all of this the city maintains an energy, that despite the rush hour bustle, the contradictions of free spending Westerners and begging children, there is a calm, wonderful charm.
On Friday I left Ubon by bus at 6:30 am for a two or three hour bus trip south to Surin. There I caught a minivan to the border with Cambodia. In the border town, Osmach, I took a treacherous two and half hour taxi ride to Siem Reap. For the first hour of the trip they were in the process of making a paved road. All that exists now are piles of sandy, dry dirt. Furthermore, the taxi driver constantly honked, whether at the upcoming intersection or the person standing on the other side of the road.
The city is a beacon for tourists from all over the world, for it lies right next to the temples of Angkor, Angkor Wat being the most famous. Siem Reap has about 100,000 people and is a mixture of run down, rustiness and hip, laid back restaurants. It attracts the wealthiest of tourists and the most budget conscious backpackers. The tourists are young and old, individuals and 100 plus package tour groups.
Upon arrival and after enjoying some tasty pizza, we all need it sometimes, I meandered around the streets. Amidst the constant calls asking me if I wanted a massage or inviting me to dine at their restaurant, I wandered through markets, selling all sorts of clothing, dvds, Khmer scarves, vegetables, and the, always present, meat. Here many of the butchers appeared to be Muslim women. Walking up streets next to the market are cool, relaxed eateries and bars. The décors are down beat and mellow. At dusk I was sitting at the river. Men were in the midst of building a bridge using bamboo scaffolding and to its side another man threw a net into the river in hopes of catching fish. Along the river a group of 4 men were playing a wild game similar to hackysack. Except this hackysack had a weight of sorts on one end and made a whistling nose as they kicked it in the air. After decades of war, the temples, and the rest of Cambodia opened itself to tourism in the early 1990s. It is clear that in the last decade this city has been transformed with the development of restaurants and hotels, for good and bad. In all of this the city maintains an energy, that despite the rush hour bustle, the contradictions of free spending Westerners and begging children, there is a calm, wonderful charm.