The Wonders of Pub Street

We had booked tickets from Kratie to Siem Reap where we would begin in a minibus and then change part way through the day to a regular bus for the remainder of the trip. That morning we piled in to the minibus with and learned that we would be sitting with four people to a seat designed to hold three. We, being fairly accustomed to uncomfortable transport by this point in the trip squeezed into the seat. However, others on the minibus were not so accommodating. There was a fair amount of yelling, demands for money back (an unknown concept here) and general upset. All this fuss accomplished nothing and everyone ended up sitting four to a seat. Riley, Alex, Garrett and I ended up sitting in the very back seat which was jacked up from the bottom and forward from the back due to how everyone's bags had been crammed into the back. Easily the least comfortable seat in the vehicle. Shortly before reaching the station we parted ways with Riley as he wanted to go directly to the coast. We reached the station were we would transfer from the minibus to the bus and spent some time at this rest spot eating fried noodles, mango, sweet potato chips and waiting for the bus to arrive. By the time we had secured our seats on the bus neither Alex or Garrett were feeling to hot. Travelers diarrhea. There were a few close calls but luckily the bus had immaculate timing for stopping for restroom breaks! Besides not feeling so well and the incessant and grating Cambodian karaoke that played on the bus, trip was not too bad.

We arrived in Siem Reap around 5pm, enlisted the help of a tuk-tuk driver to find a guesthouse and then headed to the famous Pub Street for some food. A good plate of fried noodles for $1.25. Pub Street is crazy. As you walk you are constantly being yelled at: Lady, you get massage? Lady, something to eat? Lady, tuk-tuk? Most everyone is nice about it and simply want you business, but some are more aggressive and can be very annoying. Not to mention exhausting, constantly having people harass you for your money. That night we decided to have some fun. We bought ice cream, had a fish foot massage, where you put your feet in a tanks and small fish gently bite your feet and eat all the dead skin. Next we had a regular foot massage (Amazing!) while we watched a short documentary about Angkor Wat. From there we went to a bar called Angkor What? where we danced our hearts out till early in the morning. The next day not much was done. None of us felt too great. But we did manage to make arrangements for the next morning to go to Angkor Wat. After a great breakfast of French toast and fruit, we headed to the temple with Chet, our tuk-tuk driver.

We will soon describe the wonders of Angkor to accompany the pictures and video that we have up!
Ashley