Cambodia: Day 1

The Kazna Hotel has the same exquisitely bizarre feel I will forever associate with Cambodia. I was instantly smitten by the heavily polished hardwood floors and local decor of the lounge which included, among other treasures, a small taxidermic Leopard Cat forever fierce and prowling atop an old box television set.





The family that owns and operates the Kazna is warm-hearted and accommodating. In fact, if you go to their Web site, the same young man you see on their homepage became a fast friend during our stay.

The night we arrived we were jet-lagged but excitable and easily buzzed from the Angkor beer out of the mini-bar. I quickly found the hotel information guide while Sami unpacked. I learned that we could order complimentary breakfast for the next morning and did so. Ordering tomorrow's breakfast before bed became a nightly ritual. There were about five or six different options to choose from and I selected a different option each day. Sami had eggs and toast every time. For my first morning in Southeast Asia, I went with a seasoned pork sandwich with tomato and onion.

The next morning we dined upstairs in the large, stone-tiled, covered terrace overlooking Siem Reap. We chose a table next to the most out of place looking pool table I had ever seen and, in the warm, still, open air, soaked up the jungle scene of nearby shops facing dusty gravel side streets. In the distance, palm and coconut trees cut through faraway rooftops and sputtering thuk-thuks encircled paved roundabouts.



For our first foray into town, we instructed our thuk-thuk chauffeur to deliver us to Wat Thmei- a Buddhist temple and stupa memorializing victims of the Khmer Rouge. The human relics were a somber and sobering site. One of my favorite photos from this trip was one I was able take of a side view of an eternally serene Buddha statue juxtaposed by a sliver of encased human remains.













For our next stop, our driver suggested that we visit some of the temples. We had planned our temple visits for the last two days of our vacation, but because it was still early and because a three day pass is cheaper than two one day passes, we went for it.

Simply riding in the thuk-thuk and feeling the open breeze and rush of motor scooters passing was a pleasure. Gliding forward, I set our cheap camera to sport mode and tried to snap off adequately framed photos of our surroundings.











We landed at what came to be known as "that mystery temple," until Sami somehow miraculously found it online and we were able to refer to it by its proper name: Wat Atwea.



Since Wat Atwea is a outside of the regular temple complex, we were the only tourists present. Luckily, a few locals were on hand to show us around. First, I met a couple of youngsters who seemed to view the temples as their own, private, 800 year old fort. It wasn't too hard to convince them to pose with me.





Later, a university student didn't mind acting as an impromptu tour guide. He showed us around the adjacent active temple and explained that many local Buddhists elect to keep their cremated remains stored inside the temple.







After we parted ways with our young guide and tipped him a buck or two, we asked our driver to take us back to the Kazna. I think that he was a little confused that we weren't going to take advantage of our temple passes, so we tried to convince him that everything was ok and that we would get more than our share of temple experiences at the end of our trip. For now we were hungry.

(FYI- cost of thuk-thuk for about 3 hours was $5).

I don't know if mutually deciding upon a restaurant gets easier the longer you are married, but for us newlyweds, it never ceases to be a point of contention. The frustration level exponentially increases as our blood-sugar level decreases. I want to choose either street food or the smallest, dirtiest place around because I feel that is the most authentic way to go. Fearing illness, Sami prefers to play it safe and choose somewhere big and clean and touristy. We eventually decided upon a Chinese restaurant and order big Tsingtaos for 75 cents apiece. The beer calms our frustration. I have a big bowl of noodles and pork for about $3. It tastes porky and garlicky and I am happy. We recognize the sound of nearby patrons speaking in Korean and it makes both of us happy.





After lunch, we ventured to Bar Street to shop in the open market and practice our bargaining skills. I began phase one of my search for durian and come up empty handed.

Later on that evening we attended a Khmer dance show and buffet that one of the big hotels puts on every day. It was fine. The food was ok and the show was exotic and entertaining, but it was very touristy. The highlight for me was a Cambodian dessert of fried bananas with black sesame seeds. So crispy and squishy and sweet and delicious. I can't believe I used to think that I knew what a banana tasted like before I visited places like Cambodia and Fiji.







After the show it was back to the Kazna to pet the stuffed Leopard Cat and order breakfast for tomorrow. I will opt for the potato and onion omelet. Sami orders eggs and toast.

Coming in Part 4: Quad adventure!