First of all.... Happy Canada Day! July 1st is usually a big day at the grandparent's house, but now that Ross and his family are in Pittsburgh and we are on on the other side of the world, we are missing the celebration even more.
We said goodbye to the Green House, and took a taxi to the Luang Prabang airport - a whole 5 minute ride away! We saw signs for a post office, and we thought it would be a good time to ship a bunch of junk we've accumulated back home. The woman checking in confirmed that we could send whatever we wanted at the "post office". We saw arrows and were going back and forth, asking people without much luck. Finally, we found the "office" and burst out laughing....
We were on Vietnam Airlines (no issues with Abby's age again today.... Weird because she's almost, almost 14.... You know, a day after she turns 13!), but kept thanking the staff in Laotian. We couldn't even remember how to say it in Vietnamese, how pathetic! Come on! Oh yeah, that's how you say thanks in Vietnamese, "come un"... I need to remember that for next week.
Nope... It's gone again. D'oh!
When we got to Angkor Airport in Siem Reap, although it was way bigger than our visit 18 years ago, the inside of the airport customs line and the taxi stand was pretty barren just like when Beth and I arrived in 1997 as virtually the only tourists in the city.
It was smoking hot today as the stats in the taxi can attest...
We checked into our hotel by about 4:30 and headed upstairs to the really impressive pool and bar. The kids cooled off in the pool while Beth and I cooled off next to the pool.
The girls had a great time in the pool, even adding in a little traditional Canada Day celebration ceremony that we do at Gram and Banka's house every year...
Now back to Siem Reap. As Beth explained, we'd heard and read that the city had changed a lot since 1997 when it was really a 750 meter strip consisting of three small guest houses and a handful of empty restaurants. I had pretty much stopped my brain from setting any expectations long ago, deciding instead to treat this visit like I was visiting a completely new place.
It IS a completely new place....big time. And I think they've done a great job. On the road from the hotel we passed dozens of huge five-star hotels, and I was thinking that the city did not seem to have any real Khmer culture, but eventually when we got to our hotel, the scene started to change.
We caught a Tuk Tuk for two bucks (the currency here officially is the Riel, but in reality everyone uses US dollars - even in official capacities) to the Old Market area and I was shocked and amazed. They have done a fantastic job at creating a tourist friendly yet culture rich walking area that is packed with Khmer and foreign restaurants, food vendors, shops, spas and markets. There is even a street called Pub Street that would give King Street in Toronto a run for it's money in terms of a nighttime club/bar scene. There are alleys of restaurants that almost seemed like we were walking the small streets around Yorkville. I think the cynic in you would say that this progress was bad progress, but when we were visiting in 1997 and they did not have any fresh food in the town and the guy who owned the Mahogany Guest House where we stayed truly felt like he had won the lottery, I would say that what they've done here in this city is great.
Of course... I may change my mind when we visit the famous Angkor temples tomorrow.... There were only 7 tourists including us visiting the 400 square kilometres of Angkor Archaeological Park last time we were here... We shall see!
No comments:
Post a Comment