On the way we stopped at the Land Mine Museum, and on the way back the War Museum. It is surprising to discover that war only stopped in this country fourteen years ago, but very sad to hear of the genocide and cruelty the people endured for many years. There are still many villagers in outlying areas being killed or maimed every month from unexploded devices.
After the obligatory swim on returning back to the hotel, it was time for Jim to have a haircut. There was a barber shop only a few doors down, so we headed there. Jim certainly provided afternoon entertainment for them. As his hair gets longer, the natural curl appears. This is something they aren't used to here, and you could see the look of consternation on his face as he tried to work out how to tackle it. Also adding to his dilemma was his three compatriots were quite engrossed in watching what he was doing. Added to this was the fact they spoke no English to match our lack of Cambodian. But we got there. I think he spent nearly half an hour cutting in the end. Just before he finished the cut, the heavens opened up with a massive thunderstorm. This was the first time we had gone out without raincoat or umbrella, which of course is always the way. So we ended up stuck there making interesting conversation until it eased enough for us go get back to the hotel.
In the evening we got a tuk tuk to take us to a restaurant Lauren had suggested on the other side of the river. It is run by an Australian and is not for profit. He was actually visiting his mother in Australia, but his charming Cambodian wife talked to us for quite a while. After dinner we walked back, spending time looking through the night market. We wonder how they can make a living, as everyone seems to be selling the identical thing to their neighbour. You want scarf, you want bag, you want shirt is a continual cry.
The only downside of the evening was during dinner Jim's tooth broke. This tooth had been a problem when we first got to Melbourne and had to be refilled and then only a week before we flew out, it broke again, and was redone. It is obviously not long for this world as the dentist said if it went again, it would probably need to be pulled. The hardest part now is finding a dentist. We think it might be better to wait until Phnom Pehn in a week's time as there is an international dental health place there.
Today, our last day, we opted to just spend in Siem Reap. We walked back to the area where we had dinner passing Central Market and then through the Old Market, a stop at the Blue Pumpkin for one of their ice creams, then nearby the hotel, a fish foot spa. We had experienced this in Kuala Lumpur a few years ago, and that was certainly a flasher and perhaps more hygienic experience than this one, but for $3 each which included a can of coke and free wifi, you can't complain too much.
It was then back to the hotel for our afternoon swim, and now Jim is having our complimentary massage. It's a Khymer, which can be a little brutal and they do try and twist limbs where you think they shouldn't go, but he had one two days ago and thought it really helped.
Interesting sign in our hotel room
Tomorrow morning we have our bus tickets for the trip to Battembang, where we will meet up with Lauren and Lee. We are looking forward to seeing them again.
It will be interesting to see what the bus trip is like. Three and a half hours. Traffic over here is very interesting to say the least. We can't really work out any road rules, even red lights seem to mean nothing. It seems when you merge into another road, you make sure you don't look if anything is coming. A toot seems to mean -- I am here, and I have right of way. But despite the chaos, we haven't seen any road rage, which brings us to believe maybe only road rules make people angry.
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