3 Jan 2011

.Siem Reap. Floating Village.

We got back to my guest house and here it was a time for my first mistake.I agreed to go to the floating village/market. Tip: think twice before you go there. It’s amazing, I give you that, but they rip you off, especially if you are a single traveler [such a discrimination]. So they ripped me off. Well, I learned my lesson, but you might be wanna be smarter and don’t repeat my own mistake.

I may have been fooled, but on some level, my hands were tight. There is a monopoly where with the boats as well. There are no public boats and so you have to pay for the boat, not for the `seat`. Which is cheaper, when you split cost with more of the friends, and me, apparently, I have no friends. That wouldn’t be too bad if the `guide` would not take you to the shop to buy something for the orphans school [and of course, you have to be a monster to say no to poor kids with no parents] and then to the school itself.

And no matter for the bad experiences in all around that place – the pictures are amazing. The view is totally priceless. People living on water, in boats, kids floating on the water in big bowls, well, that is really something. Of course, at the end `guide` asked for tips after the trip. It’s a good thing I only had 1$ notes, so they did not get too much. Honestly, I was a little afraid, if I did not give them any tip, they will throw me into the water. Also, it might have been a pay-back, but I broke their engine.

Well, ok, I cannot take the full credit for it, it wasn’t really me, who broke it. My luck probably. And it happened in the middle of nowhere – in the middle of the lake. We had to go to some mechanic store on the water to fix it. It was an experience, seriously. There are plenty of things you see there – telephone on the water, sprite bottle, modified so it can run a small boat somehow and little girls jumping from boat to boat, well that was really something.

I got back `home` after a long and tiring day, went to the same `Shadows of Angkor` for some dinner and some beers, ordered a pizza [I was dreaming about a good pizza for the whole day, so I just gave in]. and it was a perfect pizza with perfect little waitresses, who remembered me from the day before and it was a nice night – exactly what I needed after the whole day of everything.

Out of topic: I was trying to wash that face off the city, but I couldn’t stop thinking. This particular spot.
P.S. Did I mention that my mp3 player broke? So I went through two markets today. Not a single electronics shop/stall I could find. I missed Bangkok immediately. They have those on every corner.

I finished my night once again at Angkor Photo Festival with some slideshows of nice photographs and called it a night. I had an extremely early day that day and less extreme, but still early day the next day.

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