Between us, Annie wanted one more shot at the Russian Market to buy souvenirs for her family, so Dylan and I said that we would meet her I the lobby at 0800 to take a tuk-tuk there.  The others were undecided, but I’ve learned that “undecided” or “we’ll see in the morning” to most cadets is as good as a “no.”

I woke up at 0500 and couldn’t get back to sleep, so I grabbed my laptop, camera, and other equipment and headed outside to the pool to catch up on blog posts and processing and backing up photos.  It was still dark when I made it to the breakfast area, and the staff was preparing things for breakfast and straightening around the pool area.  It was peaceful and very quiet and I was able to get quite a bit done, including loading almost all of my photos onto Zenfolio and completing all of but a few post-processing tasks.

I enjoyed my last Plantation breakfast of fruit, yogurt shots, and their incredibly good coffee and hit a good stopping point just as Annie was arriving for breakfast—Dylan had joined me a few minutes before. 

At 0800, we grabbed a tuk-tuk and went to the market.  I decided to just take my 50mm f/1.8 lens (Canon’s “Nifty-Fifty”) to challenge myself with taking photos only equipped with a prime lens.  I tried to get my settings right on the way over and got a few good shots, then went into the labyrinth that is the market, agreeing with Annie and Dylan that, if separated we would meet at the same entrance (by the KFC!) where we’d arrived.

We started off together and were looking in the same area—me for kids’ t-shirts and Annie for both t-shirts and some small Buddhas and jade.  I bought my two t-shirts quickly, making the lucky first deal of the day with one young lady.  I spent the rest of my time in and out of the stalls, passing through the “food court” and then into the produce and VERY fresh meat and seafood sections of the market, getting some keeper photos.  It was a lot of fun.

The cadets were waiting on cue at 0900 and we walked through the market a little more so that I could get a cotton “boony” hat with a Cambodia emblem on it—another good wide-brimmed hat for working in Kep.

After the monastery and temples, we boarded our tuk-tuks again and left for the Tonle Sap Lake (and river) and a chance to see the floating villages that line the channel to the lake.  The Tonle Sap is the largest body of water in Cambodia and is essentially a VERY wide area in the Tonle Sap River that joins the Mekong near Phnom Penh.  It’s richness in food, varying water levels, and the way it spreads nutrients across the countryside when it floods makes it a remarkably important resource for the nation.  The land is so flat in this area that the river actually changes flow direction based upon the amounts of  and location of rainfall.  Flooding from the lake every year provides fresh soil to the rice fields that are cultivated mostly during the dry season—110 days from seed to mature rice according to Kean.

When we arrived after the very dusty ride, we saw dozens of boats along the banks of a channel that, during the dry season connected villages to the lake itself.  Kean told us that the water was just beginning to rise since we were early in the rainy season, but that all but the tops of the dikes and roadways would be covered by September.  Dozens of long, narrow Mekong-style passenger boats lined the shoreline and Kean bought tickets for us at the main counter. We all went down the steps from the high-water berm to the current lake level and boarded the sturdy boat 5786 with its intrepid captain working to get the engine started.  Kean helped push us from the shore once the motor was running—and also away from the other boats so that we could navigate our way into the main channel.  We were told that the water was only about chest deep, but the propeller shafts that stuck out almost horizontal from the backs of the boats had bottom guards to keep them from choking in the muddy bottom.

We were soon off for our two hour cruise along the channel that became increasingly congest with boats, houses, and plant growth until we reached the current effective terminus with the lake aobut 25 minutes later.  Along the banks we saw children swimming, men and women throwing fishing nets, families on small houseboats watching TV powered by car batteries, repair shops, mini-marts on barges, pigs in floating stalls, dogs, cats, and more than I could imagine.  There were floating schools sponsored by Vietnam and a safe drinking water station funded by USAID.

The channel effectively ended at an area choked by plant growth, but home to a floating village that included a crocodile farm, restaurants, markets, and observation platforms,  From that point to what appeared to be the open water of the lake, it looked a half kilometer of water lilies and other growth was choking the route.  Some boats charged through, but Kean told us that there really wasn’t anything exciting about being on the main lake itself—just a flat expanse of brown, muddy water—so we stayed at the terminus and watched the other boats from the platform.

The return on the boat was largely uneventful once we got the motor started again—this time requiring one of the village mechanics to give us a jump start.  Oh, and I forgot to mention… as we were departing in the first place, our captain suddenly just let go of the wheel and ran to the back of the boat.  It seems that he’d forgotten to attach the ropes that connect the rudder to the steering.  We approved of his actions!

Once back to our tuk-tuks, it took us about 40 minutes to return to the hotel.  We were caked in dust, but we had time for a shower and clean-up before checking out of the hotel and getting some lunch. 

I woke up at about 0130 Saturday morning worried that the cadets had not come back yet from their Pub Street adventures, but looked over to see Dylan in the room and was glad that the cadets had made good decisions and made it back safely--and surprised that he came in that quietly.  The next morning, I didn’t ask for details.  They just said that they had had fun and gotten back to the hotel at about midnight.

I woke up early and took my laptop down to the dining area in the hotel to work on more photos and try to upload some files, but the wifi was so slow that it was not a very productive session.  I did get some reading done, though, and enjoyed a good breakfast.  AT 0600 when the doors opened for the regular clientele, the breakfast area was mobbed with about 100 Vietnamese tourists that we’d seen arriving the evening before.  They took up almost every table, but were almost all gone by about 0630.

Kean met us at 0800 and we left this time via three tuk-tuks (only two or three of us in each carriage—which seemed like luxury).  We rode for about 20 minutes into the suburbs of the city to visit a local market along the river and also a very elaborate Buddhist monastery and temple.

When we arrived at the market, my camera lenses had still not warmed up from the overnight cold-soaking in the hotel air conditioning and I missed a lot of early shots waiting for the condensation to clear on all of the out lens surfaces.  When I was finally ready, you can see the result.  This market was VERY meager and local with local delicacies like rice rats, plenty of fish that was still flopping in the buckets (many of them ugly snakeheads), fresh fruit, some baked goods, and lots of interesting smells.  We walked through the market with Kean pointing out specific items and giving us background and detail.  The people were very friendly and somewhat surprised to see tourists this far away from the beaten path—exactly the experience we were looking for.  We walked out of the market into the neighborhood along the lake and purchased cold water bottles at a new lowest price of eight for a dollar.

Next door, we visited a large Buddhist temple and monastery complex with dozens of large rock and concrete “stupas,” which are ornate tombs for the ashes of the departed.  Each family has a stupa for its members and the overall stupa is sealed if or when the last surviving member of a family passes away.

We walked around the complex and saw monks going about their morning chores as well as the interior of several of the temples, a Buddha statue in the middle of a large pond containing some huge catfish (20 pounders easily) and then walked to the main temple area to look inside.  This temple was deserted, but looked like it had been remodeled/renovated just recently as all of the colors were bright—and there were plenty of colors, too!

After lunch on Friday, Kean asked us if we wanted to go to one more temple before we called it a day and, of course, we agreed.  We stopped by Banteay Kdei wnd enjoyed climbing over and around another complex that was dominated by a couple of huge trees.  When we parked, we were greeted by the usual groups of child and female hawkers selling magnets, token, scarfs, post cards, T-shirts, etc.  The cadets (and everyone, for that matter) tend to be soft touches for kids selling things, but we discussed how this is a very tough issue…  You want to help the kids, but you have to ask:  If I help the kids by buying form them, am I really hurting the overall development of the country by enabling a system that values a child’s ability to sell trinkets more than what they would gain from education?

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We returned to the hotel just before 1600 and decided that that we would meet again at 1800 to go to dinner in the Pub Street area near several of the night markets. We took a tuk-tuk—jamming all six of us into one as we’ve done all along and paying $3 to get there.

Pub Street is the bar and restaurant area of Siem Reap that is famous for its nightlife and also for its legitimate (and some not-so-legitimate) massage parlors and fish pedicures.  The latter are big aquariums with la-z-boy style chairs over them that have a particular type of small fish that swarm around your feet and eat the dead skin away from callouses.  I declared the fish pedicures off limits, if for no other reason than the aquariums often had three or four patrons at a time dangling their toes in the water and it just seemed like a very nasty Petrie dish of infectious disease. The cadets were not disappointed by my order.

We arrived in our tuk-tuk and walked up and down Pub Street, hearing offers for pub crawl parties, a ride on the Rock-n-Rol Tuk-Tuk that plays requests or will allow you to plug in your own device as musical score for your tour of Siem Reap.  We settled on the Red Piano Bar for its location and the fact that they sold several good Belgian beers at reasonable prices (e.g., Leffe Blond for only $4).  I ordered the Fish Amok for about the fourth time, while the cadets had pasta, French fries, and a few local dishes.  Winston ordered curry as usual and asked that it be made as hot as possible.  Winston seems to think that he’s in Thailand (or wishes he was for the food) and asks makes similar requests at every meal except breakfast.  Every time he’s disappointed because the “ultra spicy” is just not that hot.  We keep telling him (and our guides agree) that the Cambodians just don’t like hot, spicy food, but he keeps trying.  He ordered chopped red chiles on the side, but they’re not hot enough.  We’re tyring to convince him that he should order the Cambodian food the way the Cambodians eat it, and we’ve made some progress, but he continues on his quest.

After a surprisingly good dinner, we decided that the cadets deserved an unsupervised night away from me and that they could stay on Pub Street for the evening so long as they stayed together and practiced the good operational risk management (ORM) that we’ve been discussing since January.  I left them with plenty of warnings and instruction that we were leaving in the morning at 0800 and that I expected them to be there on time—bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. I also warned them about the trip rules for alcohol and other issues.

As I left them, I started walking towards the main drag and was immediately accosted by several tuk-tuk drivers that wanted to offer me MUCH more than just a tuk-tuk ride.  It was then that I realized that a fifty-something American walking alone on the streets of a Southeast Asian city just might look to the locals like someone looking for something not quite so legal or proper.  Within about 50 meters I was offered drugs, girls, and other things.  I finally just walked up to a tuk-tuk driver and before he could say anything said, “Angkor Holiday Hotel please!”  I jumped in and he started driving.  I took a video of the trip which should be entertaining.  However, we hadn’t traveled more than 200 meters when he turned around and said, “Mister, you want tuk-tuk boom-boom tonight?”  I politely declined his offer and asked him to just take me the hotel.

Once back, I worked on photos from the day and went to sleep pretty early—I was tired from the early wake-up, too. 

We returned to the hotel a little after 1500 and everyone had a chance to rest, relax and shower before we went out again on our own at  1800 to see a few of the local sites and get some dinner.  We walked from the hotel past a park, the royal residence in Siem Reap, a Buddhist Temple with crowds of people and then into the less touristy area of the city.  Our target was a restaurant called, Marum, run the the Tree Alliance NGO.  We'd already eaten at two of their "training centers" in Phnom Penh and wanted to try this one, too.  Each has a different food theme, but shares the same goal of providing employment and training opportunities for disadvantaged and "street" youths.  Our wait and cooking staff each had t-shirts that said either "teacher" or "student" and the teachers hovered over the students as they took our orders (double-checking), gave them service hints, made sure everything was okay, etc.

We started with snacks of fried crickets and peanuts and ordered some rather inventive foods including some great meatball, excellent fish, and our first try at some Cambodian sushi.  Here's a link to the restaurant and its review (including mine) on Tripadvisor.

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After an 0430 wake-up, a boxed meal, travel in a bus, and three tours, it was only about 1030, so I thought some PT would be good.  (Actually, this was in the plan all along, but this is what I told the cadets) They knew I was joking, though, and are learning to tolerate my sarcasm--mostly because they don't have a choice.  They were enthusiastic about this hike that Kean told us was a local favorite in a national park just next door to the ACCB rescue center.

The trail is 1.5 km long and climbs about 600 feet to a beautiful river and waterfall that has carvings on the rocks dating back more than a thousand years.

The trail was sandy,but very well-maintained with workers keeping it clear.  Most of the large trees had species tags and other info along the way, too.  Deforestation is a huge issue in Cambodia, so any attempts to protect the forests is a big deal.  These exotic trees can sell for tens of thousands of dollars apiece for very high-end furniture in the Far East, so the incentives to cut them down in the poor country are great.

The trail was also marked every 100 meters going up which was fun.  It was an easy but, as is everything in Cambodia, a very sweaty activity.  We were rewarded when we got to the top with a beautiful waterfall.

After climbing above the falls, we came to the carvings/sculpture and also learned from Kean about the heritage of the river.  This is near the source of the Siem Reap River that flows through Angkor.  The riverbed is lined with what rock sculptures of over 1000 penises.  Yes, you read that right.  Although they're now eroded and just look like circles of stone in the riverbed, the ancients here believed that the fertile symbol of these thousands penises would make the water equally fertile and guarantee good crops downstream.  Yeah, right.  Anyway, it was a fun story.

We did enjoy seeing the carving in the rocks around the river and it was easy to think about how this must've been a great get away for the local royalty to swim and cavort in the cool waters--and penises.

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We drove a short distance from Banteay Srei to a local NGO that rescues and maintains a breeding program for endangered wild species in Cambodia and learned a lot about how this specific NGO operates and what are the threats to native species here.  (Here's a link to their site) The guide was very informative and we spent about 90 minutes here on an excellent tour.  Most of all, though, we enjoyed watching and listening to the gibbons.

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After wolfing down our egg and cucumber salads and some fruit at Angkor Wat, we made our way to the minibus and drove almost an hour north through the countryside to Banteay Srei, one of the oldest and most ornate (but small) temple complexes associated with Angkor.  

This was really the first time we'd been out in the rural areas besides out trip to Chuong Ek (Killing Fields) and this drive was nice because we got to see all of the kids going to school in the blue and white uniforms (school starts at 0700), people driving their motobikes to work (5 is still our max number we've seen on a motobike), cows and buffalo in the rice fields, homes, farms, etc.

Kean told us that this is called the "Women's Temple" because the carving of the rocks is so delicate and fine that the people usually assumed that it could only have been done by women with small hands.  He then told us that that, in fact, was not the case and that all of the stone carvers of those days were men.  

It was nice to be the first ones at the Temple and we pretty much had the place to ourselves.  As usual, there were several dogs around, including one terribly mangy and sad black dog that followed us around.  We also some some local flora and fauna.

After touring the complex, we relaxed with some cold drinks and, again, the cadets shopped for souvenirs.

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