After breakfast, we went to the Central Market, which is a huge marketplace full of venders selling anything and everything! We exchanged our American dollars for Khmer Riel ($1 = 4000R) and wandered around the Central Market. Throughout the trip, we would realize that there was absolutely no need to ever change our American dollars as literally every business/vender would take US money. I bought a watch for $5 and a blanket for $2.50. I kept my eyes out for other things I would want to buy later on in the trip. It is very interesting shopping at the Central Market because they charge foreigners at least 30% more than they charge Khmer people. We would never pay the price they first said, as we could always bargain down, and could bargain very well if we bought multiple items. We mainly eyed what we wanted and made sure to come back with Pheany to help us bargain even more, as they would always give Pheany a better price, the Khmer price, not the foreigner's price! Here are some pictures of the Central Market:
The Central Market is huge. It sells Tshirts, jewelry, scarves, watches, blankets, food, toys, books, flowers, souvenirs, bags, hats, pretty much anything you can think of. The only problem is that it is outdoors and we went midday, so after an hour of wandering through the many aisles, we got very hot and tired and were ready to leave. As we waited for everyone to gather at the front, we wandered through the flower aisles and smelled the strong smell of jasmine. Jasmine flowers are often used as gifts, but especially as decor and offerings for Buddhist alters. Here are some pictures of the flowers that were being sold at the Central Market, one bouquet in particular I caught a dragonfly resting beautifully on the flowers and got a close up of it!
Well, after the Central Market, we went back to the hotel to meet Pheany (pronounced like the flower Peony). Pheany is a 4th year university student studying archeology and would join us to the National Museum. She has a lot of knowledge on ancient Khmer history and religion, so she was very helpful, teaching us so much about all the statues and artifacts at the National Museum. I was able to take pictures of the structure of the museum, but we were not allowed to take pictures inside the museum. Here are some pictures of the National Museum:
The pictures of the pond were taken inside the courtyard at the center of the National Museum. Inside the museum, where I could not take pictures, were many Buddhist and Brahminist statues, mostly ranging from the 9th through 13th centuries, when the Khmer Empire was at its height, and many temples and structures were built at Angkor Wat in Siem Riep province.
After going to the National Museum, we went to a Thai and Khmer restaurant called Boat Noodle for lunch. The atmosphere of the restaurant was very tropical and I loved it! I took some pictures of the restaurant before we started eating.
Well, back at home in Riverside, at my favorite Thai place, my favorite dish is the eggplant and tofu, so I thought I would try that at Boat Noodle. It was good, but definitely very different than what I get back home. The eggplant they use is green instead of the darker purplish color of the Japanese eggplant I am used to. Here is a picture of my eggplant dish, as well as a picture of me and Pheany at the table.
Well, we ate upstairs on a covered balcony, and while we were eating, a sudden rain and thunderstorm hit us! It seemed to come out of nowhere. Well, we would find out during the rest of our trip that an afternoon or evening rainstorm was almost a daily occurrence in Cambodia. Well, we were unprepared for the rainstorm, well everyone except me was unprepared. For some reason, I had a plastic emergency poncho in my bag! Well, I was designated as the person to ride on the back of the moto instead of inside the Tuk Tuk, since I had my poncho! So I put my poncho on and hopped on the back of Somol's moto to ride back to our hotel in the rain! I loved it! I only wish someone would have got a picture, but it was raining so hard that nobody stopped to take a picture of me in my poncho on the back of the moto. By the way, I was able to get a little video of the rainstorm, but it doesn't really look like it is raining as hard as it is. The sound quality isn't that great either, but if you listen hard you can hear the rain coming down:
Well, after all of that, we had a few hours to ourselves back at the hotel to rest. I hadn't slept well the night before, so I took advantage of the few hours to take a good nap and get rested for dinner which wouldn't be until 8. So, for dinner, Alex took us to a local restaurant called El Pasteur. We were the only foreigners there, but I didn't quite feel comfortable with the location of the restaurant, so I would not return there again if I ever came back. The restaurant had delicious food and also had some entertainment. I was able to try a Tiger beer as well! The picture below the beer is the stage where we had the entertainment, but since it was night and outdoors, I was not able to get a very good picture.
I also got some video of the ladies singing and dancing:
Well, after that, we called it a night, and headed back to our hotel to get some sleep. Speaking of my hotel, though, I never did get any pictures inside my room, but I will try to describe it. The hotel would be considered nice for Cambodia, but not much at all for American standards. It was more like a small dorm room. The room was very simple with a small bed and very small closet. There were no drawers or shelves. The bathroom was also very interesting. The bathroom is what you can call European style I guess - with the toilet, shower, and sink all in the same space pretty much. Very small - when I showered, I got the toilet and sink wet with my bath water! Well, that is it for Day 2 of my Cambodian Adventures.
Woot can't wait for day 3!!
ReplyDeleteOh by the way, you should work for the Travel Channel!!
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