Phnom Penh to Siem Reap

 On our last evening in Sihanoukville (Saturday), we met Mike and Tim down at the Purple Bar on the beach and enjoyed the sunset one last time. Lars, the Swedish owner, has great potato pancakes and meatballs on the menu so we ordered that.
After dinner, we took a tuk tuk up to Snooky's Bar near Tim's place where they had an open mike night with a lot of expats getting up to sing. Mike sang backup for one guy for a song. Anita and I didn't last too long before we walked up to the main street and found a tuk tuk to take us back to the Orchidee Hotel.
The next morning we packed up and checked out at 11 am. Our bill was $250 for 9 nights with breakfast buffet every morning. The 4 of us (Ernie was already back in Phnom Penh) got tickets on the mini-bus that left at 1:30. The bus is a 15 passenger van that was packed full. There is no room for luggage so they fit it under the seats and in the aisle. A bit crowded but it works. This is luxury compared to some of the vans with Khmers in them. We saw several regular size vans with about 20 people or more inside and 4 or 5 sitting on the roof, driving down the highway in heavy traffic.

 As soon as we hit Phnom Penh we headed for our favourite watering hole to meet up with Ernie and entourage. Here's Gangnam Kim, Ernie, Alin, some girl with Mike, me, Anita and Tim. After a couple of beers we took a tuk tuk back to the GGP Hotel where we had stayed before.

After a shower, Anita and I went to a traditional Khmer restaurant that Tim had recommended. You have to remove your shoes at the door and sit on cushions on the floor. We were on the 2nd floor overlooking a little pond thing. Great food. After dinner, it was such a nice night that instead of using a tuk tuk, we walked about 25 minutes through the city back to our hotel.
Ernie is not interested in the temples at Angkor so he stayed in Phnom Penh. Tim, Mike, Anita and I had a rented van and driver reserved for the drive to Siem Reap near Angkor. We left at 7 am and got here about 2 pm.

 We picked up some lotus to eat.

 Once you tear it apart, there are seeds like beans inside. Very tasty.

 We bought 2 deep-fried tarantula spiders for $1. In the end, we gave them away. They didn't look that tasty.

 Tim was skyping his brother, Ernie Coulas, with a cellular connection on his laptop. Ernie had a chance to chat with these little girls in the market all the way from Combermere.

There were lots of foods available at the market in this little town on the highway. I'm not sure if these are ducklings or some other unfortunate birds.

 This is a bridge on the way to Siem Reap that's over a thousand years old. It's used only for motorbikes now but during the war the Khmer Rouge drove tanks across it. Solidly built.

 Anita likes these tall haystacks. There were lots of them along the road.

 After a delicious lunch in a Khmer restaurant in Phnom Penh, Tim, Anita and I took a boat out to a floating village on Tonle Sap lake, the biggest lake in southeast Asia. The driver let us all take a turn driving the boat. During the rainy season, the lake floods away out into the surrounding flat land. The flooding can add 10 metres of depth to the water, making the lake huge. Many of the people living in the floating village are Vietnamese fishermen from the Mekong Delta. Not all Khmers are happy about these foreigners moving in here illegally.

 Getting a little downtime on the deck.

Some of the kids out at the floating village. They have snakes that you can hold if you give them a little money.

 A Catholic Church in the floating village. Quite a few Vietnamese are Catholics. There's also a Buddhist pagoda out there.

 A crocodile farm at a floating shop. A couple of years ago some crocodiles escaped during rainy season and moved into the flooded streets of Siem Reap. I think the crocodiles ate some people and some people ate some crocodiles, making it a tie.

 Floating houses.

 A floating school donated by UNICEF that's seen better days.

 The tourist boats depart from this landing.

For miles around the edge of Tonle Sap lake, the land is flat and lush. This area would flood several metres deep every rainy season.
After we picked up some beer (50 cents a can) and wine (Chilean, $5.50 a bottle) we finally checked into our hotel, the Apsara Holiday. It's very nice, comes with buffet breakfast and costs $40 per night. Anita and I will be here for 5 nights before moving on to Thailand. Mike and Tim will be here for 2 nights before heading back to Phnom Penh.
Tomorrow, we explore the temples of Angkor, just 7 km from here. I've been wanting to see them for a long time.