253 326
CAMBODIA
253
October14
It was so good to be able to come back to
the luxury of Raffles and a really wonderful
breakfast (Champagne included in this)
before we set off on our next adventure. This
time it was to the Bayon and Ta Prohm (“the
Tomb Raider temple”); I can’t decide which is
my favourite – the stone faces at Bayon are
so beautiful, but the way nature has worked
its way through the ruins at Ta Prohm and
the colour of that temple’s stones really
fascinate me.
Later we had quite a long session at the
museum; it’s worth getting the individual
headphone sets so you can go at your own
pace. There are also ceramic, silk and silver
shops that are worth popping into; I spent
a fortune on a couple of pieces and I’m not
sure if I paid too much or not! The markets
are definitely value for money – lots of silver
jewellery, cool baggy “elephant” pants that
are the uniform of Cambodian tourists, and
nice crockery and artefacts. Always shop at
night – it’s much cooler.
There are plenty of massage places and we
had a fabulous foot massage, fish spa and
then pedicure, all for about $10. The quality
of the food varies; on Pub Street we had a
great meal the first night and an awful one
the next. My advice is wait until you see where
others are eating – if it’s empty, avoid it. The
food at the hotel was excellent and I wish we
had had dinner there on the second night;
lunch on the first day was excellent and very
reasonably priced.
A
tuk tuk
from Raffles to the middle of town
is around three to five dollars; you can ask
them to wait for you or SMS them when you’re
ready, but there are always plenty around.
I always pay them more – in my way, that’s
my “charity”. And I always try to buy a book
or two from the children selling them on the
streets.
First They Killed My Father
is written
by a lady who is now a lawyer living in the US.
She was seven, I think, when the Khmer Rouge
marched her and her family out of Phnom
Penh, and the book is all about those years
The master bedroom at the villa