Trip to Cambodia--Siem Reap! Day 1

I started off the day miserable. K-Nay had gifted both Wendy and myself with illness, despite the menu being vegan friendly. Wendy was sick the night before and I was sick for the entire next day. Fun. I was bundled up in 80* weather, and couldn't be further than 2 seconds from a bathroom at any given time. And in this condition, I boarded a plane from Phenom Penh to Siem Reap.

When we landed in Siem Reap, grabbed a taxi (because the hotel didn't send someone to pick us up) and rode to the hotel, it was clear Siem Reap is much better than Phenom Penh and there's a reason it's more touristy. The town isn't as crowded, the air is clearer and the overall feel of the place is much more relaxed and chill.



We got to the Golden Banana Hotel and it was beautiful! There was this great pool with a waterfall and wooden tables and chairs on a stone patio for lounging. Plenty of trees and flowers. The doors to the room were painted a dark red, and had iron handles--not the typical sterile feel of a hotel. Then there were the paintings of the laughing gay Chinese man. The Golden Banana is run by two Belgian expats and advertises as gay friendly. The artist of these pictures with laughing Chinese men (same man painted multiple times in the same painting) is apparently the new hot thing in Europe, but Wendy and I couldn't help but laughing.

There was a slight issue with finding our reservations, despite us having called the night before to make sure our arriving a day early wouldn't be an issue and the person on the phone had assured us it would be okay. We were shown to a room after waiting around for a bit, and it looked nice enough, but the bathroom was upstairs and the bed I was supposed to be in was downstairs. I had trouble walking up and down the stairs (as did Wendy who was experiencing some nasty side effects from the anti-malaria pills she was taking) and we asked if we could move to a room with everything on one floor, and told it would be available the next day. No problem, Wendy went out for a massage and I laid down on the bed upstairs and passed out for the next 3 hours.

I felt a bit better after that nap, but not top of my game yet. Wendy came back from her massage feeling more tense than when she had gone out. The "spa" at the hotel had a very choppy, rough massage "therapist." So, the hotel wasn't as magical as it seemed at first glance, but it was much nicer than anything I would have been able to stay in if I were in charge of housing. :)




Mexican food! For dinner, Wendy and I walked into the stretch of town with loads of shops and restaurants. There were a couple that sounded good, but we settled at a place with Mexican food. I was not disappointed, but it still wasn't as good as the real deal. I just get super excited when I can have beans and avocado. I still wasn't feeling too great, but I was able to keep the dinner inside. Progress!

After dinner, we decided to explore the Pub Street section of Siem Reap and all the small shops and things. It was crazy. Like a street fair at night, every night. It reminded me of Itaewon in Seoul, but not as seedy. There weren't enough meals in the day to try all the places to find the best pizza, mexican food or curry. The beer still wasn't good. :P

Early night in so I could sleep of the rest of the illness.