Photo walk with Kimleng

Last year when we were here we met up with a local photography guide and spent a couple of days shooting with him.

Fast forward to March, maybe 2 days after moving in to the apartment, someone knocked at the door.  Surprise, it was Kimleng. Turns out, he lives across the street from us and had seen us on the balcony.
He's now become a good friend and now that the low season is starting, his business has dropped off.  We took advantage of his free time to head out to the countryside and use our cameras.

 building a new house

 Our fearless leader, Kimleng.

 Planting rice

the long ride home.

-r

June 1 - Rabbit Rabbit.

Saturday, June 1, 2013
noonish


Life has been crazy busy here.  We've met a great group of friends, so there is always something going on.  Have been out to trivia night a couple of times (my team kicks ASS!), lots of good dining opportunities and last week we went to Boxing night at the new arena.   Cambodian boxing is similar to Muay Thai boxing, only they use elbows more and it seems to be a bit slower paced.  The matches werent great, but it was an interesting night out.

                                                           The official bell ringer

A couple of weeks ago I started going to a program called "Talk Time" at a local cafe.  It's a free meetup for English speakers to meet with locals for open conversation time.  It helps not only to build language skills, but builds confidence too.  Through this program I have been fortunate enough to meet a couple of really great high school students, Marina and Chhunly. They are very dedicated students and super nice kids.   Last week we went on a "field trip" to Kbal Spean, a mountain top waterfall about an hour away from Siem Reap.  I did not know where we were headed before we left, so I wasnt prepared for the treacherous hiking that was required to get to the top (I thought we were headed to a local temple!) and didnt have the best shoes for the job...  but somehow I made it both to the top, and back down, without dying.  

 at the start.  its a 1500meter "hike" to the top. 

 The jungle was full of butterflies, and they loved Chhunly.

 One of the easier passes.  I don't have many shots of the path, as I was too focused on not breaking an ankle to worry about my camera.

 Our driver/guide/friend Pheakday.  We took a break about halfway so he used his time to write a beautiful poem about the mountain and his memories there.

I took a nap. 

 Chhunly and his friend.

 At the top.  When the water is low you can see the ancient carvings.  This is the temple of 1000 lingas.

 Beautiful Marina resting on the path.

The kids took over the camera on the ride home.  

We stopped for dinner when we got back to Siem Reap.  Had some yummy noodles from a roadside stand.  The yellow juice is fresh Palm sugar juice.  I swear its magical.  It's cold and delicious and refreshes all of your cells.  

-more later-

This is James.  He's 12, and has lived in Siem Reap for about 3 months. He puts all other travel bloggers to shame. 

If you'd like to leave him a comment, the direct link is here:  http://youtu.be/YjDZkboUIuI

fun at the pharmacy, and other tales of woe

Wednesday, May 1, 2013
(rabbit rabbit)
Siem Reap, Cambodia.



Unlike in the US or other countries I've been to, medication here is available without prescription and easy to purchase.   I've always had a "delicate" tummy, but after my bout with peruvian parasites a few years ago things have a tendency to go south quickly for me.   Normally we stock up on basics meds before going on any trip, including Cipro, which acts as a pretty quick cure for diarrhea.  Unfortunately for me, I've had a lingering issue and the Cipro isn't working its magic.   So, I stopped in to the fancy, clean pharmacy to see what other options I had.

Now,  everyone who knows me knows that I don't embarrass or get offended easily, but there are some things I prefer to keep on the down low amongst strangers. Especially the health of my digestive system...

Me to young, petite cambodian pharmacist:  Hi, I seem to have some stomach problems and I wondered...

Her, cutting me off:  HOW MANY DAYS YOU HAVE DIARRHEA FOR?

So much for patient privacy.

I slink up to the register, sweating profusely from a combination of embarrassment and intestinal distress, and pay for what I hope will be a life saving cure of Immodium.

pray for me...

**************

Outside of that, things are still really good here.  Its hot, 90-100f every day, but we are adjusting to it well.

Our friend Chanthy is coming up from Phnom Penh this weekend to visit.  We haven't seen her since we were here in November, so we have a lot of catching up to do.   Very excited.

... meanwhile, back at the ranch...

Monday, April 29, 2013
Siem Reap
7:30pm


I can't believe three weeks have passed since my last post.  We've settled into our neighborhood and are getting to know the area and the neighbors well.  Because we're a little bit out of town, its very quiet here after the sun goes down.  

We've been treated to a couple of really nice thunderstorms this past week.  Our balconies give a nice view of the north and east, and we're up high enough to see really far.  When the storms come, we get quite a light show!



Cambodian New Year was celebrated over the weekend of April 13.  It lasts for 3-4 days, but a lot of businesses close a day or two early and/or stay closed afterwards.  On Monday the 15th, we went to West Baray beach, which is a hot spot for locals on holidays.  There were tons of people there, and everyone was really happy and welcoming, despite the heat and the obvious fact that we weren't locals.

 the opposite side of the dam

 rambutan (nice, sweet fruit... similar to a big grape inside) and other good stuff for sale

 assorted crunchies.

 grilled fishes

 West Baray "beach".


Outside of that, life is pretty routine....  a couple of days a week we shop the markets for goodies, or go in to town for massages and lunch.  By dinner we are usually back home to chill and catch up on email or tv.  Overall its a pretty boring life, but we're enjoying every minute of it so far.

 "Poultry in Motion"

 Yesterday there were cows in our yard.  COWS IN MY YARD!  I thought it was awesome, but the neighbors seemed unfazed.   ITS COWS IN THE YARD, PEOPLE!   GET EXCITED!

Corner gas station



We've met up with the Food club for dinner twice in the past two weeks.   Once for a visit to Il Forno, which was totally yummy, and last night to J4B Restobar, a newer filipino restaurant that turned out to be less than desirable.  The club is up to 18 members now, all expats who range in time here from about 10 years to 3 weeks.  We're all from different parts of the world, and in different stages of life, but we've been fortunate enough to meet each other and are enjoying our "search" for good food here.  Not that its much of a search, as most places are really, really good.   If anyone ever tells you they went hungry in Siem Reap, they're either lying or didn't venture past Pub Street.

Anyway........   we're happy. we're safe.  we're kinda broke, but thats okay.  more later.  in the mean time, enjoy tonights sunset.

PS.  I've booked tickets to go "home" to Detroit.  I'll be in town from June 20 until the end of July.
If anyone wants goodies from here, let me know.   xoxo

Monday, Monday

Monday, April 8, 2013
Siem Reap Residences
1:30pm


Yesterday we met up with the gang from the Siem Reap Food Club for "bagels and schmear" (with beer).  Zita spent most of his day cooking the most deliciously amazing bagels I've ever had, and we were treated to some really yummy accompaniments -the highlight for me being peanut butter mixed with fresh Cambodian honey...  divine!

Nice people, really good food and a lot of laughs.  Was a great afternoon

Its been crazy hot here the past few days. 100+ degrees, but after sunset the temperature drops quickly. Usually its down to 80 or so by the time we go to bed.  We must be acclimating, because we've become way less dependent on the aircon, and turn it off (or very low) at nighttime.   Still not ready to see what the electric bill for this month will be....

Day to day life is pretty low key.  Dave and Remy get up early at go walking.  I'm usually awake by 8am (seriously!) and then we make our plans for the day.  We've spent a good deal of time shopping for  the apartment - small shelves, clocks, etc. so its quite homey and comfortable.  So now we can sit back and enjoy it.

 some quick pics from around the neighborhood.

 furniture shopping in a tuk-tuk

baby watermelons and baby humans.

gorgeous new chairs that the landlord brought us for the balcony.

crazy lady (?) having a fish pedicure/massage.

our new pizza place menu.



more to come (promise!)

the new normal

wednesday, april 3 2013
8:30pm
siem reap residences


Today was the big planned "power outage" for the city. I think it had something to do with upgrading power lines from thailand, or some such stuff that I don't understand. All I know is that the power was to be out from 6a-6p.   I woke up about 7:30, and as expected the power was out..but it was still relatively cool in the apartment.  By 9:30 we were back on full power, A/C, internet, everything was working perfectly.  I'm not sure why we thought it was a good idea to leave this heaven and go downtown, but we did.   MISERABLE CHOICE.   The three of us, along with our driver, had lunch, then the boys dropped me off to have a massage while they went shopping.   The massage was fabulous, as usual..but by the end I felt like I was melting.   I couldnt wait to get back home and cool off...  I got back about 3:30, and within the hour the power was out again.   And it didnt come back at 6.  Or 7.   To avoid dying from heat death, everyone in the building walked down to Touich for dinner.  If we have to be uncomfortable, at least it will be with amazing food and drink.   Our landlord called Remy as we were sitting down for dinner to say that the power was back on.  Its amazing how quickly moods change knowing that there is good aircon waiting for us to arrive back home.    Another beautiful dinner and now we're all happy and comfortable again.   Death averted!


The past few days have been really low key.  On Saturday, Remy went with our landlord to Preah Vihear temple and stayed away until last night.  Dave and I have been hanging close to home and getting used to the new surroundings.   My family is all on Skype now, so phone calls back and forth are super easy and dont have to be planned in advance.  We get up in the morning and watch the cows walk down the road to where ever cows go, and in the evenings we watch the cows come back home.
Its so quiet in our little piece of the country that most days I have a hard time leaving the apartment.  Its a good problem to have.


One of these days I'll actually unpack my camera so you can all see how gorgeous it is here.  

-Rhonda
xx