The Tandem Bike's arrival to Cambodia was a wet one. From the window of the plane from Pakse to Siem Reap, I could tell there was a lot of flooding, but I wasn't prepared for the extent of it in the city. It was like Venice, only instead of gondolas, the streets were filled with hundreds of bikes, motorcycles, and tuk tuks forging ahead through knee-deep water. I guess life doesn't stop in Cambodia over a little bit of rain. Ours certainly didn't.
Our first day in Siem Reap, we rented bikes and took a pleasure cruise through the city swamp. First stop: a blind massage. Apparently, it's a pretty big thing in SE Asia—a real feel-good way to spend your money. And I've got $7 burning a hole in my pocket for the next one. I don't know what I'm going to do when I get back to the Western way of life and can no longer afford daily massages and pedicures. It's a thought that doesn't even bear contemplating.
Anyway, second stop: Angkor Wat at sunset. And by sunset, I mean torrential downpour. We didn't even make it past the moat outside the Wat before the weather forced us to turn back. And then it was a wet four miles into town.
Third stop: dinner on Pub Street. Though we hired a tuk tuk there, we finally just had to break down and take our shoes off to negotiate from one restaurant to the next. Who knows what we stepped on or what sort of nasty bacteria got into our bare feet. Ashley informs me that she has some meds if I happen to get worms, so I should be sitting pretty.
The most interesting thing about Siem Reap being under water was how quickly it dried up. We spent all of the next day in Angkor (no rain and hotter than Mr. Thornton with a loosened cravat), and by the time we returned to town, the streets were back to normal. Which is to say, full of pot-holes, trash, and stray dogs. I was actually really glad we got to see it during the flood—it covered up most of the ugly bits and made the city seem that much more beautiful and romantic.
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