A very early start - I checked out before 5:30am! Collected a takeaway breakfast which I had some of before the same taxi driver as yesterday took me to the airport through the empty streets of early Singapore. The airport was busy enough, and I managed the highly automated baggage drop and immigration control. Very advanced. Puzzled by the fur coats some passengers heading for Cambodia are wearing? And I thought the place was hot? I'm not prepared for a sudden winter! A Japanese girl seemed to arrive riding her luggage as if it was a scooter, it had an on off switch. Perhaps I ought to get something like a Modobag.
A 2 hours flight ending in the most complicated entry through an airport this holiday. One needed the helpful staff to work out how to complete the entry application. It was touch and go positioning the iPhone so the immigration office could photograph what was on screen! Happily he was happy in the end, and my luggage appeared rapidly on the carousel! A drive past water buffaloes and spindly cows grazing freely and rice paddies and food stalls which had like hammocks for people to eat at. Motorbikes and tuk-tuks weaving past. It's a festival day here apparently.
Montra Nivesha is a splendid place to stay at. Very ornate Khmer style throughout. A pool no two pools. I had a small lunch of noodles and chicken at one dining area perhaps I should have put the bill on my room but I didn't. Like how in times past the Gideons would place Bibles in hotel rooms in Britain here we have the Teachings of Buddha. Didn't notice anything like that in Malaysia but Malaysian Airlines on their flight displays indicated which direction Mecca was for those wanting to pray in mid-air.
Very helpful staff at Montra Nivesha almost too helpful! One of the staff walked me to an arts boutique owned by the hotel where I was hoping to find silk scarves to buy. It didn't have any. The assistant showed me lots of antique looking stuff but all too big what we do with them not my style. I felt so bad for the assistant that I bought a couple of cheap bowls so she didn't feel totally disappointed.
The highlight of the day was meant to be the evening food tour. No. Well it let me see the streets of Siem Reap and experience the thrills of being in a Tuk-Tuk where every second could be a traffic accident.
I don't blame my driver Kun for the poverty of the food tour. He took me to three different places to have a drink and eat their signature dishes which Taste Siem Reap had unilaterally ordered for me. That's what the instructions he gave me said. However the first place was only a herbal cocktail bar and the food was only a bowl of popcorn. I waited rather long before discovering waiting was a complete waste of time.
We then set off into the wilds and ended up going down a dark gravel lane where the Tuk-Tuk had difficulty progressing. As we left civilisation I began to wonder if I was about to end doing some involuntary organ donation. It was worse. A French restaurant where they didn't cook the food enough. Where dogs roamed around freely (and Cambodia has rabies).
The last stop was better, at least food that could be said to be local. The dessert claimed to be inspired by Angkor Wat was most memorable, three peaks in a creamy melange. My stomach protested afterwards, I blame the French restaurant. I had been expecting a wander round the plentiful food stalls and learning about what the locals have, I think that would have been more interesting and safer for my stomach.