Siem Reap is the gateway to the ancient Angkor temples of Cambodia, and the fourth largest city in the country with a population of around 1 million people. Apparently, it is also an electrician's dream (nightmare?).
We are staying in an upscale hotel, the Borei Angkor, just a couple of blocks from the Siem Reap river and downtown Siem Reap. The hotel's lobby has great, over-sized sculptures and has someone playing a traditional xylophone-like wooden instrument (lower left).
Our room is on the third floor and overlooks the pool. In the mornings and evenings we hear music piped in from the surrounding neighborhoods. We've asked about the music and have been told it may be neighboring wedding celebrations. This photo shows the sliding glass window to our balcony with the pool below.
After checking out our room, we headed for the pool-side bar and a tropical drink. Both the temperature and the company is warm and friendly.
We closed out our first night at Siem Reap with a cultural show and traditional dinner at the hotel. Tacky, campy show for tourists or delightful showcase of local music, costume and dance? Only the performers know for sure, but we choose the latter.
This show made us feel special as there were only nine people in the audience. Yes, there were more performers than paying customers. The couple next to use included a young woman, Natalie Riggio, from Big Fork, MT, of all places. Her sister Rachel and brother Garrett have moved to Cambodia and started a non-profit to build schools in Cambodia. Check out them and their foundation at http://theredroadfoundation.com/team-profiles/. We plan to make a donation, and it might make a good project for the MSU Finance Club. Garrett actually played football for San Diego State before transferring to the Griz.
No comments:
Post a Comment