Spencers Magic

DISCLAIMER:  Forgive me if some of this doesn’t make sense or if you find my writing style not quite up to my usual standard.  I’m still battling some minor jet lag but, mostly, we’re just taking it all in.  Three countries and five cities in ten days!

I was up early this morning so I could Skype with Cindy.  It was awesome to see her beautiful face on my screen from the other side of the world!  We had a chance to catch up on things and explain some of the pictures I’ve been sending her.  It’s hard to imagine some of them if you’re not here.  Mike met me in the lobby for breakfast and then our car picked us up to take us to the airport.  It would be a quick flight on Vietnam Airlines from Saigon to Siem Reap.  We landed right on time around 12:30pm and our guy was there in his tuk-tuk to pick us up.  We had the whole day ahead of us.

There is a striking difference between Ho Chi Minh City and Siem Reap.  As we flew over, the first thing you notice is the farmland.  The second thing you notice is the lack of roads and highways.  It’s very rural, very basic, very underderveloped.

Once we checked into our hostel – the Jasmine Lodge – we made arrangements with Kunn (the owner) to have one of his employees stay with us for the day and escort us around town for food, shopping, and some adventure.  Turns out, we were able to go to all the “local” places because we had a translator and someone to help us “bargain” for goods!  The first stop was the Old Town Market where we did a little souvenir shopping.  I bought a couple of things for Cindy for the house and then we were off to find lunch.  Our dude helped us order some authentic Khmer food – some of it kind of spicy!

After lunch, we wandered the Market again and tasted some of the locally grown fruits.  I know it sounds like I don’t do anything but eat my way from country to country but there are so many things to experience.  And mixing with the locals is never dull!  And having Mike with me means we can always find an interesting challenge!!

After lunch, we jumped back into the tuk-tuk and made our way to the Angkor Museum in preparation of our tour of the temple ruins tomorrow.  This was a really cool place filled with antiquities from the 9th-13th centuries and a great timeline of the Kingdom of Cambodia.

The tour tomorrow is going to be about 7 hours and starts at 8am.  It’s going to be another long day but exploring Angkor Wat has been on my “bucket list” for a long time.  I can’t believe that I’m on the other side of the world ready to explore one of the greatest finds in civilization.  I know it’s going to be a day that I will never forget.  Inside the museum, there was a small version of the Temple Complex – which is HUGE (almost the square mileage of Los Angeles – that’s what they tell me).

After the museum tour, we rode around in the tuk-tuk and did some further exploring.  We stopped along one of the streets to check out the vendors.  Some very interesting fare on the cookers you might say.  We bought some crickets, grasshoppers, and large water bugs to try.  They had been either fried or roasted and then seasoned with various spices.  Most of them were crunchy but the water bug was a little “meaty.”  It tasted a bit like peanut butter actually.

After those tasty appetizers, our guide rustled us back into the tuk-tuk and we were off…bag of crickets in hand.  Because we have an early day tomorrow, we decided to eat dinner and head back to the hotel.  We stopped at another amazing little place – very regional, very local.  Only about 5 tables filled with people who clearly frequent there often and all know each other.  The “food of the day” was beef!

Mike and I did a little magic for the small group of people there.  It never ceases to amaze that, in spite of language and cultural differences, and little magic goes a long way!