What kind of time is 4:45am to get up? I had a McBreakfast at the airport, sad to say (and it wasn't even that nice!).
We boarded our Air Asia flight to Siem Reap in Cambodia. Two hours, plus lost an hour as Cambodia is one hour behind Malaysia, despite being further east, paradoxically. The arrival hall is gorgeously done out in Khmer style, complete with statues of gods on various transport methods (elephant is the one you see first). It was good they had some nice sculpture to look at as they took some time to sort out your entry visa.
We were met by a driver from our hotel who tried to giveus the hard sell to get him to drive us around the next day. We weren't having it as we wanted a tuk-tuk (see later). The hotel was reached down a dirt track in the heartof the city, but what a gorgeous and idyllic place it was. A lush garden surrounding a swimming pool, with the most wonderfully friendly staff. Though it was little later than 9am we were able to check in straight away.
We dumped our stuff and had a wnader into Siem eEap, having breakfast at a French-style patisserie, dodging the offers of tuk-tuks wherever we went. This is a feature of Cambodia, offers of tuk-tuks, offers of a massage (legit type, often involving fish nibbling your feet), or ragamuffin children trying to sell you postcards or bamboo bracelets. It isn't major pestering, as a simple "no thanks" does the job. After this we wandered further into the city to get an idea of the orientation. We found a couple of wats to have a look around, similar to Thai style, though maybe a little less ostentatious.
Back to the Central Boutique Hotel for a breather then out for some lunch at a small cafe nearby where we had noodles/fried rice. Chatting to the owner, she had a American husband, though we didn't figure out the whole story. I did, however, win a free beer as my ringpull (one of the old fashioned ones you pull off) had a symbol for some competition where you could win up to something like 500,000 riel.
This is something to mention: currency. Cambodian currency is the riel as I just mentioned. However, they commonly use the US dollar such that, when you get money from the ATM it is in dollars. There are 4000 riel to the dollar, and when you buy something that isn't in full dollars, you get the change in riel (so a 1000 riel note is 25c).
We got back to the hotel and had a bit of a swim in the lovely pool. Then, doing a quick bit of research, I also found that there were aerobics classs at 5:30 in the evening which was something I was determined to have a go at, so I set of to look for them, just finding them in time. It was fun, if hard in 30deg heat and very high humidity, but only cost the measly sum of 1000 riel (or about 17p). Most of the clientelle were women, many of them quite old, but that's nothing new as far as my fitness regime is concerned.
I got back, and we got ready togo out for the night, and see what the begining of the weekend had to offer in Siem Reap. There are no shortage of nightspots, with the main drag for nightlife being called Pub St. We ate at a place called the Khmer Kitchen, which did the local specialities, not that there is any shortage of this around teh place as you might expect. The main dish was Khmer curry which was fantastic. Not disimilar to Thai style curries, but less hot, and with less obvious lemon grass and coconut milk.
We drank a few more drinks (mostly beers, but they d a good selection ofcocktails too) at a variety of places. Best of all the place is very cheap, with it being low season, and most places offering a happy hour all the time with draft beer being often 50c a glass. Cocktails too are usually chap to start with or on 2-4-1 offers.
We got a tuk-tuk home. Cambodian tuk-tuks are different from those you see elsewhere in that they are in effect moped-drawn chariots. That is to say, the passenger compartment is a trailer (sitting 4or 5 people) hitched up to a moped. It's a good way to travel, and relatively cheap. A quick one dollar ride home and we were in bed
Showing posts with label aerobics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label aerobics. Show all posts
Saturday, 28 August 2010
Sunday, 8 August 2010
Day -3. More prep and musings on British life
It's the home straight. Three days before we fly, two days before I officialy go on holiday from work at 5:30pm on Tuesday. All the main tasks are sorted: getting a haircut (yes, both of us), having the car serviced and MOT'd, buying a couple more useful gadgets like an MP3 speaker. So now it's just the packing to worry about. That, and preparing for what we will be missing and what makes coming home worthwhile.
Football is something that is a consideration when we are away. The Championship officially began this weekend, and the Premiership season opener, the Community Shield, was on today. This was previously called the Charity Shield, but I suppose, given that the charities probably had less to spend at the point of need than the collected players earnt that week, it's probably a bit of a misnomer. Saying that, the philanthropic trust that is McDonalds were crowing, by way of advertising hordings, about how many coaches that had been installed for youth and grassroots football. I'l bear that in mind that next time I get a Big Mac whilst musing over how shit we were at the World Cup thanks to the intervention of the American obesity merchants.
One of the things about this sort of holiday is how you get to a place and think it's idyllic (apart from the massive poverty, healthcare problems and deprivation of the local populace, obviously), and you think how cool it would be to live there. As an expat, obviously. I mean, I'm not stupid, you do want to maintain a living standard close to that to which you are accustomed. Anyway, the point is, you know that it's pie in the sky (not much call for Clinical Biochemists in Batambang, Cambodia, where the healthcare system is pretty strained), so it helps to keep a sense of what you are looking forward to when you get home.
Reasons to come home:
British beer
The football (at a sensible time)
Television
Sunday roasts
Of course, dark, bitter beer isn't really missed when it's 37 deg outside and you need something ice-cold and wet; when you can get the football easier than ever online, with Satuday games on telly at 10-11pm, so when you're at the pub; when you have Youtube for any programmes you miss; and the fact that they do actually roast meats in a lot of countries. Really, though, without the dour British weather and the shortening day as we lurch towards winter to make all those things feel better, they are worthless. Obviously.
Two gym days left, following a step class this morning I managed to drag Jane to Huddersfield Total Fitness. That's her last activity before we go, that's for sure. Me, I don't want to hammer things, but I do want to do a couple of sessions. It is what I do, after all.
Anyway, we had our last Sunday roast, which was a fantastic piece of lamb with new spuds, broccolli and roasted butternut squash, as well as home-made mint sauce. It was something wonderful, something you don't get in SE Asia. Meh, who am I kidding? There's nothing we are going to miss from our Brit life being away, be it for 3 weeks or 3 years. There is so much to love about British life, but there are as many compensations for living elsewhere.
Next post wil probably be made en route to SE Asia, at the airport (though never say never) which, as far as I am concerned, is when we really are ON HOLIDAY!
Football is something that is a consideration when we are away. The Championship officially began this weekend, and the Premiership season opener, the Community Shield, was on today. This was previously called the Charity Shield, but I suppose, given that the charities probably had less to spend at the point of need than the collected players earnt that week, it's probably a bit of a misnomer. Saying that, the philanthropic trust that is McDonalds were crowing, by way of advertising hordings, about how many coaches that had been installed for youth and grassroots football. I'l bear that in mind that next time I get a Big Mac whilst musing over how shit we were at the World Cup thanks to the intervention of the American obesity merchants.
One of the things about this sort of holiday is how you get to a place and think it's idyllic (apart from the massive poverty, healthcare problems and deprivation of the local populace, obviously), and you think how cool it would be to live there. As an expat, obviously. I mean, I'm not stupid, you do want to maintain a living standard close to that to which you are accustomed. Anyway, the point is, you know that it's pie in the sky (not much call for Clinical Biochemists in Batambang, Cambodia, where the healthcare system is pretty strained), so it helps to keep a sense of what you are looking forward to when you get home.
Reasons to come home:
British beer
The football (at a sensible time)
Television
Sunday roasts
Of course, dark, bitter beer isn't really missed when it's 37 deg outside and you need something ice-cold and wet; when you can get the football easier than ever online, with Satuday games on telly at 10-11pm, so when you're at the pub; when you have Youtube for any programmes you miss; and the fact that they do actually roast meats in a lot of countries. Really, though, without the dour British weather and the shortening day as we lurch towards winter to make all those things feel better, they are worthless. Obviously.
Two gym days left, following a step class this morning I managed to drag Jane to Huddersfield Total Fitness. That's her last activity before we go, that's for sure. Me, I don't want to hammer things, but I do want to do a couple of sessions. It is what I do, after all.
Anyway, we had our last Sunday roast, which was a fantastic piece of lamb with new spuds, broccolli and roasted butternut squash, as well as home-made mint sauce. It was something wonderful, something you don't get in SE Asia. Meh, who am I kidding? There's nothing we are going to miss from our Brit life being away, be it for 3 weeks or 3 years. There is so much to love about British life, but there are as many compensations for living elsewhere.
Next post wil probably be made en route to SE Asia, at the airport (though never say never) which, as far as I am concerned, is when we really are ON HOLIDAY!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)