Siem Reap - Day Four

The tooth fairy came in the night and gave Vivian a 10 baht coin.  I guess she knew that, even though we were in Cambodia, Vivian wanted a coin to feed the fish back home in Bangkok.

We only had three day passes for the historic sites in Siem Reap, so we changed up the itinerary for our fourth day.  We took a drive to Kompong Kleang, a "floating" village.  Part of the road was barely wide enough for our bus, with quite a drop on either side, so that was a bit harrowing.

Once we got to our destination, we had to walk out to the boat dock.  Since this is the dry season, the water was much lower than it would usually be, so they had a temporary walk set up over all the mud.

Then we got into a boat which felt luxuriously large after our experiences with the longtail boats in Thailand where you're basically sitting on the bottom of the boat.  This one had seats, and material to pull down on the sides to protect you from the sun.

We sailed along and took in the houses on stilts.

Their height keeps them above the water during most of the rainy season.  Some of the scaffolding looked precarious, but it seems to work.  After a while we came to a village that was truly floating.

It was a Sunday, and it seems like on the weekends, the kids ride around in boats for fun.  We saw more of them when we got out onto the big lake.

Vivian and Elena both really enjoyed the boat ride.  I think they were just so excited to be in the shade with a cool breeze.

We had lunch in one of the houses on stilts.

On our way back to the dock, we went under this drawbridge.

Then it was back on the bus and back to town.  On the way, we pulled over to the side of the road, because my parents wanted to try bamboo sticky rice.  The rice, sugar, and roasted nuts are stuffed inside a bamboo stick, and then it's roasted over coals.  You buy it still in the stick, and then peel back the bamboo to get to the yummy inside.

We checked out of the hotel, but our flight didn't leave until 9:45pm, so we decided to go back to Pub Street and find a fun restaurant for dinner.  Our guide recommended The Red Piano, which is apparently Angelina Jolie's favorite restaurant.  Angelina Jolie is a big deal in Siem Reap because she was there to film Tomb Raider, and she adopted a Cambodian boy.  I decided to go with it, and got the Tomb Raider Cocktail.

It was actually quite good, as was the food.  We also liked the decor which of course included a red piano

and a replica of the four faced columns from the day before.

We decided that Angelina Jolie has pretty good taste in restaurants.  Vivi is the one who suggested eating upstairs rather than on street level, and it turned out to be a really good call.  Elena also enjoyed herself, because we had discovered the day before that she liked limes, so everyone with non alcoholic beverages gave her the limes from their glasses.

We got almost as many comments on her snack choice as we did on her blue eyes and blond hair.

After dinner, we did a quick sweep through the night market for last minute souvenirs, and then it was off to the airport and our flight home.

We had such a wonderful trip, but one of the best parts was feeling like we were really going home.  Bangkok truly is our home now.