Welcome to Siem Reap: Thursday, 3 January 2013

We were a bit worn out from yesterday's long travel experience and we didn't want to push the kids too hard so today was set aside for a bit of an explore in Siem Reap.

We hopped on a tuk tuk and rode it into the downtown area, home to the old market (pictured to the left) and Pub Street.

Of particular interest for us was finding a good place to eat and a cooking school.  As it turns out, we hit the exacta.  We wandered over to Artisans Angkor and found handmade silk garments and much more.  The silk comes from a silk farm just outside of town and the shop offered a free shuttle and tour.  We signed up for tomorrow's outing to the farm and wandered down the street.  While walking we had a menu thrust in our hand by an upbeat and persistent hostess who insisted she had the best food in town.  We sat down in an effort to test her claim.  Turns out she was bang on.  The lemon shakes for $1 were amazing and the fried squid with pepper - whole, green peppercorns on the vine! - was excellent.

With our bellies full we set off to find the Tigre de Papier Cooking Class and find it we did in the back of the Tigre de Papier restaurant (duh).  We signed up for the tomorrow's afternoon class and headed home to hit the pool at our home base, the Lotus Lodge on the edge of town.

Playing in the large pool provided a much needed respite from the hot (32 degrees or so) and humid conditions.  The two balls we'd bought in the market earlier in the day allowed us to play catch and a modified version of beach cricket.  Fun was had by all.

- LH