But I feel like I should write a brief post about the five meals (not counting breakfasts) we had in Siam Reap.
The two lunch places were special. Our lunch after Angkor Wat and The Tomb Raider temple (Ta Prohm) was at New Hope Cambodia. Established in 2010, the goal of the restaurant (besides serving good food) is to teach Khmers cooking and hospitality skills, so they can work in Cambodia's tourism industry by developing their confidence and skills.
In addition, New Hope (surprisingly, it's not named after the Episode IV of Star Wars, also known as the original movie) also has education and health programs. The lunch was a variety of Khmer food, and if you are ever in Siam Reap, I highly recommend. They also have cold beer. So it's all good.
New Hope Restaurant
The second day we ate at Khmer Village Restaurant. This is a huge place, but we really enjoyed the food (and the cold beer!) It also has air conditioning in several of the rooms, if you get there early enough. We arrived around 11:30, and were able to get seats in the AC. When we left, the place was packed, with most people eating outside, in the shade, but it was plenty hot and humid. Half-jokingly, half-seriously, I do wonder if the outside menu has a slight price discount, because I'd be bummed eating outside in that heat knowing there is AC just one room away.
For dinners, the first night Bun took us into the heart of Siam Reap. We ate at a food cart along the Siam Reap River. Like at the Pho place in Hanoi, we sat at kindergarten-sized tables on kindergarten-sized chairs. But this time, we were on an angled dirt bank that slopes down to the river. Carol and I felt certain we would either fall over off the unbalanced chairs on to the dirt in the direction of the river or our knees would lock up and we wouldn't make it up out of the chairs because our knees were folded nearly up to our necks. Awkward. But we didn't fall despite our expectations.
At the kids' table.
Food carts to the left,
kindergarten-sized
tables to the right.
The second night Vale and I stayed at the hotel and ate together. Like the other people on the trip, he's a really good dude and I enjoyed a quiet night hanging with him.
The third night was one of the most fun meals we had -- we ate a home cooked meal at Bun's sister's house. His sister who owns the house wasn't there, but another sister made dinner (with Bun's help). It was a tasty fish soup, with noodles and fresh veggies. I had several helpings of the soup.
Not only was the meal great, but so was his sister. And, for our last meal together, the group was crammed together at two smallish tables. It was huge fun to spend some final time with a group of people who had all grown quite fond of each other.
The Bolgers and Allens tuk tuk
home from Bun's sister's house.
The four Canadians
from Winnipeg on
their way to dinner.
Bun's sister.
Dinner at the sister's house.
Ever since I first saw signs for Krud
Beer, I knew I had to try it. Well,
it's aptly named, as it tastes like. . .
yup, Crud. It was the easily the
worst beer I had in SE Asia. And
I usually like Pilsners -- but
not this, well, Krud.
Us. And Bun.
(Editor: Did you tear up whilst you were writing this. Writer: No! Well, maybe a little.)
The house was far beyond what we expected. It's five stories high, with a garden of herbs and vegetables growing on the roof. There are five bathrooms and at least four bedrooms, including some with floors that also sitting rooms. I have bad feet, and we had to take our shoes off to tour the house, so I skipped the tour but Carol gave me the dets. You have no idea how interested Carol is in real estate. Since we've been married nearly 37 years, with most days in that 37 years happy, trust me, I know how interested Carol gets in real estate.
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