Day 43: Siem Reap, Cambodia (February 19, 2011)

I took the day off from touring temples and visited the Angkor National Museum, the downtown markets, and a very strange massage "parlor."

Let me start by saying, it is really hot here.  The Museum is less than a mile from my hotel, and I walked slowly, and I was still drenched with sweat when I arrived.  I'm back to taking two showers a day, complete with clothes.  But I expected it to be hot, and in fact, counted on it when I packed only summer clothes for my entire four months.

Anyway... I don't have photos of the works in the museum because they're not allowed, but it was a very good accompanyment to what I've seen at the temples.  And you can view the museum's website if you're really curious.  None of the ruins in the area have any small pieces remaining, but many small sculptures have been discovered and preserved elsewhere, like this museum.  It's very focused only on the local architecture and sculpture, and doesn't try to cover everything related to Cambodia.  An art history student would love it, because it so clearly shows the different styles from the various periods of the Cambodian empire's apex.  By the time I left, I could identify when and where a sculpture was made, based on its clothing and its face.  So it did a really good job of teaching visitors about art.

A local flower/bush.

After the museum I slowly strolled back to town in search of lunch and shops.  Siem Reap is a nice little town, at least the downtown area where most of the tourists would want to be.  I haven't seen most of the residential areas.

One of the many alleys filled with shops and cafes.

Let me describe the traffic signals here and in Thailand.  For the most part they are like in the States:  Red means stop, green means go.  But they also count down how many seconds remain for both the red lights and green lights, the way some crosswalks do in the States.

This shot is from Bangkok.

And here in Siem Reap, the crosswalks have an extra funny feature.  The little person who represents the "walk" sign is animated.  When we first get the walk signals, he strolls.  With about 12 seconds left, he walks fast.  And where there are 5 seconds left to cross the street, he sprints.

Trust me, he's just strolling.

All around town are these big fish tanks, set up on the sidewalk.  I'd seen them but hadn't paid much attention, but today a woman at a parlor coaxed me into trying the "fish massage."  What's that, you ask?  Well, you sit on the bench and put your feet in the fish tank and the fish will nibble the dead skin off your feet, giving you a little massage and pedicure all in one.

In the "little fish" tank.

Then in the "big fish" tank.

The results were pretty good.  All this walking in sandles has made my feet a little rougher than I like, but now my feet look and feel as if they were scrubbed with a pumice stone.  The experience, though, was kind of creepy.  Hundreds of little fish swarm all around your feet, nibbling away.  I have a little anxiety about water and a lot of anxiety about fish, so I had to muster up some courage to submerge my feet.  Then whenever I paid too much attention to what the fish were doing, I got light-headed and had to look away.  Yeah, I know.  /laughs at self/  And I did get used to it after several minutes.