Siem Reap

Welcome to Cambodia. Please adhere to the same rules as Thailand, but we have another rule:

No public displays of affection; not even hand-holding.

Showing affection is condiered vulgar in public, and should only be exercised privately. We weren't aware how natural it is for us to hold hands while walking, and we spent the day with one person reaching for the hand, and the other swatting it away. Nobody gave us any dirty looks.

Siem Reap is fantastic. We've not encountered any of the duplicity we found in the Bangkok urbanites, the weather is outstanding (85 F) and the town is situated on either side of the quite, muddy, Siem Reap river (it's more of a stream). Our hotel is right on the shore.

Some other interesting episodes here on the first day:

• A man driving a motorbike with four (four!) pigs tethered belly-up to the back of the bike. The pigs were still scurrying.
• A shopowner in the market tells her un-diabered toddler son to to pee. He stands at the threshold, facing out of the shop door, and urinates onto the dusty public sidewalk. A man walks by, watching, and treads directly through the resulting puddle.
• Adolescents bathe in public, in the stagnant, muddy, brown, Siem Reap river.
• We helped the boy at the reception desk with his resume cover letter; he was applying for a reception position at another Siem Reap hotel.

We ended the night with a dinner performance and a few local Angkor (American Standard Lager-style) beers. $.50 apiece. Jackpot!