After renting our pedal bikes, Vince saw this and I think was envious. Although they were so short that his kness would have likely touched his ears.
A typical street in Siem Reap...not the tourist area called "Pub Street".
This is Pub Street and quite different...lots of Western Food and chain stores.
Our map (I love maps) showed us that there are two roads heading south of the city and one is paved with a very local life and the other more busy and quicker. We started on the dirt road which was a beautiful red colour. Our goal was a lake 12 km away.
We went for a while then switched over when it got so bumpy that I wondered about our tires. Sometimes it was smooth.
Then back to sand again.
There were lots of bridges where you could cross back and forth. They vary from vary basic to quite modern
A few animals along the way
A boy washing/cooling his cow. Up and down those stairs he went with his bucket.
More pictures of the water that divides the two roads.
This one was closer to downtown. Less vegetation but no more inviting.
We weren't sure what these two were doing but we were pretty sure they were fishing. They rocked the net back and forth, back and forth.
When we came back along the road we saw that they were definitely fishing and their net was overflowing. The lady in the front was cleaning them at an amazing rate.
Abandoned.
This was the second wedding celebration we had seen. Among all the dirt and garbage there is beauty.
Selling lotus flower pod. I have no idea what to to do with one. Do I cook it or wear it in my hair?
The land was so flat. Rice paddies along the way.
There was a school on the way that looked abandoned since the right side was sinking quite badly. On the way back I was surprised to see school kids playing in it. Interestingly, there is new one behind.
I got photobombed by this little girl who jumped in front of the camera.
We went through a number of small villages that were a row of houses on either side of the road. The road drops so most are on stilts.
The stilts. Old wooden ones seem to be replace by cement.
This was a slightly larger village that extended into what looks like a flood plain.
There is the one hill in the background. We saw a tour bus visiting this community.
Old and new side by side.
There is the one hill
Road being upgraded.
Cruising the roads looking for a hammok cafe. You'll see...
Success!!!!
Enjoying a khmer coffee overlooking the rice paddies.
Khmer coffee.....coffee and sweetened condensed milk. Very similar to Vietnamese coffee.
We made it to our destination. These boats were taking people for 25US each on tour to a floating village. We saw mainly tour busses so likely included in a package. Interestingly high price again. we met others who said the same.
We realized how we are getting used to seeing garbage etc all over the place. So much plastic.
These little girls were walking home from school and looked about 5-6 years old.
Beyond the lake.....there is another huge one a dusty 10km more along a wide flat road. We decided to head back.
Back to the transport.....it is a rice paddy tractor.
A Uhaul.....with that thing sticking in the drivers back.
Anything and any amount can be carried. This was piled with furniture. Check out the extension off the back.
On teh way to our lake we saw this crocodile farm and out of curiosity we stopped. You always know that in SE Asia these things will likely be disturbing. Especially when they also sell crocodile leather products.
No-one was there so we had our own little tours of the farm which is actually 4 ponds. That are over populated with crocs. It looks green because of the tarp.
The babies
We found this interesting. Even though they have these signs....
They say that they are not raising them for leather in their store. They get the leather from somewhere else "up North". Oh....and I bet the people "up North" get theirs from somewhere "down south". In any case that's a lot of crocs.
He says some tourists like to watch them fight so you can feed them.....what? Glad I wasn't there to see a live duck being thrown in.
I'll leave you with that thought.
