An easy day in Siem Reap.

24/3 - I decided on an easy day today and it was going well until I bought a pineapple from a lady with a street barrow and sat on a step to eat it. Then I noticed bikes for hire in the shop next door. The seat could have done with being a bit higher, but the lad said it wouldn't, but it has gears, a bonus. I'm on and I'm off, not literally, off down the road. What a good move this is, I love being on a bike, the rest of the traffic aren't so chuffed about it. You need four sets of eyes for this. The right side of the road seems to be the side you start from until you can be bothered to move to the correct side. This means there are 4 directions of travel, but there is some logic, if you are on the wrong side of the road, then you stay near the kerb and then drift over the road as the traffic thins. It didn't take me long to get used to it, as I started from the wrong side. I set off following my nose and before I knew it I was out of town, cycling beside the river, how cool is this?
At first sight, some of the local houses don't look so clever, but on closer inspection some are not bad and some rough, but most interesting. A lot are on stilts, sometimes housing a workshop, or shops below and living quarters usually up a height. Most have hammocks strung up below too. They are the number 1 piece of furniture in Cambodia. I passed one house that wasn't a patch on my Dad's pigeon loft, but inside there were a couple kids having a laugh, a TV on the go and a young lad on his mobile, so that is Cambodia I guess, appearances can be deceptive. The front of the house was completely open, to let the breeze in I suspect, this is one hot country. I was told it gets to 45C next month and in May.
There are plenty of bridges along the river and over these is where one residential area is. The bridges are on the other side of the road, so I swivel my head through 360 degrees, close my eyes and head over, when I open them I am on the bridge. PHEW!! Our Val has probably just wet herself in panic. I'm 54 and still alive, at the time of writing, so I must be doing something right.
The river is a bit murky, in fact a lot murky, but I saw a lady swimming in it with her toddler earlier and there's a bloke stood in it fishing with a net, so there must be something alive in it. It is mostly the colour of the earth that has it murky. Some of the housing is not what you may desire as your riverside retreat, but just across the road, or dirt track, there are some big places with sliding gates, very posh. How the other half live is within easy sight of both parties. I continued along the dirt track and a lad about 16, comes chogging out from the stilts of a house. He wanted to practice his English. I should have remembered this from India. I believe he did want to practice his English. He wants to be a tour guide. His Dad is a farmer. San, his name, told me about a temple not far down the track, but I declined his offer of him showing me around and set off again. I came across some silver and gold bananas hanging outside an orange gazebo, so I pulled over to look. As I stood peeking in, my toes on my right foot felt like they were on fire. I looked down to see some red ants not happy at my presence. It didn't burn for long and this was not the temple, but it looked like some monk school. Dirt tracking again, I came across an old pagoda, which I guessed was the real temple. I stopped on the bridge across from it and watched a bloke fishing when 4 lads stopped at the otherside of the bridge and just looked at me. 1 was driving a motorbike towing a great big frame, 2 were pushing, the 3rd must have been the council supervisor. Anyway, I twigged they couldn't get across the bridge with me standing on it, so I backed off and they started laughing and smiling. I took their photo as they came over and the laughing got louder and they disappeared into the temple grounds. I turned around to set off again and there sat San, on his Dad's Honda 90. He offered to take me into the pagoda, so off we went. There is a new pagoda being built next to the old one and San gave me some insight into the drawing and statues. A nipper joined us who loved posing for his photo to be taken. It was worth the visit. San then told me of another temple and ruins further down the road, so we set off, the 16 year old on the motorbike and the 54 year old pedaling. ??????? It wasn't far. San knew quite a few people along the way. One lass he knows on a bike in pyjamas, it is normal day wear in Cambodia, had a thing for San, but he never took her on. I wish a lass in pyjamas would take a shine to me. We passed a new pagoda to the ruined temple. San switched off and I fell off, not really and we went in. There was a bride and groom coming out in very posh traditional dress. They had been in here for the photo shoot. She wasnt keen on me taking a photo, but San convinced them. I watched as they left and the bride picked her gown up out of the dirt, she had rolled up jeans on underneath. We continued in and had a gander, then back out to the bikes. A friend of San's was there and was determined to show us the pagoda. He was a attendant for the monks. I could tell by his chat there was a hit coming on. It was good to see the temple. San's mate was laying on the sob story a bit thick. I didn't bite, but I didn't have to, he asked for some money, "$10 dollars would pay my tuition fees for 1 month." He was being fed and housed by the monks and taught, so I split $9 between him and San. I'm a soft touch at times. Just when I was starting to believe in human nature again. It only costs $12 for a toot toot all day. I mentioned to San his friend was cheeky asking for money, he could tell I was a bit miffed, so when we hit the main road he legged it, only to come back and stay with me to his bridge crossing. Having slagged these lads off, it is not the norm to be touted in Siem Reap. This blog is like the news, it highlights the bad bits. Both lads wanted to be tour guides, it seems the profession to have here, but I think they may have it wrong, the toot toot drivers are the rip off merchants.
This mornings toot toot driver was slagging off the army and police, saying how corrupt they are and only they can afford posh apartments and Lexus 4x4's, which do seem common around town. Some of the business stories I've heard do point to corruption being rife.
Back on the bike, I didn't want to head home too early, so I stopped for a well deserved beer. I thought I had better have some food with my next one, I didn't want to be biking half cut, in the dark, no light, people on the wrong side of the road and me wearing a black T-shirt, that sounds like a short cut to the hospital. I went to the Red Piano, but never saw it and had some Khmer pork with ginger and sauce, very nice too. I took my bike back and headed back for a beer before bed.