A lazy day in Siem Reap.

28/3 - Started with a fry up to make sure I didn't go fast, then trudged into town. I stopped at a watch stall to get some batteries for my reading light, until he asked for $12. "$12 !!!!!!!!!. You are joking". He took the price down to 6, but the damage was done. I walked away, before I reached 10 metres the price was $1, but being a stubborn git, I cut my nose off to spite my face and kept going.
Got myself a bike with gears and a high seat. Now there'll be trouble. Had an e-fix and a coffee and a doughnut and off for a cycle. Siem Reap is not an outstanding town, it is functional and has lots of tourism building going on, but it does have a warm, cosy, small town feel about it, I think I'll linger a couple of more days before heading to Battambong by boat.
I passed a big school, a lot of the kids are leaving now, mostly on bikes, so there were lots of hellos and smiles. A lot of the locals wear surgical masks, especially on bikes. It is the dry season and it is dusty. Sometimes it could be for the smalls, but Cambodia does not have the array of smells India has, or as often.
There's a smashing big park here, so I set off in that direction, but via the riverside residential area north of town. These are interesting places to see how people live. There is a net part way along the river, this one is to catch rubbish though. There are signs around the river "Don't put rubbish in our beautiful river. Judging by the rubbish in the net, the signs have little effect. I passed. I thought I had blown my navigation to the park, so set off for some benches I say by the river and found the park. Magic navigation. The park must be the hit the tourist" spot". A couple of lads came over telling me how they were studying and needed sponsoring. The second one got cut short, as I told him about the first. I should have recognised the "Can I speak English with you?" The first lad blew the no chance he had when I told him I had given some money to 2 students already and he told me he didn't believe me. Not typically Cambodian.
"I think Siem Reap will take a dive for the worst in the next few years." stgom (said the grumpy old man). I hope I am wrong the people are too nice for it to get a bad reputation, they are always laughing and joking about, but Cambodia is developing fast and us tourists and our dollars seem to have that kind of affect.
I am getting back on the bike to get the happy juices flowing again. I think it is like Flo says "I'm better off out of the big cities", I do enjoy Siem Reap, but it may be time to move on.
Cycled around a bit more and passed the benches by the river that I was looking for before. Back to the Guesthouse after a nice cycle around and a beer and shower.
I went to watch the Apsara dancers again. I blew ordering my food, the fried rice with veg and chicken was good, but the spring rolls I ordered were not the crunchy ones I thought, but big ones wrapped in rice paper and 8 of them, not 4. I don't like to leave food, but I couldn't manage all these. I have really taken to the dancing, probably because I have not watched anything like it before. The food here is around $6 or $7 a go including one drink. Cheap, but not as cheap as India, the budget has definitely taken a hit since I left India, but I have been diving along the way. I headed back for an early night, but Tuy Vuthy, T, the bar lad was sat alone, so I had a drink and chatted to him. You'll never guess what he would like to be. OK you did, a tour guide. It must be the job of the moment. The Khmer are not daft, they know the trend to follow. T didn't try to hit on me for money though, in fact he gave me a book to read about the temples. He is using it to study. We had a scan through it and I tried to explain some of the words he didn't understand. I'll never make a talking dictionary, no wonder I failed English twice. T is a smashing lad, very unassuming. I hope he gets his dream job.
It's the witching hour, so I am off to see if one has flown into my room.