We're ALIVE!

Tonight we went out exploring Siem Reap on our own. After a morning at Ankor Wat and then an afternoon by the pool Joe's Stomach settled down and we headed out around 5:30 pm to the Night Market. We grabbed a Tuk Tuk (motorcycle dragging a wagon behind it) for $2. Lots of silk, hand bags, carving etc. at the Night Market. Then we spent about 45 minutes trying to settle on a restaurant for a drink and dinner. Frustrated with Pub Street we grabbed another Tuk Tuk to the Cassis Restaurant. Had a lovely dinner with a few tense moments as explosions detonated around us...thankfully only fireworks commemorating the fall of the Pol Pot regime. The restaurant blended Cambodian and French foods successfully and had good wines to boot. We had a lovely discussion with the owner of the restaurant and then headed home to our hotel in our 3rd Tuk Tuk. Now the real problem began because our driver had NO idea where our hotel was located. He drove us down a seedy alley to check with 2 of his friends. They seemed to set him straight and off we went on the most bumpy roads. Now you need to know that these drivers, actually most drivers in Siem Reap take "risks" NO ONE in Canada would ever contemplate; like entering traffic in the lane of oncoming traffic and then inching their way into the correct lane. When we shouted out to our driver that he was about to pass the laneway to our hotel, he stopped and then made a U turn across 4 lanes of traffic and then got us to our destination. For $2 we had a cultural tour, a fright and a ride home. Tomorrow Laos.