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All hail the rest day. Legs, feet and brain are all grateful for a lazy morning. A late start, a late breakfast. A morning of housekeeping; pick up our washing from the lady across the street, buy more underwear, visit the bank and post the postcards. The holiday version of “adulting”?
Walking around the Old Market area is easier than you would expect. Footpaths are cluttered with motorbikes, fish foot spas and dining tables, but the roads are so wide so there is plenty of room to walk around. Siem Reap prior to lunchtime is rather quiet and sleepy – even the tuk tuk touts are not quite awake yet. Most of the tourists are out at the temples, and will not be back until after lunch. Roller doors rattle open, ladies sweep the floors in the restaurants, a boy empties a mop bucket in the gutter. Rubbish is collected from the footpath as the last of the vans to Angkor Wat putter out to the main road. The city seems to stretch and yawn in the late morning light, stirring itself from the night before.
Pass on an ATM that has the hide to try and charge us US$11 to withdraw cash. Try another and settle on US$7 fee. While we budgeted well and expected to need an ATM at some point in our stay in Siem Reap, our experience tells us for next time that we should bring a little more cash with us. You can get cash, but lordy… you pay for the privilege!
We’re nearing the end of our holiday, and I’m suddenly struck with a case of nervous energy. I feel we should be doing more, like a kind of a guilt that we’re wasting a day. There is more to Siem Reap than the Old Market area, however we are so central to everything in this downtown area, we haven’t felt the desire to go further afield on our rest days. Its the kind of place that I could quite happily spend another two weeks in, catching tuk tuks to further and smaller temples and eating at every restaurant in town.
Decide to head out for lunch. Catch a tuk tuk, which, compared to Bangkok, is relatively easy and straightforward. Show the driver the map, he agrees and asks for $2. Sounds good to me. Arrive at Siem Reap Brewpub and the driver agrees to meet us later to take us home. I understand why people choose to catch them out to the temples. The Brewpub is a large beer garden with plenty of outdoor seating, as well as a huge indoor area as well. Lounge in the breeze, try a couple of beers. Without going full craft beer nerd, the menu is small but lots of variety. For the adventurous drinker, Siem Reap Brewpub makes a few variations on the beer cocktail. Husbando orders a tasting paddle. In a stroke of genius, the tasting paddle is served in a small bamboo box, with ice water keeping the beers cold. Siem Reap. Doing things right with beer.
Things to note:
- Bring all your cash with you, if you can. You can get USD from ATMs around the Old Market area, but be prepared for a hefty fee.
- US$2 was probably too much for the short tuk tuk ride, but at the end of the day I’m not about to argue over such a teenie amount.
- Tuk tuks in Siem Reap are not tuk tuks in Bangkok – I didn’t fear for my life, and the rides were quite serene. #tuktuklyfe.
- Siem Reap Brewpub is the only microbrewery in town. The honey weiss was definitely my pick. I’m going to write about this later in a post devoted solely to eating and drinking in Siem Reap.
Enjoying my diary series from Cambodia? You can find the whole series (so far) under “Thoughts”!
