Feb 22

We decided to walk into the downtown area to look around before it got too hot. We visited a Buddhist temple on the banks of the Siem Reap River in the heart of downtown. The statues and paintings tell a story/legend of the Buddha's travels. It is also an active teaching area for monks. After we wandered through town ... saw some sights Ron tried Fried Ice Cream Rolls. They finely cut up fruits of your choice and put them on what looks like a pizza pan. It is cooled from below and once the ice cream hardens they roll it off the pan with a metal spatula.  So many types of rice Snake oil Kids in school The street kids sleep anywhere We decided to walk home. It was sooooo hot and humid that my hair was completely stuck to my head and sweat was running down my face...which was bright red. This is very unusual for me to perspire at all. I don't think I have ever been that hot 😰 As soon as we got back I hit the pool. 😊 We relaxed and chatted with some Aussies we met the day before. They had gone to the ruins for the first time. In the first 20 minutes she tripped and badly sprained her ankle. The walking in all the sites is treacherous. We had the tuk tuk driver take us to a restaurant near Pub Street. We were too early for dinner so stepped into an air conditioned bar. It was quite something. Everyone was smoking and they were all Caucasians or Asian....no locals. The Asian fellow sitting next to me was smoking, coughing/hacking, chugging drinks and gambling on his phone. We almost left but they had gin martinis for $2.50 😍 We got chatting with a guy sitting beside Ron and it was an incredible conversation. His name is Jonathan Taylor and it turns out he is an award winning photo jounalist. He's British but has lived in Bangkok for 22 years and has an apartment in Siem Reap. He reluctantly told us some amazing events that he had covered and he showed us his 3 Time magazine covers. It was fascinating!!!! When we got back to our room we googled him and watched a BBC special on his life. He now teaches high end photo journalism to others. Sadly he told us he thinks he has "one more story in me" but sometimes these take up to 3 years to make connections ...undercover. Although the life adventures he was telling us were anazing, he knows that he is a "deeply troubled soul" from all the horrors and atrocities he has seen. It was a memorable evening.