May 25, 2003 Siem Reap, Cambodia
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My first full day at the temples. I got up at 4:30 for the sunrise over Angkor Wat, which proved to be non-existent, due to clouds. After that, my moto boy, Chan, took me to about seven more temples, including the Bayon, with its famous towers with a giant, strangely grinning face on each of their four sides, and the so-called “jungle temple,” with trees growing out of the buildings. I liked the jungle temple a lot, since it was very atmospheric.
When it came time for lunch, I told Chan I wanted some real Khmer food, not the tourist stuff. He told me about some of his favorite dishes: curry dog, curry cat, fried cat, steamed cat, and curry mouse. I said I’d stick to the curry chicken. In a way it’s good that people eat cats and dogs here. These aren’t the cute, cuddly pets you’re used to, but disgusting, dirty, rabid street vermin. The poodles have it pretty good, though, since they get adopted as pets.
By 1 pm I couldn’t stay awake, so had Chan take me back to the hotel, where I slept for three hours. Then I wandered around in search of cheap food. Last night I had an Indian dinner, which was excellent, but cost $6. Tonight I found a street stall selling tasty crispy fried fish and a Coke for $1.