On my last day in Siem Reap, I once again went to the Old Market to buy another pair of baggy pants. After stumbling upon The Blue Pumpkin Bakery, I picked up some macarons. Unfortunately, they were sort of crunchy on the outside. Kaya Spa gave me a very good one hour candle massage for $25; they melt massage oil candles and then massage you with the heated oil. That was followed by a $15 facial at Angel Spa/Massage, which was great because they do extractions. MyI ate some fried rice with three chicken skewers at The Sun for a mere $5, then spent an hour asleep by the pool. Mr. Sey picked me up at 6:00 p.m. to take me to the Phare Cambodian Circus. The circus performers are all youths who come from disadvantaged families. The circus is like a mini Cambodian version of Cirque du Soleil, though they have 2 or 3 different shows, which alternate. I’d reserved a VIP seat on-line for $35. Everyone there was very nice. You walk through their gift shop first, which has many interesting products. You’re then in their café area. My ticket included a complimentary bag of popcorn, but I passed on that and simply had a soda while waiting for the show to begin. My seat was basically the absolute middle of the front row – the best seat in the house. I was certainly happy about that. All of us in the VIP seats also received complimentary bottled water, as well as an adorable elephant mobile. The performers were very animated, talented and proud to be involved with the project. After the show, which was nearly an hour and a half, guests were invited to meet the performers and take pictures with them. I passed on that because the mosquitos had chosen to devour me during the performance and I really couldn’t handle any more of being eaten alive! Once outside, Mr. Sey confessed that he’d gone to a wedding reception and had a few drinks while I was in the circus. Whatever, as long as he could get me back to my hotel safely. He then had a burning question to ask me. What was it? He wanted to know how I get my teeth so white! As I tell everyone – Crest White Strips; they really work! I paid Mr. Sey $6 and he clarified that he’d be there at 9:00 a.m. to take me to the airport. Back at the hotel, I changed, rested momentarily, then wandered back out for a few drinks on my final night in Siem Reap. Rather than deal with Pub Street again, I found an intimate, moody little bar only a block away from Pub Street. At Miss Wong, I had an order of har gow and a couple of glasses of red wine before turning in for the evening. In a nutshell, I don’t have strong feelings about Cambodia, one way or the other. The temples were completely worth seeing and the people were friendly enough, but the food was rather bland and the heat and humidity really got to me. On the other hand, I also enjoyed my photography tour, the Khmer boxing and the Phare Cambodian Circus, as well as dressing up to be photographed as an apsara dancer. Siem Reap won’t be on the top of my list to return to, but I won’t complain if my travels take me there again.
