Siem Reap and the Floating Villagers

Sokha Angkor: Standard Room
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So I catch a one hour morning flight to Siem Reap, Cambodia and check-in to a very nice hotel called the Sohka Angkor.  If you ever find yourself in Siem Reap, this is the place to stay.  Its a 2 km walk to the center of town, the old market, but still very quiet.  For some reason everywhere I went the workers knew what room I stayed in and who would be paying.  The swimming pool was gorgeous, but if you go to Siem Reap to hang out in the pool you have major issues.

Anyways, I always spend the first day I'm in a new city getting familiar with my surroundings.  This means figuring out where to buy cigarettes, where to do laundry, internet cafes, and figuring out how to get around.  Learning your way around prevents taxi's from driving in circles in an effort to increase your cab fees.

Floating Village
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Cambodia was an interesting place, apparently littered with landmines.  It seemed everywhere you turned there was a landmine victim begging for change on the corner.  It was actually quite sad.  Here in the states, I never give money to beggars, but for some reason I felt compelled to help these people out, maybe because they really have no say in their welfare, unlike the folks back home.

Ten years ago, it would have been suicide to come here without a team of bodyguards, but these days it seems the population has been disarmed and pacified.  The Khmer Rouge is still very much in the minds of the population here (it probably didn't help that I would ask the locals about it), since their very impoverished state is due to the devastation caused many years ago.  If you do not know about the Khmer Rouge, the internet is at your fingertips...

Vietnamese Fishermen
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Oh yeah I also saw a floating village full of Vietnamese fishermen who migrated here to make a living in this very cool lake that almost doubles in size during the rainy season.  They just float in and out as the lake swells and recedes.  You wonder how an ancient civilization the size of Angkor could feed millions of people, well this lake is the answer, when it recedes it leaves behind beautiful soil.