Sweltering Siem Reap

Now, I haven't exactly been doing a grand tour of siberia on this trip in terms of temperature, but Siem Reap may be the hottest place I've been yet. Walking around in it feels like you are next to a blast furnace or in a car with rolled up windows in the midday heat in an open parking lot. It's that hot.

Fortunately, though, I came prepared with a bit of a reinforcement--a new tube of sunscreen thanks to the extensive pre-departure shopping opportunities at Changi airport. In terms of sleeping arrangements, I've certainly slept in worse places, and I could have been even more comfortable had I just walked about 100 yards or so. I slept on some plastic bucket seats along with several other people--the budget carrier, Jetstar, has about five or six flights that leave between 6 am and 7 am, which means that people are unable to take the MRT to the airport. When I woke myself up at 3 on purpose, hoping that the counter would be open early (it wasn't) I walked over near the counter and found a spotless floor clean enough to lay on--which several other people were also doing. I'd say about 50 or so people actually slept at the airport last night, and none of us were hassled by the Singapore cops.

So, what does that mean? I've officially entered and left Singapore twice, without having once stepped out of the airport terminal.

Also, Americans aren't the only ones who leave their brains behind when they come to the airport--Singaporeans do to. In front of several of us in line were a group of about 20 0r so high school grads--acting like they were in line, and claiming they were when asked, but not actually moving, completely absorbed in conversation with each other while an empty gap grew between them and the line to the counter, frustrating all of us stuck behind them. (for what its worth, the reason I know they are singaporeans and not merely a group of students of east asian descent from an unknown country is that several of them clearly bore a passport with a carmine red cover, clearly written on which was "Singapore").

For whatever reason, Singapore's terminal two pre-departures area turns into a popular visitation sight for natives on the weekend--tons of families were out with their kids, treating it like your run of the mill mall food court. Apparently, to encourage people to use Changi, the airport even subsidizes the cost of food so that you generally aren't paying more than downtown singapore prices.

On Jetstar: if I were flying an Indonesian airline, I would have had a heart attack--but since I was flying a Qantas owned and operated carrier, I merely had a panic attack. One of the engines wouldn't start at first, but after the pilot merely restarted the computer, everything worked fine. Fortunately, that was the scariest moment of an otherwise smooth and enjoyable flight. What was significant about this flight, though, was that for the first time since my flight from Hong Kong to Singapore, there were more than five white people on the flight. In some cases, I have literally been the only white guy on the plane--in others, merely one of just a token minority of 5 or so. The plane was about 1/3 white and 2/3 asian--somewhat understandable when you consider the plane's destination is a premier tourist attraction).

Another note about Jetstar: they could work on their customer service. When I was trying to buy my ticket, last night after arriving from Penang, there was a line of about five or so people also looking to do the same. Meanwhile, there were at least five idle employees, some blatantly doing anything other than working (like reading the newspaper, playing with each other's hair, or using their own personal cell phone). While the guy who was working did indeed do a good job, they might want to tell their employees that the last thing waiting customers want to see is their staff blatantly ignoring them.

Cambodia's visa process appears a bit intimidating, but its relatively simple--fill out a form, pay 20 bucks, and you get a visa. The intimidating part? After you give them your money they hand your passport over down a 10 person line of serious looking jacket-uniformed officials all of whom are sitting and staring at you. It felt like being at a tribunal, but I got my visa with no hassle, so I can't complain.

Random notes that I can't really fit in anywhere:
I am pretty sure I saw Krakatoa on my flight from Jakarta to Singapore--I saw a steaming, smallish mountain surrounded my no other mountains on the northwest side of a strait between two larger islands. The setting perfectly matches Krakatoa's--whether it was actually Krakatoa, I'm not sure (I wanted to go and visit, but it would have been a long day trip from Jakarta, and expensive as well--I'll save it for the next time).

Both Malaysia and Indonesia are majority muslim countries. While Indonesia has its own national beer, Bintang, and freely advertises it, hard liquor is relatively hard to find. Hard liquor in Malaysia, however, is relatively easy to find, but the country lacks a national beer promoted in the same manner as Bintang. Mom and Dad: I don't purposely go looking for this stuff and I'm certainly not drinking all that much considering it is relatively expensive to do so, esp in Malaysia, it's just from what I've seen when I go to grocery or convenience stores to buy water or food.

Apparently, lots of Vietnamese girls work as prostitutes in Cambodia--they tend to like europeans, whereas Cambodians like darker skinned males. You can expect to pay about $40 per night for "boom" time in Siem Reap. All of this information was freely volunteered to me, a single white male travelling alone, by my Cambodian cabbie taking me from the airport to the hotel. And no, my lead-in question wasn't "so, how's the red-light district?" It was merely about the night life in general since I've heard that the place is starting to have a pretty good bar scene.

In Cambodia, at some of the temple sites (I bought a three day pass--the problem is that the heat gets so unbearable by about 1130, that you end up taking a siesta/break of sorts from noon til 4 before going back out again) the main touts are children--all trying to get money or selling you something. While it is certainly annoying, and making me increasingly appreciate the innocence of the "hey meestir, can I practice engris?" inquiries by Indonesian schoolchildren, I can't really be too critical, because they could be doing something much worse: Cambodia has a huge problem with child exploitation, and poor families are sometimes forced to sell some of their kids to work in brothels. Fortunately, the U.S. govt. is doing its part in trying to stop this horrendous practice in passing a law within the past several years that gives U.S. officials the right to prosecute U.S. citizens who have travelled abroad with the intention of partaking in the child sex trade.

Thus the one group of solicitors that I actually gave money to was a group representing an orphanage just down the road from one of the temples.