Psar Chsa Market

The hotel is amazing – Le Hotel du Paix – and there is a smell of lemongrass everywhere. I am greeted with a cocktail and led to my room for check-in, unpack, freshen up and head out to the sweltering heat for a wander around. Opposite the hotel is the Central Market, which is OK, but with it being about lunchtime, and (I’m guessing) most tourists being at the ancient temples, it suffers the same ‘problem’ as the Phnom Pehn markets: being hassled by every stall vendor is not something I like particularly.

Moving on from there (and dodging the beggars, tuk-tuk and motorcycle drivers with their offers of a ride, a girl or some ‘bum bum’) I find the older part of Siem Reap – a maze of little streets with a multitude of shops, bars, art galleries, etc and settle for some lunch in one of them whilst watching to world move around me on the street opposite. I have some traditional Khmer food – something called amok –  which was quite nice.

After lunch and a walk though Psar Chsa – another market – I find the river and spend some time walking along there in the shady gardens that are on one side of it before heading back to the hotel. I wanted to see this exhibition next to the children’s hospital which was run by an organisation that helped maintain school and hospitals and sound all rather right on; alas the building was all locked up so I moved on and headed back to the hotel in time to meet my driver to take me to the temples for sundown.