The last day in Siem Reap, Carly and I took a Cambodian cooking class. It may have been my favorite part so far! We went to the restaurant and joined the rest of our "class", a couple from Australia and a couple from Pacifica in California. Each of us got to pick one appetizer and one desert to make -- I chose fresh spring rolls with chicken (of course) and a pork pineapple saute while Carly picked a spicy shrimp salad and beef curry. The class started by wandering through the Siem Reap day market, exploring all different kinds of fruits, spices, and animal parts (i.e. giant pigs heads with eyeballs staring right at us!). Then we went back into the kitchen to start cooking. After a couple hours our meals were complete and the six of us sat around for more than two hours sharing food, stories, and good company. Don't worry, I brought the recipes with me and plan on hosting a Cambodian dinner party soon after we return!
After the cooking class we attempted to return to Angkor Wat to watch the sunset. After we'd biked to the entrance gate Carly realized she'd forgotten her pass so, looking at the darkening and cloudy sky, we figured we'd just cycle back. Of course we got caught in a massive rain storm but once we were drenched (which only took a few minutes during that kind of storm) we began singing and all was well :)
The next morning we took a seven hour bus ride to Phnom Penh, snacking on lychees along the way. Our hostel is much smaller than the previous ones, pretty much a shoebox where Carly and I take turns getting dressed,etc., because there is only enough room for one of us to stand! There are some very cool people staying here, one who is doing graduate work for UCSF and who knew Kristy through the Kiva program...small world!
We're planning on visiting the killing fields today... so much of this history is new to me and I've got to say that it's much easier to learn when I have a visual context. Should be a pretty somber trip but looking forward to it nonetheless.
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