Arcane Candy

Thursday, July 16, 2015
Siem Reap, Cambodia

A guard stands watch at Wat Svay in Siem Reap, Cambodia.

I called the British Khmer Clinic this morning to see if they received my email, and the receptionist said she would push it through to the doctor. I finally got a reply from him a few hours later, in which he told me to come up to the office and pick up some antibiotics called Metronidazole. I have to take three pills per day for five days. Also, they are stronger than the Claritek I took previously, so hopefully they’ll get rid of this throat infection once and for all.

The front gate at Wat Svay in Siem Reap, Cambodia.

Despite the sub-par service I received at the Peace Cafe the other day, I stopped by there on the way back downtown for a bowl of green curry, vegetables and rice. My tastebuds told me it was delicious. So, I guess you could say I gave Peace a(nother) chance. Next, I paid a second visit to Wat Preah Ang Chek + Wat Preah Ang Chom, where the praying and music-making were a little bit more subdued than yesterday, but it was still pretty busy and always lovely dwelling within the calm, incense-smoked ambience.

A dilapidated temple at Wat Svay in Siem Reap, Cambodia.

A dilapidated food stall in front of Wat Svay in Siem Reap, Cambodia.

Following that, I pedaled south out of town a mile or two to see if I could find anything interesting, like maybe a neighborhood temple. Sure enough, I eventually ran across one called Wat Svay on the banks of the Siem Reap river. Considering the large size of the compound, I was surprised by how few people were around. I scored several food, I mean good snaps in there–especially one of the ornately carved front gate flanked by some ramshackle food stalls abandoned long ago and lined up along the road.

A dragon and a chedi at Wat Svay in Siem Reap, Cambodia.

On the way back into town, I stopped by the Pizza Aloha cart, where I had eaten at random–and conversed with one of the girls who runs it–when I first arrived in Siem Reap a couple of weeks back. This time, she was not as talkative, but I did manage to snap a few photos–one of which she posed for. To burn off some of the calories from the pizza (even though it was a personal size one about as big as one slice of a large pie), I took a joy ride out on the dusty National Highway 6 for a couple of miles, checking out all of the enormous, hulking stores and hotels, and winding my way through the chaotic motorcycle hordes. On the way back, I stopped at the local market, Phsar Samaki, and bought some bananas and apples for healthy snacks in my room. Junk food be damned!

The girls who run the Pizza Aloha cart in Siem Reap, Cambodia.

Words and photos ©2015 Arcane Candy.

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 16th, 2015 at 11:45 pm and is filed under Tropical Storm Tour. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.