Day 5 - Journey to Siem Reap (Spider Market, Artbox Studio)

We found an amazing taxi company (Cambodia Private Taxi, ppsrtaxi@gmail.com) for our trips to and from Siem Riep. The owner, Khen, is highly reviewed. Even though it took more time, flying is a bit of racket, as there is really only the national airline, which is a monopoly. You can easily find a flight for $30 for the 50 min flight, but with taxes and baggage fees, your ticket easily becomes $150 or more. FOR A ONE WAY 50 min. FLIGHT. They make Hawaiian Airlines look cheap, and that's VERY difficult to do.

Flying in Cambodia is basically highway robbery. And on top of that, they have atrocious customer service, and have been known to both leave very early and very late without notice, etc. So it was a firm no on flying, and an easy decision to drive, as it cost about $180 each way for a private mini van with AC. And although you'll read about it being a very long, boring ride, we found it to the exact opposite. You see so many diverse towns, selling random goods and delicious treats on the side of the road, fields, lakes, scenic attractions, etc. We actually enjoyed our ride, both ways. It's far from boring, I promise you. It's not action packed, but if you enjoy learning and viewing rural lifestyles in a second world country, it'll be great.

We lucked out with the friendliest driver ever for our 6-hour drive each way. Not only was very adept on the harrowing 2-land road that becomes a 4-lane road, since people ride on the shoulders and create a fifth middle lane to pass in both directions. We felt safe despite the constant weaving, and never felt car sick either.

He suggested about 3-4 stops on the way out, and our first was at the famous Spider Market. It is known for their tarantula delicacies, but has expanded to include many other insects as well. Our luck!

Locusts and crickets, I think.

There were too many booths selling too any kinds of bugs to count, but Rich decided on trying just one- the crispy tarantula! Yum!

The verdict? Crispy, not super delicious. Not super gross, either. And sweet Ryan was bullied by his daddy into trying a minute particle/bite as well...which he firmly declared, 'Never again.'

He did let a live tarantula climb all over him though, which was cute.

The drive over, as I said, was like watching TV for hours. We saw how most homes were on stilts, which we assumed was because of flooding...and were told that it's more because they want the added living space underneath (as land is pricey for the locals).

We also sampled a pounded, dried rice (tasted like a plain, healthy cereal) and got to see them manufacture it by hand.

Our favorite stop, however, was lunch. The restaurant was on the pricey side, as it was only frequented only by visitors traveling between the two cities. However, it had incredible ambiance and we loved it! It was perched near the water (muddy, not really beautiful water), with hammocks all around for a post lunch siesta.

We got to our hotel in the later afternoon, and despite having three nice hotels during our stay there, I think this one was our favorite, as we got to know the very friendly staff, and it was just a tad nicer than the others (Cyclo d' Angkor).

We were greeted with cold oshibori towels and lemonade while we waited for them to process our paperwork/passports.

Although I had rented a large 2-bedroom family room, we were given two rooms next to each other. This ended up being a welcome mishap, as my mom was quite sick/coughing, and we were safer away from her germs.

Our final stop of the day, was to the Artbox Studios. It's a large studio filled with 2D pictures printed in such a way that it feels/looks more 'real.' I figured it would appeal to my soon to be tween, and it did. We had a blast! We spent 1.5-2.0 hours  there, and it was only about $10 per person. We took many, many more photos than these, but these are among my favorites.