Siem Reap IV

Today was a day of rest after all that cycling. After doing a few chores (eg travellers cheques, photos to CD, etc) I had lunch at Sala Bai, a training restaurant to give disadvantaged youth a head start. I had a main of fish, with spicy sauce & rice, desert of caramel & orange cake with sauce & ice cream, a coke, cafe latte and juice, for $9.50. I enjoyed the meal, but the trainees were terribly anxious in their desire to "get it right". Afterwards I had a massage at the Ängkor Massage by Blind place (on Highway 6 between the Caltex servo & Jasmine Lodge). It was $4 for an hour, and took place in a room of 5 tables, 4 of which were being used. Again I had to slip into a pair of massage pyjamas. This time the operatives were young women who all seemed pretty short-sighted. It was quite good, fairly vigorous, but they will persist with tugging your digits (i.e toes & fingers), which I'm not mad on. Happily, and in contrast to what happens in Vietnam, there's no pressure afterwards to give the masseuse some extra money.

After the afternoon massage I walked over to take a look at "Miniature Replicas of Angkor's Temples" - of Angkor Wat, the Bayon, and Banteay Srei - in the garden of a local sculptor. He seemed a nice old bloke, and proudly showed me various certificates & photos, a silver cup & a self-portrait he'd painted, and told me that today was his 70th birthday. I think he said that it took him 4 years to do all the drawings of Angkor Wat before he got down to construction. It did leave me wondering ... "why?".

Tonight I had a meal at the Dead Fish Tower, as suggested in the Comments section - it was sort of fun. It's a slightly quirky place, and the food - Thai - wasn't bad. The best part was the entertainment - a trio doing some sort of repetitious Khmer dance, with emphasis on the hand movements, and then two female singers with American accents singing all those karaoke favourites - Whitney Houston, Cher, and so on. It oscillated between being great fun & a little cringeworthy.

Both on my way to the restaurant & on the way back, numerous young fellows lounging about in the street kindly enquired if I wanted a "tuk tuk" (a form of transport) and then, in a lower voice, if I wanted a "lady massage". I presumed that they weren't the ones who were going to give me the massage, and that this was undoubtedly a "special massage" that was being offered ...

Counsellors sometimes use "minimal encouragers" - appropriate eye contact, occasional nods, "hmm"'s, "uh-huh"'s & other indicators that suggest interest. To deal with being regularly importuned for tuk-tuk, motorcycle and so on, I suggest the use of "minimal discouragers" i.e limited eye contact & maybe minimal acknowledgement, rather than becoming annoyed (although this is not always easy). I try & remind myself that they're just trying to earn a living & that it's not personal, and to endeavour to be good humoured about it.