Exploring Siam Reap

Instead of spending the day at the temple I hired a bike for $2 and went riding in search of an orphanage my friend worked at last year somewhere in town. Somehow nobody seemed to know where it was and so I just rode and see if I could find it. I did not but it was great riding around seeing much of the countryside which only minutes outside the town changes dramatically. Even on the road to the airport many of the locals where staring at me and coming over to say hello as if they had never seen a white person before. I guess most of the visitors are in buses and cars on that section of the journey.
Again the sun was very hot and in the afternoon I decided to explore the Cambodian Cultural Village. A tourist attraction which is supposed to represent all parts of Cambodia in the park. It was probably one of the worst tourist attractions I have ever paid money to visit. It seemed like nobody was there as well. I did at one point stopped to have a photo with some Cambodians who wanted a photo with me but for the rest of the time there was not much reason to stop. I did not stay long and got back on my bike and rode into town.
In the evening I wandered through the same markets I had been through before only this time I stopped for a massage from a blind person. For $5 you can get an hour long massage from a blind person. I have never had a massage before and I had my eyes closed so it did not really make a lot of difference the masseuse was blind. Except that the masseuse on the next bed kept bumping my arm. It was a good experience and I was keen for another but never got around to it.
During the day of New Years Eve I visited a floating village and the Great Lake as they called it on a tour. The afternoon tour took me on a bus to the dock where I got on a boat for a tour through the floating villages. The standard of living is probably the worst I have ever seen and locals will row their boats to your boat to try and collect money. It’s hard to know when you are there what is for the tourists and what is legitimately how they live. The boat made it to the Tonle Sap Lake and the tour guide explained its significance before turning around back to the floating village. We stopped at a crocodile and fish farm. In a small pen there must have been thirty crocodiles, they are poor living conditions even for the crocodiles. After the boat trip we stopped at a former temple which was empty except for the school children who were using it to play hide and seek. I was very impressed and it was great to be able to see a temple so close to town without the crowds. Following the tour I had dinner with a Portuguese couple before returning to my room to get ready for the New Years Eve party.