#3!!! - Cambodia catch-up

I blogged last month about our trip to Siem Riep and to the temple of Angkor Wat but I didn't blog about one of the things that will stick with Alan and I for a long time. 

So, at all of the temples there would be an area where there were food stalls or souvenirs for sale.  In most Asian countries they do not wait for you to come up to the stalls but they have people (sometimes kids) that come to you and try to get you to come to their stall and buy whatever they are selling.  If you are new to the region it can be a bit overwhelming because they tend to keep talking to you as you are walking along even after you have said no...multiple times.  I always feel a bit bad ignoring them but if I don't want to buy something I'm not going to be guilted or bullied into it.  I do like to watch the reaction of different people because it ranges from laughing about it to general frustration to downright anger.  I tend to be on the earlier side of things and just sort of laugh about it.

The morning that we went to watch the sunrise at Angkor Wat we were approached on our way in by a handful of people.  It was pretty dark so we were more concerned with being able to see where we were going than in buying any food or souvenirs.  When you enter Angkor Wat there is a long walkway that leads you up to the main temple building.  Early on in our approach this girl...maybe 16 years old...came up and asked if we wanted coffee or breakfast.  We politely told her no and she told us her stall number if we changed our mind.  As we stood around waiting for the sun to rise we saw her sell a cup of coffee to a gal standing next to us.  Again, she asked if we wanted anything and we declined.  That was it.

We watched the sunrise, went back to the hotel and showered, and then went out touring the temples.  We toured them in reverse order of location to the city so our last stop was at Angkor Wat.  By this time it was about 2 or 3 pm in the afternoon and we were ready for a cold beer and some shade and relaxation.  We decided on the way in that we'd try and find the gal from the morning since she was so polite.  As we were walking up to the food stalls we were accosted by about 6-7 different people.  Alan and I just kept walking toward the food stalls trying to find stall #3 (that was our gal) when out of nowhere comes this girl bounding...literally sort of a cross between a skip and and a run and a bounce...saying "#3...I remember you...#3...#3!"  It was our girl from the morning and she actually remembered us!  Keep in mind that this was now 9 hours and who knows how many tourists later...she remembered us.  She had such a huge smile on her face that was very thankful that we came back to her. 

We sat and had a couple of nice cold Angkor beers and some chips and relaxed for a bit before going out to explore the temple.  As amazing as all of the temples in Siem Riep were I think the visual of our gal bouncing toward us will forever be one of things that really reminds me of the region.