Siem Reap Diary (Day 4)

OK, this is my last entry on our Siem Reap trip, which is about our last day in the Kingdom of Wonders (Don't Wonder Why).

Let me just introduce first Miss Betty, whom I mentioned in the previous post. Miss Betty is a Phnom Penh-based Pinoy working in Cambodge's premiere fahion and lifestyle magazine. He's a stylist, artistic director, and writer of F and his blog is called Betty in Me.

The thing is, Betty is my nemesis. He just recently got crowned as Fuchsiaboy's new BFF and, as Betty mentioned in his blog, I'm currently BFF number two. I know, I'm soooo slitting my wrists after I finish this post.

In fairview, I'm happy Fuchsiaboy found a good replacement for me. Afterall, Betty has a 24-inch waistline. I mean, what could be better, aber?

So anyway, on our fourth day in Siem Reap we headed to the the West Barai (tama ba ako, Don?). Barais are man-made reservoirs that served the irrigation needs of ancient Cambodge's rice-growing industry. The West Barai is one humongous engineering achievement. It's pretty much a lake in size but it's ALL man-made. At the center of the reservoir is a small island on which a temple sits.

On our way to the barai, we saw numerous pick-up trucks overflowing with people, mostly kids in colorful outfits. It turned out that they were on their way to the barai as well. You see, the barai now serves as a beach and because it was the Khmer New Year, families were heading to it in hordes.

Indeed, the barai was abuzz with people when we reached it. Barbecues of fish and chicken were roasting all over the place and people were selling all kinds of food, including bugs the size of cockroaches. There were also many huts wherein hammocks are hung for people to relax on while feasting on fruits and barbecue. Big umbrellas were lined up at at the beach and people laid on mats or on hammocks. Kids were splashing in the water, a good respite from the heat.

We took a small boat to the island in the middle of the barai. The water has significantly receded though because of the drought. From the boatlanding the walk to the island is quite long, so we decided instead to not go very far and did some major camwhoring instead.

Give me a rickety boat and I'd werq it! (Photos are courtesy of Miss Betty.)

After the barai excursion, we headed off to Golden Banana, a gay-friendly hotel in Siem Reap. We had cocktails there and exchanged chika. Only Bubbles was tempted by the pool and he did a bit of tempting other guys as well... all for the sake of fun.

Before dinner, we had some cocktails in Nest Angkor. I love their mojitos there!

Finally, I dropped by the store of Fuchsiaboy and Loven. It's called Poetry (West Alley, Siem Reap) and it's definitely the hippest and coolest boutique in Khmerlandia. They sell artwork, accessories, and clothes there. I bought two Don Protasio shirts made of micromodal. Perfect for summer.

I also love these bags designed by Loven. How about these Don Protasio accessories made of tabs from cola cans. Genius, no?

I would like to end this post by saying a huge thank you to Don, Loven, and Faith for being the nicest host in Siem Reap. I truly had an amazing time there! Maraming, maraming, maraming salamat po!