Siem Reap

I took a hike down the dark, dusty road amid roaring bikes and floods of Caucasian tourists, across the bridge and behind the Buddhist statue. (Turn right at the Buddhist statue when you come back.) 

Standing at the curb, was a Western man, so I casually asked him if he knew where I could find a loaf of bread. (He didn't. In fact a loaf of bread was nowhere to be had in that area of town.) His accent seemed a bit Canadian. He said, 

“I’m Canadian but I live in England.” To which I replied, 

“I’m Canadian but I live in Malaysia. At least I did till they kicked me out. Well, thanks.” And off I went, not realizing how ridiculous that had sounded.

He had told me that the street we were facing was called “Pub Street”.
Great. It should have been called “Massage Street”. Everyone was out on the sidewalk handing out ads for massage parlors and Reflexology treatments.

In front of one of the shops, a stuffed alligator stood with his mouth open and real teeth exposed. A young foreign girl cowered away from it, so I cooed, 

“Aw, it’s just a widdle bay bay. He’d only give ya a scratch. Dat’s all.” Her father said, 

“She’s scared of them.”

The sons of Japheth were everywhere. Not exactly like maggots on dung, but a little like it. -In a friendly, money-spending sort of way.  I felt a bit ashamed to be one of them. After all, they were there to visit temples of false gods.

There seemed to be temples everywhere adorned with ornate carving, beautiful artwork and all kinds of masterful designs. --The work of man’s hands being worshipped by Cambodians and foreigners alike.

Foreigners don’t consider themselves to be worshipping, but when they admire and praise the works of the temples, they are giving these false gods just what they want –attention, adoration and praise, yes and worship. How is it not idol-worship?

When I went back to my room, a Western girl said hi and asked me if I knew whether the electricity had been on before. I said, 

“You mean, in this lifetime? I don’t know. I just got here. But they say it’ll come back on at 6 o’clock.” She actually seemed a bit slighted. Maybe she thought I was mocking her. I was trying to find the humour in the situation.