Today we decided to get up early to see the sunrise at Bayon. After accidentally leaving Helen behind and dealing with a tuk tuk driver who refused to go quicker than about 5mph and wouldn't bring us to Bayon, the sunrise at Angkor Wat made up for it. Oh wait, it was totally cloudy and not worth it. We bascially just watched the sky get lighter. We did get coffee though, and saw this really mysterious squirrel-like animal that was actually some guy's pet? Elliot wants one.
Joining back up with Helen and Susan, we expanded our NGO research by going to Angkor Artisans, a silk-weaving program. It was based on the expansive tourism in Siem Reap and it was very interesting to learn about the process and was a really nice facility, but when we looked a bit closer it got a bit sketchy. Apparently the actual factories are 8 hours away and they were very unclear in a lot of the behind-the-scenes information.
Next up we visited a local potter, a woman trying to revive the old pottery traditions of the area. Pottery there is traditionally a woman's trade and as an art is starting to die out. She made some really beautiful stuff, everything from Buddha heads to copies of the carvings on the many temples around, to modern pots and the like. She had a recreation of an ancient kiln as well as a very modern one, mixing the traditional with her passion for the craft and its propulsion into the future.
After that we went to Sala Bai for lunch, another NGO. This one is 1/3 hotel, 1/3 restaurant, and 1/3 trade school for underprivledged youth. They use the facilities to train them and familiarize them in the industries that they will go into. Our waiter was terrified and probably not literate, but it was a good experience and definitely beneficial to the community, and we got an excellent meal out of it (minus the gross baby shrimps they hid in everything.)
We took a little break and then decided to try again for the sunset at Bayon. This time with everyone there and a much better tuk tuk driver, we managed to get there. However, it was raining. It wasn't that bad, though. Most people left so it was nice and quiet, plus we all love storms. We explored the temple, Elliot and Liza managing to get the highest in one of the towers, higher than most people venture...
That night Sean disappeared for a full body massage, the adults walked around and got a movie, and Elliot, Liza, and Caya explored the Old Market area again. They got flagged down by some girls who were a bit tipsy, attempting to help the restaurant they were in and frequent, to the extent that they have a drink named after them on the menu. We decided to eat there and were sat literally at their table. It was great though, it turned out that they were travelers who decided to stay after visiting and worked for an NGO called New Hope. It's a whole community of services working to help the areas right outside of the touristy center of Siem Reap, they have a school, some trade training, and a clinic, which was where the girls, Susan and Tracy worked. Dinner was great and extremely cheap, making the whole thing so much fun.
Reconviening as a group, we lounged in Helen's room and watched Casablanca. We have no idea why it took us so long to see it, it was great.
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