Siem Reap

On arrival in Siem Reap we take a tuk tuk with Phany into town. She is originally from Phnom Penh. Her family fled Cambodia to a Thai refugee camp in 1978, where they waited for 2 years for sponsorship to enter USA, eventually settling in Chicago. Phany has returned to Cambodia to stay indefinitely. She says she is searching for herself for she feels neither American nor Cambodian. She looks Khmer but the locals recognise her as baraing (foreigner) partly because her American accent is so strong.

The tuk tuk driver doesn't know where we want to go and has to keep stopping to ask his colleagues for directions. After dropping off Phany at Socheata Hotel, we continue around town until finally, we scoot down a dirty narrow alley in what appears to be the red light district. At the end, behind the palatial gates stands Smiley Hotel. I expect a run down old guest house but low and behold, it's the mansion of the gods! Lees is especially delighted.