Thursday Evening 5 February 2015
Siem Reap, Cambodia

Here I am at the last stage of mty trip and I have saved the best for last.  At least as far as places to stay go, the Angkor Village Hotel is one of the best and most unique I have stayed at anywhere in the world.  The hotel is built as a village of traditional Cambodian stilt houses, each one of them a small suite for guests.  The grounds and gardens are delightful and the restaurant, where I just ate dinner, is excellent.  The suite is furnished with very traditional furniture and there are local works of art, particularly wood and ceramics, everywhere you turn.  And, wonder of wonder, it even provides American-style electricity and all my electronics can be used without adapters.

But I shall first return to my last full day in Singapore.

Tuesday 3 February 2015
Singapore 

I start the morning with a Metro ride to Chinatown, where the tourist is immediately greeted by a cacophany of sounds and colors.  It's Pagoda Street, a pedestrian alley bordered on both sides by shops and stalls selling just about everything, from cheap souvenirs to cheap shoes to cheap clothes--and the emphsais is on cheap.

Sri Mariamman Hindu Temple is the fist compound that catches the eye--how could you miss the incredibly gaudy (at least to Western tastes) statues which embellish the buildings inside and out.  You may not find them (or the people represented in them) very attractive, but you are overwhelmed by the colors and grandeur (not to mention the size of the moustaches on the men).  After the riot of colors here, the cool mint green of the nearby mosque is quite a relief.  Not wanting to ignore the Buddhists, I also visit the spanking-new 5-story "Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and Museum," which is exactly what it says. 

All that religion makes me very hungry so I enter the vast halls of the "Chinatown Complex," an Asian food mall to end all food malls. But overwhelmed by the mixture of smells, each one separately appetizing, but all together not very pleasant, I walk out into the first real rain of the entire trip.  The weather in Singapore is quite changeable, but it has been mostly cloudy, at least blocking the direct heat of the sun. But today there is enough rain to take out my trusty travel umbrella that has seen many parts of the world (most often unused). As I walk up a street lined with older two-story shops and houses to return to the Metro, I come upon, purely by accident, a French bistro, "Taratata." Inside, with a loaf of delicious French bread, listening to the rain outside, I could well be in Paris.  But before my imagination runs away, I choose a set-price lunch of escargot, Angus beef with shallots, and mixed fruit sorbets for dessert.  Bon chance! 

I spend the early afternoon rearranging my suitcases, because I do not wish to carry everything with me to Cambodia, since I will be returning to Singapore to catch my flight home on Monday.  The Crowne Plaza Hotel at Changi Airport (Singapore) is quite happy to store my luggage for up to a week without charge.  So I take one large and one small case by taxi (only $12. US) out to the airport.  I return to the city by Metro--my two-day pass allows for unlimited travel on the entire system of underground and buses.  Before calling it quits, I stop at Little India for a walk through the other imporantant ethnic neighborhood of the city.  The only major sight here is the Grand Mosque, which is unfortunately closed for restoration.  But a stroll through the atmospheric streets provides a good view of local life.  If you like Indian food, this would be heaven, since every other storefront seems to be a restaurant. 

Another quick Metro ride takes me back to the hotel for my final night and the one bag I will take with me tomorrow.  I finally figure out my way through all the interconnecting malls, instead of going around in circles all the time (although I suppose that is what the merchants want you to do).  It's hard to know exactly where you are when there are no windows, buildings or exterior light to guide you.

Early tomorrow morning I will taxi to the airport again to board my non-stop flight on SilkAir (a subsidiary of Singapore Airlines) to Siem Reap, Cambodia.