12/4/25
We spent the morning lounging in bed. Sadly, we accidentally chose to watch the worst episode of the new season of Black Mirror. Our current, ‘premier double’ room, wasn’t available for the last night of our stay. So we packed up and moved into a ‘classic double’ downstairs.
The first room they gave us was small and the TV screen was broken. When we requested a move, we were given a bigger room but the TV still didn’t work. We couldn’t help but be a little miffed that after staying there almost a week, in their best room, they put us in a crap room.
For Frankie’s birthday breakfast we ordered a ‘big vegan breakfast’ and a french toast. We spent the rest of the day by the pool. There was a nice couple from Kent who we spoke to for a bit. They had recently retired and had spent a few months in Thailand too. Jonathan stupidly left his kindle propped up by the side of the pool and it went in the water. Thankfully it still works, at the moment anyway.
Frankie spent a lot of the day trying to work out how instagram works. Making ‘reels’ is incredibly time consuming. The amount of time people spend editing is truly troubling. Jonathan was trying to get our money back from EE. They’d charged us 76p each roaming fees for imessage ‘activation texts’. We couldn’t stop the phone sending them and it took far too long for them to accept the number concerned was their own. Dicks.
The time always flies when we aren’t cycling anyway. Eventually it hit 4pm and we got ready to go for dinner. We were going to Banlle again. The vegetarian restaurant. We walked into and then through the town. Water pistols and baby powder for sale everywhere. The celebrations were starting in the next couple of days and the whole place was set up like one massive stadium. Stages, lighting rigs, music playing. The whole nine yards. It’s not really for tourists. The population goes berserk it seems. It’s more well known in Thailand but it’s a thing here and in Laos too. We really hoped we wouldn’t be getting in the line of fire.
We ordered traditional Khmer Amok, like a vegetable curry. Lok Lak, which is like teriyaki mushrooms and tofu. The last dish we can’t remember the name of but it was fermented tofu dip with crudités. Including uncooked baby aubergine. It was all really tasty. We have decided that Banlle is the best restaurant for vegans in Siem Reap. They serve actual vegetables not just beige carbs with a token bit of salad.
For dessert we had the lime pie. It tasted more like pineapple ice cream and had a thick oat base. Delicious birthday meal checked off we headed back, the bass still pounding away from the music. When we got back we watched some more Black Mirror. The best one so far, starring Capaldi. The power went off several times. They had a big generator but it didn’t work very well. It stabilised eventually. We sadly managed to finish Frankie’s chocolate cake.
Surly They Won't Make It 