Today, I've had a quiet day, and I haven't been out with Thy and Tim yet. I woke up this morning and had a full-body massage, a hair treatment, and then a blow-dry, all at the spa here at the hotel. I then got a bajaj and went to the ATM and supermarket. I'm off to the circus tonight with Thy and Tim, and it's a little bit weird because I bought them tickets to the circus, but I am also paying for them to join me. There is something a little bit tragic about that, but I don't want to go alone, and it will be nice to have the company.
It's nearly ten o'clock, and I just got back from the circus. On my way out to meet Thy and Tim, I bumped into Maky, my manager friend, and we chatted for a while. Thy and Tim came in, and I told Maky that we were going to the circus together. He seemed shocked, but I didn't mention that I was paying for them.
We drove through Siem Reap, and with all my daily adventures, I hadn't seen the city at night. It was beautiful, all lit up. We drove through the area where backpackers usually stay and Pub Street, which is the Western night spot. We arrived at the circus, and below you can see the big sign out the front.
I don't know if you can see it, but under that Guinness World Records sign, it says "Longest Circus Show." When I read that, I thought it would be a long night, but that must have been a specific challenge they participated in and, by the looks of things, won. We were led into an auditorium much like being under a real big top. I had given Thy the money to purchase our tickets, and he had obviously purchased the top of the range because we got a free metal drink bottle, and we were close to the front. I was glad we weren't in the front row, though, because I would hate being picked out of the crowd and pulled onto the stage.
I asked Tim if there were any animals in this circus, and he said no. I would have still gone to the show if there were, simply to see how they were being treated, but the vegan in me was relieved to know there weren't any. The show began, and they were all dancing around. The element of fire was brought into it pretty early on, and one of the company was a clown-type character, but the majority of the show involved work like handstands, backflips, people standing on top of each other, acrobatics, juggling, and even skipping with a rope that was on fire. It was incredibly professional, and I liked it a lot.
The only thing I didn't like was that the guy behind me had his foot significantly up my bum, and I felt so awkward. He was with a group of other younger guys, and I didn't know if he had done it on purpose and they were having a laugh at my expense, or if it was accidental. I was enjoying the show, but to be honest, most of the time I was trying to figure out how to wiggle my way out of that situation. Below, you can see some photos I took of the show.
I said goodnight to them, walked into the hotel, and one of my mates from the front desk came up to me and started asking about my night. He usually walks me around the corner to the lift, and we have a good chat, but sometimes he is hard to understand. Tonight, I was a little bit dressed up, wearing a dress and makeup, which is different from what I usually wear during the day, and my mate said to me, "You look beautiful tonight." But I didn't understand what he said, so I replied, "Yes, I know," and then, as soon as I said that, I realised what he meant. I started laughing and saying, "No, no, I didn't mean that." We both had a good laugh about it.
I walked into an absolutely freezing cold room because I leave the air conditioner on to cool the room down, and it stays cool all night even after I've turned it off. I'm off to sleep now because I have a big day tomorrow. Goodnight.
