Amazing Race: Siem Reap version

If you've been reading this blog for a while, you know there is one television show I love. It is really the only show I watch regularly, season after season. What is it? The Amazing Race. Love that show!
Recently, we were planning a staff retreat and wanted a fun activity one afternoon. Of course, I thought a version of the Amazing Race would be the best way to spend our time. A few years ago I participated in a Kansas City version of the Amazing Race with my friend Fiona. We did well at the competitions, except we had a slow driver who took a wrong turn once and ruined our chances at a strong finish. I wasn't sure how this would go over in Cambodia - would they like a scavenger hunt that has them running all over town doing crazy things, or would they just look at us like we were stupid for suggesting it? Much to my delight, they loved it! Here are some pictures from my teams perspective of the Amazing Race adventure.

This is my team - Ratana, Phka, Serei, Chetra and me. Siem Reap is home to Angkor Wat temples. Our first clue was to get a photo of our team and Angkor Wat. Most teams drove all the way out to the temples to snap the shot. We (and one other team) opted for the painted version.

One of the things we had to collect along the way was a photo of a team member and a foreigner (barang) in a white shirt. As we are riding around in our tuk, the three guys would yell "white shirt!!" and point every time we saw a foreigner in a white shirt. There were many as Siem Reap is the largest tourist destination in the country of Cambodia. Eventually, we stopped at a stop light and a tuk pulled next to us with two foreigners in white shirts. I asked them if we could get a photo with them, this is the result. My teammates continued to yell "white shirt!!" and point even after we had taken the picture, it made me laugh every time.

We were given a photo of a concrete crocodile and told to get a photo with our team there. Luckily, I had been walking the town the afternoon before and seen that near the river so we knew right where to go. I think I was one of the few that actually rode the crocodile. Chetra's pose (in the back) makes me laugh every time I see it. While there we tried to accomplish another task, which was to pick up 15 plastic bottle tops. We hit the jackpot in bottle tops at the local volleyball court (sand volleyball is VERY popular in Cambodia).

Though we had many laughs, we did not emerge the victor. I blame the slow tuk driver we had. At one point we needed to go and find a stop, he stood there smoking a cigarette and looking at us like we were crazy for trying to rush him - he certainly wasn't in a hurry to get anywhere. It seemed everytime we were in a race with another team on the same road, we got passed up and left in the dust. I have learned my lesson, if you want to win the Amazing Race, a good driver is essential! Can you tell which team won? That's okay, I like these people so I can celebrate their win with them, even when I am the looser.

All in all, it was a fabulous afternoon. Thanks for the memories!