I never guessed that as I traveled I would have a chance to dish out some celebrity and TV gossip!  But here goes it...

On the first day of exploration of Angkor Wat, Sara and I were at the East entrance, admiring the sculptures, the beauty, the... “Wow!”  We heard a woman enter and make an exclamation a bit to loudly, as her comment echoed through the complex.  Of course we turned to look. 

It only took me a moment to recognize that the woman, dressed in head to toe white linen, with a large straw hat and a huge Prada bag was none other than Meg Ryan.  I turned around, pretending not to notice, pretending to look again at whatever I was looking at before.  Sara did the same.  And then we looked at each other as we pretend pointed to something and mouthed “That was Meg Ryan!  Oh my God!”

We didn’t stay long.  But as we left through the doorway she entered and was still hovering in, the weirdest thing happened.  She must have realized that we recognized her, and so she sort of turned a shoulder to us, pulled her body into herself and peered at us over the rim of her glasses.  Perhaps she thought we would take a picture of her or say something to her, but we didn’t. 

Actually, if she had acted a bit more normally, i would have told her how much I admire her and how, for years, I had her trademark haircut!  But her strange behavior only drew more attention to her, and had we not been sure it was Meg in the beginning, we would have definitely stared at her on the way out, simply because she looked so odd standing there hunkered over.  Too bad!

WAIT - THERE’s MORE!!!

On the second to the last day in Siem Reap, Sara and I were enjoying a beer in the bar of our hotel.  A bunch of men (lots of cute ones) started gathering, all part of some group.  It sounded like they were talking fim and/or TV production and Sara and I were trying to listen in on their conversations.  Just then, a big guy with a huge camera came in and so we had to stop him and ask.

He would only tell us that he was working on a documentary and played way to dumb about what the show was or if there was a host (job opportunity for me?) or what channel we could find the program on later.  This made me curious because I know that film and TV people love to brag about their work and what their are producing.  Him being so secretive made me question the program.

All week, Sara and I saw a special check-in desk for WRP.  And onthe last day in Siem Reap, when I was at my computer, I did some research and found the answer - World Race Productions.  As Sara and I were waiting to go to to the airport, I asked one of the hotel staff if WRP stood for World Race Productions and got a, “That’s correct.”  And as we waited, we saw a WRP van pull up and two people get out with matching red t-shirts.

There’s no doubt in my mind that the Amazing Race was being filmed there.  It’s quite a let-down, though to realize that the contestants and crew are put up in 5-star hotels like the Le Meridian in Siem Reap.  Very disappointing!

Cheers,

Shanna