The last few days

(Floating village on Tonle Sap)

On Tuesday we had a lazy morning going to the post office and shopping in the market before taking a tour of the lake Tonle Sap. We tuk-tuked to the lake with our guide and then got on a boat that took us out to a floating village. The village we saw moves 5-6 times a year depending on the season/conditions (needing protection from weather, to get away from their trash, different area to fish from...).  The water was very brown in the main body of the lake, and Michael asked our guide if the water changed color in the dry season. Our guide said that the water color stayed the same in the lake, but got darker and dirtier near the village the longer it was in one spot.  Not that we have been eating a whole lot of seafood but seeing the color of the lake definitely made me want to stick to chicken. 

(Me at the floating village on Tonle Sap)

Wednesday I woke up with a headache so we went to the spa where we got messages and I got a facial. The afternoon was spent being lazy on the balcony. In some ways being here for 9 days seems like way too much. We could have been done in 5 days and felt like we saw enough; but it was nice being able to have a completely lazy day and not felt like the day was wasted. 

(Phnom Bakheng)

Yesterday we did half of the walking tour of Siem Reap that is in my pocket sized Lonely Planet guide book. We saw Wat Preah Inkosei. We haven't gone into any active Wats because there is a 16 day ceremony type thing going on. I haven't fully caught on to what is happening other than a monk is being recorded and you can hear him when we go by any active Wat. From there we walked to an art gallery, and had our most expensive drinks at  FCC($3.50 for a cafe frappe!). The afternoon was spent by the pool before we headed to to the Wat Phnom Bakheng to see the sunset.  The sunset was even more anticlimactic than the sunrise we saw. 

(Sunset with a little help from the "sunset" mode)

Today we will pack our stuff, eat the last few things I really want to eat, do our last shopping at the markets, and then fly to Seoul at 11:40pm. We will spend ~11 hours in Seoul and, hopefully, take some sort of tour of Seoul before heading home. 

(We have seen quite a few people taking pictures with their iPads!)

Random odds and ends

- Angkor Wat turn 900 next year.

- The Wats are a combination of Hinduism and Buddhism.

- Other countries (Japan, China, Korea, France, Germany, India) are all spending millions of dollars to help restore some of the Wats.

- In the Western grocery store we can find 1.5 liter water bottles for 40 cents but at the Wats we are quoted $1-$1.50.

- My favorite drink, Zenya Green Tea with Pomegranate, is 65-75 cents in the Western grocery store and at the Wats it is $1.25.

- We can find Angkor Beer cans at the Western grocery store for 60 cents a can. At most restaurants, most of the time, we can get Angkor draft for 50 cents and at happy hour we have found it for 35 cents.

(Michael's beer Wat)

- Wildlife we have encountered: songbirds, monstrous daddy long-legs, geckos, cows, water buffalo, "wild"/ferrel dogs and cats, rhinoceros beetles, termites, different types of ants, rats and MONKEYS. 

- We have talked with two people from the US, one from Colorado, and one from Utah. the guy from Utah was staying in our hotel and was quite excited to hear that we were from the US too. He said we were the only Americans he had talked to in Cambodia so far. 

- There are many more Western toilets than last time. I have only used two squat toilets so far. 

- Michael and I agree that 26 degrees C is a good temperature to sleep at. 

- We have gotten crisp US 100 dollar bills from the ATM machine. Last time I was here the biggest US bill I got was a 50.

- At any one time you can pay for something in mixed US dollars and Khmer Riel.

- We have seen 100, 500, 1000, 5000, and 10000 notes in Riel. 

- The exchange rate is 4100 Riel to 1 dollar, but most market vendors use 4000:1. 

- That makes 100 Reil 2.5 cents.

- At the western grocery stores, when checking out, prices are displayed in both USD and Riel.

- Our most expensive meal has been $18.50. That included two shakes, an appetizer, two main dishes, a beer, and dessert. We were the only customers on their second floor balcony, and we sat there for over three hours using their free wifi. 

- The breakfast that is included with our room rate is two eggs (fried, scrambled, hard boiled, or omelette), a nice fresh baguette, coffee, juice, and fruit.  

- The power goes out most nights in our hotel around 10pm for about 5 mins. 

- On a moto we have seen: a family of 5, pigs in a cage, chickens in a cage, a stack of eggs, rugs, a wicker book shelf, piles of recycling, a bicycle, and a bunch of other random stuff that I can't think of. 

 

Rules of the Road and more Wats!

Yesterday we rented mountain bikes to go back to Ta Prohm. The day before we took a very abbreviated tour of the temple because I needed to find the bathroom and I wasn't willing to wait. We started out around 10ish while it was lightly raining. It felt much cooler yesterday morning so I thought biking was a good idea. It wasn't until we started out into traffic that I started to rethink biking. According to Google we went approximately 16 miles round trip. I think my last bike ride was close to six months ago but I think I went maybe 4 or 5 miles. 

(Dirty feet at the half-way point.)

Biking turned out to be quite the adventure.  You see, we have decided that when driving there aren't a lot of rules other than get to where you are going. For the most part people drive on the right side of the road, but that seems like it is merely a suggestion. And on a two lane road you may have 3-4 vehicles ride along side each when someone is passing. We made it through the busiest part of town with only one detour that would have gotten us there but it wasn't the main road.

(Me at Ta Prohm)

Our next adventure on the bikes was navigating a dirt road that had turned into a slippery, muddy, mess. We went through some spots where the mud was at least 2-4 inches deep. Other than being covered in mud we were able to navigate the road pretty well considering that tuk-tuks and cars where having problems on the road. While we were touring around Ta Prohm we had more than a few tourist and tour guides laugh at us because we were so dirty. At one point a Western tourist made the comment to his tour guide that he didn't want to end up looking like us.  We explained that we had biked there and they understood why we were so dirty. It was then a careful but unexciting ride back to the hotel in the rain. I didn't get any after photo because we were so dirty and needed to rinse off outside, while it rained, before we could get back to the room. We then spent part of the afternoon washing off and trying to remove the red mud from the back side of our clothing. I felt better when Michael explained biking in Cambodia to a friend as slightly terrifying. I had a good time, glad we did it, but my anxiety doubled while thinking of all the ways I could die while riding the bike. Also, my butt is still sore!

(Sunrise at Angkor Wat. No "help" from my camera.)

Today we woke up at 4:30am to see the sunrise at Angkor Wat. We hired a tuk-tuk driver to get out there. The sunrise was anticlimactic but my camera's "sunrise" setting sure does know how to make it look better! After the sunrise we had coffee and a banana pancake with condensed milk (my favorite!). We finished of the Grand Circuit by going back to Bayon, Preah Khan, Neak Pean, and Ta Som.  I was most interested in Neak Pean because last time the moat was completely empty and this time the moat and temple grounds were quite full of water.

(Sunrise at Angkor Wat in "sunset" mode)

We called it a day after the five Wats and are now sitting on the balcony of the Singing Tree Cafe where we had lunch. This afternoon we might do a little more shopping in the market, swimming, or just hanging around on our balcony reading. 

(Me at Bayon.)

Wats and restoration

Today we splurged for a car with aircon and an English speaking tour guide. At 3pm it was 88 degrees with 66% humidity.   I don't think I have ever been so sweaty -it was disgusting. So we spent 7 hours touring around before calling it a day and retiring to our balcony after a shower.

Here are pictures from today.  I am most amazed about the restoration that has happened in the last four years and of how they are keeping some things together. As our tour guide told us today, in some countries you wouldn't be able to walk in these Wats because they are not safe. In the US you could never get away with these techniques. 

(I can't get over the details or that Angkor Wat is 899 years old.)

(Bayon, one of my favorite temples last time.)

(Restoration is happening. This reminds me of all the restoration happening in Greece. Here other countries spend millions of dollars to help with the restoration.)

(Michael posing with a demon at the South Gate of Angkor Thom.)

(Me at Bayon.)

(Me and Michael at Ta Prohm where Tomb Raider was filmed.)

(Yes, this is being held up with wooden poles.)

(And this Wat is being held together with ratchet straps!)

Now we will walk downtown to find a new place to eat dinner.

Taking it easy and tuk-tuks

(View from our balcony.)

When I thought about this trip, I though about how nice it would be to be in Siem Reap for almost two whole weeks. We could relax, take things slowly, really absorb everything around us... Well, we're here and I'm having a hard time taking it slowly. While part of me is completely happy sitting in a restaurant on Pub Street having a mid morning drink, part of me thinks we have to go go go and see everything. Now that we are here I'm not sure how many times we will actually want to go to Angkor Wat or any other of the wats. And while I could happily shop every day for a while, my bank account and suitcase won't let me do that. So we talked about traveling to Sihanoukville so I could see, and show Michael, the NGO I worked at for a month four years ago. But realistically spending two days traveling on the bus didn't sound like fun. This trip was all about taking it slow, not about how much we could squeeze in 9 days. So we've decided that if we have one big adventure a day that we would be happy and would take time enjoying our balcony, sitting on Pub Street with a drink, and swimming. 

 

This morning we walked to the Angkor National Museum and learned more about the history of Angkor Wat. As Michael just put it, we saw things made out of stone there.  I maybe took in 1/8 of the information I heard and read.  Then this afternoon we kept it simple by going and getting messages. We also finalized our plans for tomorrow and are getting a car and tour guide to see the main wats around Angkor Wat. 

 

(I found some elephants while walking today.)

(Michael eating some tasty taro/banana chips.)

So far we have walked everywhere and that has worked for us. We end up hot and sweaty but are able to take in the sites around us because of our slow pace.  Yet when you walk anywhere here all you hear is "tuk-tuk sir, tuk-tuk ma'am," "where you go, you want a tuk-tuk," "tuk-tuk tomorrow?" as we'll as, "Angkor Wat too far to walk, tuk-tuk." Today we walked by a tuk-tuk where the driver was laying down in it and as he heard us walking by, and talking, he popped out of the tuk-tuk to see if he could ask if we needed a ride. It was funny to watch but being asked every 3 minutes if we need a ride gets old quickly.  This evening when we came back to our guesthouse after dinner the tuk-tuk driver who picked us up from the airport asked us if we took a tuk-tuk today. I explained that we walked everywhere today and that we didn't need a tuk-tuk tomorrow. He looked disappointed that we still didn't need a tuk-tuk, but a little relived that we hadn't taken someone else's tuk-tuk. Oh yeah, we also saw a tuk-tuk crash today. It looked like both drivers walked away relatively unhurt but it still was very unsettling.   

(One of the many, many, tuk-tuks we have seen.)

Other random things: at the night market we saw shirts from the Gap and backpacks from The North Face and Deuter. 

Settling into Siem Reap

We made it! And it was a uneventful trip - thank goodness. We flew from Seattle to Seoul on Asiana Airlines. Let me just take a minute to tell you how much I love flying on Asia airlines, they are so much nicer and friendlier than American Airlines. The bathrooms had free toothbrushes, mouth wash, and combs! I skipped the comb but took everything else. Our service was always friendly no matter how many glasses of apple juice or water i asked for. Also, alcohol is free (this was more exciting to Michael than me - sleeping pills and alcohol don't mix). I took a sleeping pill hoping to sleep most of the 11hr flight but really only slept for ~4 hrs. When we landed in Seoul I thought our layover was about 2 hrs and that we would have some time to kill before our next flight. That didn't happen. We weren't rushed, but we had to go through security again and that took forever. We had enough time to find our gate, look in one shop, go to the bathroom, and quickly check the Internet. Our next flight to Siem Reap was about 6 hrs. Our flight was running 50 mins late since we had to wait in line to take off and  I was concerned that our guesthouse wouldn't wait for us since we were scheduled to come in at 11pm. Luckily there was a tuk-tuk driver waiting for us. The tuk-tuk driver has been very persistent about trying to take us on a tour every time he see us now. 

Last night our tuk-tuk ride was about 15 mins and while I really didn't know where we were, everything felt familiar - the outlines of building, palm trees, driving down the road, the smells.  I can't get over the smells, last night it smelled like the tropical and of burning trash. Most wouldn't think that this was a good smell, but it is one that I got so use to while in Laos and Cambodia last time I was here. Today while sitting outside, next to the pool, we were getting all sort of smells - garlic and green vegetable being cooked, some other good foods, and then there was the smell I can't place but it was worse than burning trash. The sounds are also something that I am enjoying. As I sit out on our balcony I can hear tuk-tuks driving by, people speaking Khmer, kids playing, birds hooting (I think they might be pigeons or doves, not sure which, but it is one of my favorite sounds), cars driving by, all sorts of construction noise, and horns honking. The sounds are never ending and something that I am currently soaking up. 

Today was a low key day and we planned it that way. We were up early, had breakfast at our guesthouse, I showed Michael the downtown tourist area, we walked through one of the markets before everything was open, then took a long walk just walking in one direction till we were tired of it and the picked another direction making a big circle. By 10:30am I was ready to sit down for a drink so while I had an iced coffee with condensed milk Michael had two beers. Our drinks cost the same amount and our pockets were two dollars lighter. We walked around town some more before coming back to our guesthouse to swim and relax. Michael is napping while I sit outside. I just got out of the shower and I could happily take another one. I love heat, but I don't care for being sticky. I don't think that I will get acclimated in our two weeks. 

Time to find a beer and dinner.

Luggage

I'm packed and ready to go!

It's not even funny the difference between what Michael and I are bringing.  I'm packed and ready to go.  I'm using Terry's luggage because I want to be able to go shopping and bring stuff back. Last time I was in SE Asia I made my parents both come with almost empty bags so I could unload some of my stuff, but also so I could shop till I dropped! Right now my bag might be a third of the way full, if that.


Last night Michael sent me a picture of everything he is brining. Yeah, it all fits into a bag the size of my daypack - with room to spare. BUT, as Michael pointed out, I'm the one with the first aid kit, sun screen, bug repellent, more than two pairs of underwear, and I have a much bigger camera (or two).

Right now, I am killing a little time before catching the bus to the airport. The funny thing is that, right now, I'm more concerned about figuring out the Seattle light-rail system then I am about going to Cambodia.

Yes, this is all Michael is bringing.