Cambodia Part II

We did some research and drove out to a few temples that we

heard were pretty scenic. Ta Prolhm was one of our favorites,

it was where a few scenes of the Tomb Raider movie was filmed.

That evening we took an Elephant ride up to the top of the local mountain

to watch the sunset over the valley, while sitting on an ancient temple ruin.

The tree cover was too dense to see any of the temples in the valley

but the whole experience was still really pretty.

We then walked down the mountain at dusk. We past many

local musician groups playing on the side of the road on the way

down.

One of the nights we ate dinner at a dancing theater where you got

to watch 6 traditional dances while you ate.

We got front row seats, perfect for photography.

The ladies in the audience got lotus flowers with the petals

specially folded. Our napkins were also folded to look like lotus

flowers. The costumes were beautiful and it was so nice

to have a booklet that told the history and symbolism behind

every dance.

Watch out! the snails here are huge and eat frogs for snacks. ewwe.

Cambodia Part I

We have now arrived to 100% humidity.

But I will love the amazing clouds that will decorate the

sky the entire time we are here.

our hotel is open air and you walk along boardwalks and bridges over lilly

ponds to get around. Frogs and lizards are everywhere.

We were so grateful that the food was just like Thai food (one of our

favorites) and not as drastically different from the thai food we enjoy in the US,

unlike many of the Indian dishes that were way more greasy and spicy than

any Indian food in we have tried in the US (or even England).

view from our rooms patio.

Breakfast was very french, crepes and baguettes. The French occupied

Cambodia much like the British occupied India, every once in a while

we would run across where the French culture has lingered.

This was our view during breakfast.

We didnt realize that the Angkor Wat complex was so huge.

We had a driver and a guide and saw around 5 temples before the

heat and humidity was more than we could bare and had to

go back for an afternoon break. I had sweated so much and felt

so gross that I walked right through the door of our room and

straight into the shower with all my clothes on and just sat under the

luke warm water wishing it could get colder.

We learned that much of the restoration and excavation of the

temples was started by the french. It was impressive to see

temples that were put back together with all the jungle cleared, but

we would soon see many temples that are more like heaps of rubble

entangled in jungle. Much of the rubble was caused by war mixed with the

invading jungle and time. The roots and vines that wrapped themselves around

the ruins are strangling fig trees.

Most temple gates where bridges over moats with large

giants holding onto a snake which was said to have been used to

churn the primeval waters to create the world.

The culture seemed to be a mix between India, Thailand, and Polynesia.

I was amazed to learn the timeline of the temples. Angkor wat was built around

the same time as Notre Dame.

Cambodian writing is so unique. There are a couple

characters that look like mickey mouse though. Do you see them?

While driving we passed a procession of young men

that are on their way to go become monks.

This here is the fattest monkey I have ever seen. The monkeys

here are more friendly than in India, but really only come close

if you have any treats to offer.

This is the most beautiful little girl, she didn't speak English but we were

still able to get her to laugh and hang out with us for a bit.

Butterflies were everywhere, I even filmed a clip to show how they

fluttered all around you.

So it was appropriate that we had lunch at a butterfly garden.

Although Cambodia still has a significant amount of poverty the streets

are very clean, the people very gracious, and the roads safe and calm to

drive on as everybody obeys traffic laws. All of this was in great contrast

to the chaos we were used to in India, we started to feel more relaxed

and really fell in love with Cambodia.

We heart Singapore Airport

We flew from from India to Singapore where we had a crucial 24 hour layover,

we had intended to tour Myanmar next but cell phone coverage was incredibly

frustrating. The data plan that we were on wasn't only expensive (yet loads cheaper

than dealing with roaming charges) but didnt include Myanmar in the countries

in the package, we tried calling on a landline but wasnt able to get a hold of anyone that

could schedule or make any assurances. It was down to the hour our flight was going to

take off when we exchanged our tickets for a flight to Cambodia. We were going to push

up visiting Cambodia on our schedule and fill in the time we allotted for Myanmar with

visiting Bali after Cambodia. One of the good things about going off season is being

able to make last minute changes to the itinerary and still be able to stay at all our

desired hotels. Durning this big decision making time we were so grateful for the

amazingly clean and comfortable airport in Singapore. Free massage chairs, koi ponds

orchid gardens, free movie theater, and all our favorite japanese foods where available

to us. We even slept in the hotel that was in our terminal for a comfortable place to

sleep without having to go through the hassle of getting our checked luggage out of the

storage and leaving the airport. Again thank you Reece for doing so much research and

arranging for this hiccup in the trip to work out so smoothly.

We also have to say how much we have loved Skype this trip. Being able to

see the our families faces while talking to them, then screen sharing to show

our pictures and videos has really been amazing. There have been times that we

were home sick and seeing our family was the best! I was able to talk to my sister,

all her kids, and my parents at the same time becuase my sister was staying with

my parents in SLC right after she had her little boy, then talk to my other two other

sisters and my nephews in AZ, right after. Its amazing how technology shortens

distances, and can bring people together.

(sorry this is the best picture I have of any of our skype sessions, little Will was

getting upset over the fact that not all my pictures were videos. With every image

he would ask "play this one play this one" he loved hearing all the music and seeing

all the movement we videoed, still photographs were just not as exciting for him

after seeing a few of our videos. haha)