Siem Reap

The bus from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap sat at the bus station for an hour while people tried selling us sunglasses and newspapers through the windows. The ride was surprisingly smoothe though the driver honked his horn every other second. This, coupled with the sing-along karioke, the cries of a newborn baby and people yelling into their cell phones made for a not-very-relaxing bus ride. The Cambodian countryside looked pretty similar to Thailand. People everywhere wore the traditional krama (scarf) which can function as a hat, scarf and face mask depending on the situation. The little boy who sat near us on the bus enjoyed boiled duck eggs (they're more popular than chicken eggs in Cambodia). On a side note, Cambodian food was much saltier than Thai food...i didn't really like it.

We were lucky to get picked up at the bus station by our guesthouse (we'd called ahead). So many people were jostling, shouting at us and trying to take our bags. What a hassle! The guesthouse was nice, clean and cheap and they had free tuk-tuk rides to the town. We went into town for dinner that night and were really impressed by the cute little "Pub Street" full of awesome restaurants and bars. Who knew we could get Mexican food in Cambodia?

The next morning we woke up bright and early to go to the ruins. We got our 3-day passes and headed to Angkor followed by Bayon and Ta Prohm. Nothing I could possibly write would explain the awe that I felt there. No amount of superlatives would even begin to cover it. Everything was much bigger, more detailed and more well-crafted than I could have imagined. These temples were built in the 10th and 11th century and it's astounding that people then had the technology to build something on such a big scale. Please, please if you get the chance, go see for yourself.

The ruins are spread out all over the place and there's no way you could see everything in a day. We hired a tuk-tuk driver who was very helpful suggesting itineraries and giving us a little background. Seeing the temples is hard work. It's blazing hot and there are tons of mosquitos. You have to climb, jump and duck to get through the ruble sometimes. The stairs are so steep and narrow and are often accompanied by signs stating, "Climb at your own risk." However, the views from the top are always worth it. The second day we work up very early to catch the sunrise at Angkor. It was beautiful but all the other noisy tourists detracted a bit from the experience. Luckily, we went to another temple that morning that had absolutely no other people. It was amazing to just feel the energy there and to see the early morning light slanting through windows and doorways. All we could hear were birds and insects. The temple had been overgrown by trees and moss and it seemed to be in complete harmony with nature. That morning was a pretty spritual experience for me...I was really moved by the architecture and attention to detail.

Of course, Otto was totally in his element. He was constantly describing architectural features, making sketches and taking pictures. I think he appreciated it more than the rest of us because he could understand the layouts of the buildings and saw how intricate and difficult they must have been to build. By the third day, we were pretty "templed-out" so we just went to a couple places. We decided to spend an extra day in Siem Reap just to chill out. We went to the fabulous night market which is made all out of native structures. There was a gorgeous bar in the center of the market made out of a huge grass hut. Otto and I chilled for a drink and loved the atmosphere. I hope that we'll be able to go back some day because Siem Reap was definitely the highlight of the trip for me.