Ombrelle And Kimono Hotel Siem Reap

... done. The jungle has properly taken over here, trees grow directly on top of the stone with huge twisting roots. Also worth noting is this site was used for filming in Tomb Raider. You can even get an Angelina Jolie cocktail in Siem Reap, just how she requested it apparently.

Other temples we explored included, Thommanom, Chau Say Thevoda & Prasat Kravan. The last one having some quite cool chambers filled with bats that strated ...

... running off to help her mom in the kitchen. She knew how to make the best out of a not-so-good situation.

These children are smart and like the ones in Sapa, spoke perfect English without a hint of an accent, English that they learned strictly by speaking to tourists. I've always said that life is what it is, depending on where and when one was born. This is not something one chooses or hopes for, it just happens. Any of us could have been born ...

... it is very rewarding. Although we play football every day and go fishing quite a bit. I bought a load of tackle in town (about $3 worth) and the kids just made the rods from bamboo.

We have made ourselves quite at home in Siem Reap. Staying with Prom at Golden Takeo has been the best. We've become good friends (we're the same age, same interests etc) and he treats us like family. Courtesy of him we get ...

... rice in each.

By the time we got to Treak a queue had formed outside the property, sat politely just waiting. The village organiser arrived with a list of names who would each receive a relief package, along with rope, clothing and blankets for distribution. The distribution was peaceful and respectful. I wonder what would happen if we were not here.

COF have set up a school here, bringing English lessons to the village and with ...

... Reap to see the real Cambodia.

All in all, our trip was a success, though I must note that I certainly have aged; whereas previously, my vacations consisted of late-night partying in destinations like Cancun, our Cambodia trip allowed for only 1 day sleeping in and no “wild” nights to speak of. This doesn’t mean we didn’t visit our share of bars and restaurants, but I suppose priorities have shifted a bit.

... my relatively historically un educated (on the subject of ruins) point of view I thought the temples of Angkor were more impressive. More glamour and fewer llamas at the least.
The fist we visited was Angkor Thom - a large walled city with contained several temples. The faces adorning the larger of the temples were haunting and in abundance all over the building. The colours of the lichen on the sandstone were beautiful and gave a very grand air to the place. The second ...

... bedroom drinking, eating, watching Cambodian karaoke and slanging about Thai people who the Cambodian drivers seemed to despise. It was quite bizarre, especially considering Sunrise wife and two children were lying in bed at the time. It was one of those experiences that will live with me forever as they treated us as lifelong friends even though we had only known them for 24 hours!

Pnomh Penh tomorrow!

... side-by-side on the floor. We were also handed disposable underwear. Despite this set-up, the 60 minute Swedish massage was magical. More magical, the price--$12.

Heeding the warnings of our concierge, we hopped in a taxi at roughly 1:45pm to head to the airport. Unfortunately, she seemingly over-estimated the necessary airport security prep time. In fact, it turned out that they wouldn’t even check us in when we arrived as we were too ...

... a 3rd world country.

In the evening we met up with the boys again for glasses of beer and tales of the day. Mei and I then got some food from a restaurant near the market, where we had traditional Khmer noodle soup for $1.50, whilst cockroaches ambled around our feet and these gecko lizard things ran up and down the wall. (Quite glad i opted for the ...

Beth Arrives...

So Beth flew in to Bangkok and arrived at the hostel on the morning of the 14th. She had had a blast in India, but was sooo glad to be back in 'civilization'. Apparently cows commonly block traffic, there are disabled homeless people everywhere, and 10 out of 12 people in her tour group got violently ill (including her) in India. Needless to say, she was happy to be in Bangkok.

We took a little while to get ...