River Village Manor Siem Reap

... pockets to the tune of $500 US did not help Em’s nerves. After a slightly shaky start she quickly got used to the throttle and was coasting around the dirt roads. The scenery was stunning touring through the paddy fields dodging the water buffalo as the sun was setting. Definitely something worth doing if your in this neck of the woods. Take some deet though. As the guide pointed out, this is where the mosquitoes live.

We now had ...

... among the ruins I feel are responsible for the atmosphere here. There are two species of trees here: the larger is the silk-cotton tree, distinguished by its thick pale brown roots with a knobby texture. The smaller is the Strangler Fig with a large mass of thin, smooth grey roots.

I didn't write much here because the atmosphere here comes out strongly in the photos. It was the one area where it had a feeling of eeriness that I have a hard time putting my finger on.

... in war-torn and drought-ridden Africa). Until you've seen how the other half lives, you have no idea how lucky you are, just by the simple fact that you were born when and where you were born. And as Pierre often says, when we're privileged, we have the responsibility to help those who are less fortunate, especially the children of this world because they are our future.

Then there are people like me, who were fortunate enough to have resourceful ...

... then we use one of the guys. We did find a great chap at the beginning who's laugh became infectious. I ended up teaching him how to use his email and we now exchange basic emails once a while. How technology advances eh? I book a tuk-tuk by email or sms.

We've also got a nice local in town - slap on the end of the main drag. They were concerned one night when I left at 9pm. They thought we were sick! Again, great ...

So there I am gently catching up and finding my way into Khmer life when despite assurances to the contrary we get side swiped by a Typhoon (Ketsana). She announced her presence very quickly on Tuesday night with a crack of Thunder that lit up the whole sky, and then deluge. The rain came down in a form I have never seen before and continued unabated for 36 hours.

Fortunately for Siem Reap the storm passed 200 miles North, leaving us with just the ...

... well behaved all the children were despite having none of the luxuries we are too well accustomed to as we grow up. Their Mum cooked for us with the help of her eldest daughter - no more than 12 years old while the younger two who much have been 4 and 2 amused them selves with a hammock and no surprises here a Cambodian equivalent of a tin whistle which the 4 year old was intent on using to wind up his big sister to the best of his ability! Sound familiar? Lunch was delicious and the ...

... Arriving in Cambodia was a pleasure. The economy has clearly benefited from the recent influx of tourism. The airport was beautiful and very fast.

After grabbing our luggage (that we were sure was still on the conveyor belt in Hanoi), we headed outside to see if our personal tuk-tuk driver received our message about an airport pickup. He did and had a big sign with Andrea's name. He is an absolute doll and just the happiest man.

Our ...

... King seemed to have built a different city and temple for himself and dedicated it to a different religious figure. They are all elaborate, even the reservoir they created for water has an island with a temple on and statues in the water. We also visited another temple this time built for one of the Kings mother so it was small but contained the best and ...

... for tonight dinner, too much homework to do...

What about him... every single penny ...

... absolutely HUGE. It was really hard to capture the enormity of it in a picture.

So all day Beth and I had been pelted with water for Songkran (Thai New Year), but that didn't even come close to what we experienced on Khao San Road. Khao San is a 'backpacker's haven', basically a hot spot for all the cheap hostels and touristy bars in Bangkok. Beth and I wanted to check it out before heading back to the hostel. The streets around ...