Khemara Angkor Siem Reap

... do even more good. But if your inner mountain goat isn't at its best, then stick to the outside of the temple.

The green lushness felt so calming to my spirit. Outside of the city the smell of the jungle is much like the Olympic rain forest at home. I even recognized some of the same ferns and other plants. I longed to be alone here. But not a chance - temple service workers will not allow visitors to be alone!

... face masks, a treasure hunt and a game of leap frog.
Osborne House’s Italian sponsor Alessandro Vannucci has come back for another 3 months over the summer and is once again snapping away to bring us these fantastic images. A huge thanks to him and all the volunteers that contributed to making the fun day a huge success.Thanks
RobinJul 14, 2009 ...

It's always an adventure when you do an overland border crossing, so it's not a surprise that I ran into some hassle at the border coming into Cambodia. Our bus stopped about half an hour from the border for 'lunch' and so we could get our visas...at a restaurant. We had all read about these scams-some nicely dressed, professional looking person comes and tells you that you have to fill out the visa form, give them 1200 baht, and then they will expedite your visa. A ...

... Italian food in Cambodia can get) and then Carmen, Hanan and I wandered around the Siem Reap night market and went to a bar called Temple Bar. We got a free t-shirt for buying 2 jugs of mixed drinks (they were strong!) and Carmen kept the shirt -- Hanan and I have too many beer-related shirts anyway. We slept gloriously that night knowing that we would not have to wake up at a ridiculously early hour.

The following day was our last day of touring the temples ...

... church! It was quite an eye opener to a different type of lifestyle and environment. After the tour we headed back to Siem Reap, and David and I chatted lots more about anything and everything. We exchanged emails and he offered for us to come visit him in Holland sometime. We may take him up on it someday! They had a 6pm flight to catch, and so we said our goodbyes and went to go explore the old market near our hotel. We did lots of shopping and walking ...

... I was still getting over the ridiculous tall stories I'd been fed about Cambodia and its people, about them being rampant thieves. Siem Reap was pleasant enough; lanky willow trees lining the bank of the canal-type river, noticing a notice which said not to drop garbage in the water.
The driver, taking us around, said, 'I'll get some commission if you choose one of the places I take you to.'
We settled for Green Town. I use 'The' here, because it's ...

... manner over his shoulder as we whizzed past ruins. It wasn't long before we began to feel like we were on a history school field trip. Almost every request, however small, from ourselves was met with a stern negative that eventually disinclined us from asking questions. For example, when asking for him to take us to the Angkor Wat we would get the reply that, 'No, other tourists go at sunset, so you must first go to the Bayon and we will return to the Angkor Wat at sunset ...