Lotus Lodge Siem Reap

... run down of what all the wall art meant without actually needing a tour guide, so i was fairly free to do my own thing all day. I finished the day at Pre Rup to watch the sunset. It was fairly packed but again because i was there early i got a good seat and managed to get a good few nice photos. Could help but think i needed the expertise of Alex Smith to capture a few great photos. Still my little camera done me proud.

... all the doors go smaller and smaller and smaller. And it’s funny that adults have to bend and we don’t. We bought this bracelet that was really cool. If we pull on 2 of the strings, then it tightens. If we pull on one, then it goes out. And if we do it again and again, it doesn’t break. There’s a rose one and a flower one. My new purse is cool because it has 5 zippers, one in the back, one on the top and 3 in the front ...

... head missing, so Richard had a great idea for a comedy photo: each of us took turns standing behind the statue's neck, while the other took a photo. Both look ridiculous.

Back through the gate and we were in the tuk-tuk again, only briefly, however, as after only a minute Thuer thought we might like to see the monkeys that live in the forest either side of the road. No sooner had the vehicle stopped but several small children swarmed around us, trying to get us to buy bananas for ...

... essential visits to pay in Phnom Penh are the memorials to the country's all too recent horrific past, the Genocide Museum at Tuol Sleng Prison, and the Choeung Ek Killing Fields. The former was once a school that was converted into a jail during the Pol Pot regime (1975 – 1979) for the detention and torture of 'political suspects’. 17000 prisoners entered that prison during the regime and all but 7 died – either ...

... Cambodia, the Bayon Temple. Consisting of 54 towers (representing each of the 54 regions or states in Cambodia…..current day Cambodia has just 24, following various conflicts with neighboring Thailand, Laos and Vietnam that redrew the borders). Each tower has the trademark smiling face on each of its four sides. Again, not nearly as massive as Angkor, the temple was easy to navigate in 30-45 minutes and offered some great photo opportunities to add some ...

... the streets changes hour to hour, due to the authorities releasing water from the dam they created on the Siem Reap river. This morning Wat Bo road had just a little water, and the street in front of Hotel De La Praix was pretty much dry. With no rainfall, this afternoon the road in front of the hotel is under about 2-3 feet of water, and Wat Bo is under about a foot and a half ...

... br>
It's very late and dark outside. I can barely see the countryside. The houses I can see are rather large, at least for what I imagined Cambodia houses to be. I can see the outline of palm trees against the night sky. "Sort of like rural Hawaii," I tell myself. Then I see sticks of light in people's yards. We call them "black lights." I ask the driver what they are. He says, "They are lights to draw the crickets ...

... influences, Angkor is the site a vast complex of temples and palaces. It's size is staggering and only the keenest person would attempt to visit every building. Most travellers we had met who had come from Angkor said that after one day they had been well and truly "templed out", so we opted for a one day pass and left early in the morning in our hired tuk tuk.
Considering their age, many of the temples and their carvings are in ...

... left, by looking at me you know I'm not devilish. =D



Simon our professional photographer ...

... proposed us a more relaxing day at the Tonle Sap, the biggest lake of Cambodia, as he told us. The fisherman's village was really nice to discover, with drying shrimps on the floor and friendly people coming at us. We get some food for the lunch there (fresh fish, shrimps and vegetables), visited a school and then went further to the middle of the lake.

Then it was a really nice afternoon, getting some tan, drinking beers and chating.