Sala Bai Siem Reap

... was alot of fun, as we all got to sleep on the floor in the same room in the house we stayed at.
When we returned from our project phase, we went to the Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda in Phenom Penh, which was amazing and beautiful. Yesterday, we travelled 6 and a half hours on a bus from Phenom Penh to Siem Reap, where we are now staying. Today we went and visited the Sisters of Mercy ...

... temples are in ruins, but date back to the 6th century, with many being build in the 11th and 12th centuries, the sheer size and exquisite carvings were just amazing. The rest of the group arrived at 2.30 and headed up to the temples to see the sunset.

We finally got back together for dinner.

23rd November - I went with my group and John with his to see the rest of the temples, after 5 hours I returned to the hotel, but John did the ...

... by pools on all sides. In order to reach the temple we had to cross 100 meters of stagnant swamp on 10 inch planks.This is probably not a task you would choose to endeavour after a night of heavy drinking.

Our final temple stop of the morning took us to Ta Som, whose main entrance has been completely overtaken by a giant sacred fig tree (one of many uber cool photo ops at Angkor).

The sun now at its peak, we had our driver take us back ...

... lot.

Theres a load of pics attached and I don't have time to edit them really so if there's a load of duplicates I apologise. It's because the kids take the camera for the day until the battery dies! Some of them are of the buddha in the countryside nearby, which is a weekly jaunt, especially when visitors arrive. Others are from Bon Um Tuk - the water festival featuring heaps of racing at the end of the rainy season. See what you think...

... mountain with a temple at the top called Pnom Bakheng. The walk up was not too bad as we circled around the mountain, but when we got to the top we found steep narrow stairs leading up. It reminded me a lot of Mexico’s temples.

About halfway up a monk called out to us to tell us we were almost there. We were really surprised and we thanked him. Then he asked where we were from and that he is learning English and ...

... most places and in all seriousness it's pretty tough to go back to all of them! We did agree on one thing - we did want to see Angkor Wat in the rainy season (its just come to the end) with all the lush greenery and moats full to the brim. It didn't disappoint thankfully.

Our first evening was spent with some Brits on hols and getting over excited about the cheapness of things again. Most bars offer 50cent beers here, but ...

... to get money to eat. The richer families accumulate the land, and pay the former land owners very tiny wages to plant and harvest the fields. It is not a living wage - not even close to enough money to feed the family, and they now have no land to plant a crop.

So the rich get richer, the poor get poorer.

After planting rice we joined the family to learn how to cook a "King's Meal." More on this in my next blog entry...

... tho. Even the guide said I looked like I had just got out of the shower!! Its good I suppose as it allows me to drink and eat my fill every night and hopefully keep the belly down as the food i so good I will end up going home a fat b**tard. Or as my pit monkey mate Gaz was quick to point out á fatter b**tard!! Cheers Gaz. Anyway a full day at Ankor yesterday and then back for a shower, siesta and then into town to possibly my favourite restaurant in the world. Happy Herb ...

... a fish tank and as soon as you do about 100 or so fish just converge on your feet and start to eat away the dead skin. Im not a ticklish person but jaysus did I laugh. It was hilarious and when I took my feet out we were amazed at how smooth and clean they were.. like a babies **** as they say... We then went for drinks and met Leeanne and Paul again and ended up going to a shisha bar with them. It was their first ...

... always gives the best effect during noon time (natural light) when the sun is high up in the sky.
Siem Reap, Cambodia princesscheryl