Sonalong Village Siem Reap

... Angkor Thom, which is a great big ancient walled city north of Angkor Wat. Inside, I saw the Bayon temple (which has all these massive faces on the towers, it turns out to be one of my favourite temples, and also the site of where I tried to break my own ankle... Why do I keep on doing this to myself?!?), Baphoun (which they dismantled before the Civil War to restore it, but during the war, they lost all the notes as to which block goes back ...

... the city is, full of western standard building, nice bars and restaurants. It was like a real backpacker retreat. Everyone there was a traveller, most of whom were western. It was like a lush oasis in the middle of the desert in terms of the wealth difference between the surrounding local areas and the tourist centre. Of course, the obvious presence of affluence in such a poor area attracts those without money like a magnet….

We ...

... around. It was so peaceful and the views were amazing. After the sunset, we headed back down the mountain to get to the bus so that we could head to dinner. Dinner was at the Red Orchid, and faculty members sang karaoke and line-danced. Apparently everyone in Thailand sings karaoke, and people usually perform for one another when they travel to other countries. So I should have been surprised when one of the deans was on stage finishing her karaoke ...

... lunch opposite the entrance to Angkor Wat we went into Angkor Wat and spent all afternoon wandering round the massive building checking out all the amazing bas-reliefs (sculptures on the walls) and climbing up to the top of the buildings.
That night we decided to check out the Siem Reap nightlife and headed to 'pub street' which is.. full of pubs. The atmosphere was really good, lots of families and restaurants and bars with live music on, pedestranised so ...

... because we are rich.

Over all it was a good three days. People often would yell out hello as we went by just to be friendly or interact with us--I think children in particular find us interesting because we are white and they can practice their English with us. I am slowly getting used to a celebrity-like status.

We were in Siem Reap for a total of six days so we started to get the sense of the town. Most of the ...

... br>
Another great line used by the kids is “you promised you would buy this from me when you came back.” Pure genius.

The morning of whirlwind temple viewing in 200% humidity proved to be exhausting and we decided to head back to our hotel for our new staple- the siesta. We ate a delightful lunch at a restaurant in Siem Reap serving veggie friendly Khmer food. We both ordered the “piece of pumpkin oven”. I’m ...

... into a major tourist hub.
Arrived in Siem Reap late this evening... the International Airport of Siem Reap is very nice- As you walk out of the airport you are greeted with a huge friendly sign- "Welcome to the Kingdom of Cambodia." I was impressed. And for a moment had an envision of glamorous castles and felt like royalty... that was a very short lived moment! Again, as in all places I have ...

... The Cruciform Cloister has 4 basins (pools). We spent some time exploring in here, but had spent most of our time in the outer galleries.

Around the site we have seen some great lions, nagas, apsaras,.... We spent more time here than we had planned, but we really enjoyed exploring Angkor Wat. Next, Som took us to Preah Khan which is one of Bill's favourites. He describes it as a good place to play hide 'n seek. We were able to take some really good ...

... installed stairs to help you get down. The purpose is to have to exit down sideways so you can't point your bum at the temple. Nice breeze at the top and lovely to sit and reflect in the cool.


Back to the hotel at 4:30, tired but satisfied. Showers and laundry. Walked into town and went back to Molly Malone's for another nice dinner. Saw a few fireworks on the way home after having another dismal attempt at cappuccinos. About 90 channels on the TV but few are worth watching.

... that isn't too hard to find if one looks for it. And the people we have encountered are open and friendly, polite and mild-mannered (for the most part) in a way that has long since disappeared in other countries - that's if it existed in the first place. I realised I was looking forward to coming back - after all we had an open return ticket to Bangkok in six months time.


But first we had to traverse the Americas - a whole new adventure that I hadn't quite ...