Tranquil Cambodia

Trip Start Oct 20, 2008
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Trip End Feb 02, 2009


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Flag of Cambodia  ,
Saturday, January 3, 2009

It was difficult to wrench ourselves from Ko Samui and into traveling once again, but Cambodia has proved to be worth while.

We landed in a small airport in Siem Reap into balmy, breezy weather. I was both hesitant and excited about this new place; images of the Khmer Rouge and the bloody civil war, not too long into history, slid into my consciousness.

Our first night was so pleasant. Staff at our quaint hotel was very friendly and helpful. Out tuk-tuk driver equally helpful. We had our first Khmer cuisine. Since we were tourists, they did not put the chili in with our Amok (curry with choice of meats) and my squash/coconut soup was a bit bland. We asked for fresh chili and all was well. Siem Reap is definitely developing. There is construction of new buildings awaiting the influx of tourists.Very large hotels line the road into town Ernie in the arms of headless Buddha
Ernie in the arms of headless Buddha
 . Also, thier ATMs here dispense dollars, for the convenience of the tourists, but that also means that prices are in dollars as well. There are good bargains to be had (food is cheap), but  other items can be pricey, but all beautiful.

The Angkor temples are as magical and mystical as portrayed in the media. Angkor Wat is the largest, but we found that we actually preferred many of the smaller temple ruins; with the very, very steep steps that are fun to climb, but quite scary to scale down. Ernie and I had our fill as we took 2 full days to explore the various temples. Our driver was kind enough to direct us to a very good Khmer lunch place and we thoroughly enjoyed our meals. By the way, people here refer to themselves as "Khmer" not "Cambodian"; we were told that that is a Western given name.

Driving through the country side we see a part of the natural beauty of this country. It is peaceful, green, clean and the people are very nice. Many of tourist opt to bike from each temples and it is pretty easy to navigate the whole town on a bike. We like the tuk-tuks as they are very convenient and fun to ride here.

We are off to Vietnam tomorrow.

Till then,

Aidess and Ernie
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