Sorry this is such a long one, but here it finally is!
Photos [Ta Phrom (jungle temple) and detail] [Bayon and close up] [the elephants from the elephant terrace] [Lady temple and close up] [Sunrise at Ankor Wat] [Monks at Ankor] [My little flitterkitten and a lady] [ Corridor at Ankor] [ On top of the boat] [Flooded village] [Cambodian traditional dancers]
Day 25, Homestay -> Siem Reap, Cambodia
Woke a bit early and wandered up the "road" to see the cows being led to the fields. Then went across the road to the place we had had dinner to enjoy breakfast. It was Fried scrambled Egg with LOTS of onions, Chicken fried rice, Baguetts and more Milk fruit, (more purples than greens and we got to watch them pick them off the tree with a tall notched stick and a stick with a saw on it). Also Tea and instant coffee mix (didn't dare try the tea) :P After breakfast we said our goodbyes, took a picture, and headed back onto the mini bus.
On the way to Siem Reap, we stopped at a place on the side of the road that made sticky rice in bamboo, and we got to see how they make it, it's TASTY. mmmmm. Sticky rice, Black beans, coconut, and Jackfruit (or sugar of some sort), put into the bamboo and roasted till the bamboo is blackened, then the black parts are peeled off and it's sold. You peel down the bamboo to get at the rice. One of my favorite "snack" foods so far, and at $.50 it's filling and cheap.
Oh, money here is mostly in USD, though they use Riels (their money) as well. 4000 riels to the dollar, so you get riels for anything less than a dollar, no coins.
Next stop was at Long's home village [Ta Ary], we got to see the primary school he went to and meet one of his teachers! The teacher let us look in to one of the classrooms since the kids were out for lunch. Then we walked down the road to see his house, met this dad, his Sister and Nephew and saw his rice field. :D We hung out under the house for a bit chatting.
Last stop before Siem reap was at a 1000 year old bridge. We got out and took pictures and walked across. The Naga's at the ends were neat looking and it's in great condition for it's age.
(I almost forgot, we got LOST! :) The driver had to turn around and backtrack 3 times, and stop for directions twice, getting to and back from the homestay. :P)
Long spent most of the bus trip telling us stories about his life growing up, essentially the long and short of it is life's VERY unfair in Cambodia, and most people are really, really poor. Also the goverment's super corrupt. Suprise, surprise.
We arrived in Siem Reap and dropped off at the hotel to quickly shower and meet back up for lunch. Took Tuk-tuk's to Pub Street for lunch. I got Somloo mjour krueng (traditional mixed Khmer spiced soup) [a soup with pork ribs, morning glory, garlic, tamarind and basil]. It was very tasty. And came with a free fresh coconut. The coconut was only eh though, so far I haven't been really impressed with them. After lunch we all wandered our own ways. After finding an ATM (gives me mony in USD! Yay!) I headed to the markets and finally found some Girley cut T-shirts I liked. Now have WAAAY too many t-shirts. Oh well. I'll suffer.
The Dinner adventure was tons of fun. 1st we went to where the locals hang out (on the side of the road) and tried some local feasts from the carts at Long's direction. Some sort of sticky riceballs, made out of rice flour around palm sugar with fresh coconut shaved on top(somewhat slimy) and a large round rice cracker thing made out of sticky rice, somewhat sweet and tasty. We then wandered to a carnival that had been set up. A few peeps tried the bumper cars, was VERY silly to watch, and then we went to darts! Same scenerio as usual at home, a bunch of ballons, you get stuff if you break them with the darts. However, here, they had household items and beer and soda as prizes!
Next, Long ordered some frog, and Peter got chicken, and we all sat on a woven mat on the side of the road to eat them (cut into small pieces). The Chicken was pretty fantastic, and the frog was, hmm, interesting? They had cleaned the body out and stuffed it with lemongrass and pork, VERY strong. The legs were good though. There are beggar children EVERYWHERE, it's sad and a bit annoying. We didn't manage to finish all the frog and they decended on it like locusts. :(
After our "carnival" we got back on the tuk-tuks and headed to a local place called Sam Brother, where they have live band Karaoke. We were the ONLY non locals there. Long ordered for us, and we also got a "leg" of beer. 4 different Dishes, Flaming beef with onions (actually on fire when it came to the table), Chicken with vegtables, Veg Fried rice, and Deep fried whole fish in a tomato sauce with veggies. All of them were good though the beef was a bit tough. Fish so far this trip has been really, really good. (since I am somewhat leery of fish bones, I have mostly been stealing bites from the others rather than ordering my own fish so far)
Since it was Marina's Birthday, there was of course a cake (our 4th birthday this trip, crazy), and someone (staff?) sang her a reallllly long version of Happy birthday over the karoke machine, then one of the girls came to the mike to say "to the foriegners sharing their birthday with us, thank you". It was very cute.
After the resturant most of us went on to a nightclub called HipHop where Long knows the Manager. The guys and Marina got a pitcher of beer, and I got a can of leechye juice. The music was almost exclusivly dubstep with a bit of other club stuff thrown in. Lazer lights and lots of young people dancing. After a while someone started smoking near us so I headed home but it was still fun. (especially since I had remembered my earplugs!)
Day 26, Siem Reap, Cambodia (temple Day!)
With the local guide we went to several temples. There were many, many tourists. I will try, but there is NO way I could possibly really describe the temples to you. My photos cannot do them justice in sheer magesty.
We started with the Jungle Temple [Ta Phrom] (where tomb raider was filmed). It was beautiful, crumbling with trees and vines holding up parts while they undermine others. Many places have been so taken over by the treees that the trees are the only thing holding it up. Unfortunatly the loads of tourists were a serious detraction for me enjoying this temple. Julie calls them ATG's (Asian tourist groups) that must pose EVERY member of the group, one by one, in front of each neat piece of art/important thing, consequently always being in the photo for anyone else. Light wasn't great for photos, being overcast, but it did keep the heat a bit down. None of the photos were fantastic, and I didn't bother trying to get the shot from the movie at all. :(
Quick stop at Ko tao temple, not very pretty but big and had a "buddah" reclining in the side of it. It was the length of the temple but almost impossible to see. Aparently it got destroyed at one point and wasn't rebuilt correctly.
Next temple we went to was Bayon, the temple of a thousand? faces. I think this one was my favorite temple. The faces are so peaceful. Photos cannot do justice to just how many faces there were. I could only get a portion of the whole picture in at a time. You'll just have to take my word for it that overall it was magnificent. (even tripping over the other tourists)
We then had a quick look at Ankor Thom (it's big, can't say much else about it) and onwards to the Terrace of the Elephants (which sounds MUCH better than it looks).
We had Lunch in front of Ankor Wat where I had Fish Amok served in a fresh coconut. It was very good, I am very in love with the Amok spice mix.
After Lunch we got back in the minibus and headed to the Banteay Srei temple "Lady Temple" which is small but beautifully made of pink sandstone. Photos cannot do justice to it, (espically mine with my misbehaving camera) but the bautifully carved walls, lintels and everything else were exquisite and in much better shape than many others since the pink sandstone is harder. Hard to believe the carvings are as old as they are.
Stopped at some random temple on a hill to see the sunset that wasn't. Can't recall the name, it wasn't impressive. :( Nor was the sunset, too cloudy.
Dinner on our own tonight, I met up with Julie (from home, also traveling in Cambodia) for dinner, we had barbecue (same as in lao, meat on a brazier with soup around the edge you put veggies in) and them a beer and market shopping. More T-shirts!
Day 27, Siem Reap, Cambodia
Today was the day we went to Ankor Wat (the main large temple complex).
Some of us (5 of the 8) decided to do a sunrise run to Ankor, got up and left at 5am. Ugh. It was unfortunatly very cloudy, and CRAWLINE with tourists, but it was still pretty beautiful. Then back to bed for an hour or two.
The main group of us timed it, per suggestion of our guide to be there between 11am and 1pm, the hotest part of the day, when there are the fewest tourists. Arriving through the west? gate, with it's line of angels on one side and Demons on the other was pretty impressive. Then Ankor Wat. It was hot for sure, but the carvings on the galleries are wonderful (photos did not turn out, boo) and I fell in love with the ladies which are carved everywhere. There were very few tourists, so overall sucessful. (I still liked Bayon and the Lady temple better).
After sweltering at Ankor we had lunch at the same place as the previous day. I had Mama noodles (instant noodles) in a curry broth with mango and shrimp. OH goodness was it good.
At this point the group decided to split up. Jules/Doro and I went with Long to Explore the flooded village at Tonnel Sap Lake. It was a very bumpy 1/2 hr van ride and then a realllly long, noisy boat ride, but tons of fun and I got to sit on top! Long's brother and his family live in the village so we got to wave to his SIL and Nice and Nephew. :) Past the village we went all the way to the open water of the lake, after going through the mangrove lined waterways. Couldn't see land on the other side. Caught a beautiful sunset on the way back.
Dinner tonight was a special treat. We ate at the Temple Bar, which does "dinner and a show" with traditional Khmer dances and music. Very pretty and MUCH better than the ones in Laos, though I am still not too fond of the music.
Day 28, in transit, Siem Reap to Bangkok
We were pretty much on the bus ALL day. With a 2+ hr stop/problem/line at the border before we got through, we arrived in Bangkok at almost 8pm. My room has a KILLER view. For dinner we all piled into two taxies and headed to a resturant near Koh San Road, where I had fantastic whole fried fish in red curry sauce. Wandered a tiny bith through Koh San Road.
Day 29, Tour is over, Bangkok, Thailand
A tearful farwell at breakfast to the bulk of the rest of the group. Long and Gary had already left at oh god thirty in the morning. Then I checked out and stored my bag, before Jules, Doro and I decided to go find temples with a girl we met in the loby who was heading on to her own intrepid tour that evening. :)
Wat Pho (with the reclining buddah) was amazingly interesting with odd nooks and crannies. The Reclining buddah is HUGE. Much bigger than I was anticipating. The Grand palace with it's jade buddah on the other hand, while it had amazing paintings on the gallery walls, wasn't worth the entrance fee and tripping over all the tourists. We saw a bit of it then gave up and went to find lunch on Koh San Road.
Lunch was tasty, then I booked a room at the Swasdee hotel for the night and we all wandered for a while before going back to the original hotel and splitting up. I grabbed my bag and took a public bus back to Koh San, where I checked in and waited for Julia to arrive.
Now on to the next adventure!
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