Cambodia

Cambodia was the friendliest and one of the simplest places we have experienced on this trip so far. Before vomiting pictures of Siem Reap and the surrounding temples there is one small story I'd like to share about the Cambodian culture and mindset. In Ha Noi we had to fight off stall owners and annoying taxi people left and right, I mean they are vigorously trying to find a way to get your money. They are very persistent and we learned to not make eye contact and say no or no thank you over and over again. We carried this new skill to Siem Reap and it turns out we did not need it. After meeting a tuk tuk (small moped driven cart) driver we didn't want to use his services and he asked about tomorrow. He said he could really use the money and he could help us, but we didn't want to commit to anything so we said tomorrow at a certain time. The next day after breakfast we were the only white people in the place and we saw a tuk tuk driver post up right outside, waiting to prey on us. Trying to avoid fighting him off we went out the side and walked towards our hostel's alley. He ran down the street after us and caught up to us so we felt like we should at least tell him no. After sternly telling him no twice he explained how his brother told him that we needed help seeing the temples and that he would wait for us if we wanted to go later that day. It may sound like he was desperate for profit but I can assure you his face told otherwise and I felt like a real ass. After experiencing the day with him and how helpful he was and how he never broke his smile I could tell that he wasn't the same breed as the people from Ha Noi. Not everyone we met in Cambodia was like this man and his brother, but the vast majority were and it was very comforting to be a part of that culture, even if it was just for a few days.

We started off our adventures in Cambodia after a night train from Sa Pa to Hanoi, a quick shower, and another flight. No one could find our hostel from the airport or even around on the streets but after walking around in the craziness of the night market with all our gear for a while we ended up right in front of our hostel. After dropping off our bags we went across the street and got a foot massage from hundreds of tiny little doctor fish. It was really hard to keep your feet and and let them nibble on you because they tickled you so badly. It felt like a bunch of tiny suction cups being constantly stuck and pulled off.

The next day we went out for breakfast and initiated the story I previously told. This is the first brother, Yurt, and his brightly colored tuk tuk. After a brief jaunt out to the temple office where we learned how expensive the tickets were we rented scooters and cruised almost all day.

Paul loved his first scooter ride.

After hitting downtown and getting into the countryside we tried to find a lake that led us down a very unconventional path. We were scooting around on footpaths, meeting a couple locals in the jungle and avoiding cows. We came across a steep and extremely muddy cattle trail up to the lake and Nola really wanted to turn around because the scooters were obviously not made for what we were about to do. Hunter just charged up the hill and after a great deal of sliding and pushing we all made it up onto a dirt trail around the lake. We walked down into the lake to find the part we made it to was dried up and was currently a large marsh. We walked through the marsh to what we though was the lake, only to get muddied mid-calf down. Suddenly out of no where it began to rain so hard that it was difficult to see and we got out as fast as we could, covering ourselves and the scooters in mud.

Eventually we made it a scooter car wash and then cruised to a lunch spot to dry off. After a bit more cruising we needed to get the scooters back, with a full tank. Therefore we stopped at the gas station below.

For dinner we turned on our table's fly remover (wall fan) and had pork and rice for the third time that day. After that, we checked out the night market; a place where you can bargain for tons of knock offs, cheap clothing, bags, and wooden cooking ware. There are tons of stalls all selling similar things set up in a tiny space and it is a fun and wild environment to shop in, hopefully you can get a sense from these pictures below.

Siem Reap, if you don't know, is most notable for having Angelina Jolie storm around the numerous temples in the movie Tomb Raider. We climbed into a tuk tuk, after having turned down hundreds of others throughout the trip, and began our journey to the land of old stones piled into cool shapes.  First on the list was the iconic Angkor Wat.  It is the biggest in the area and is the symbol on the national flag of Cambodia (needless to say, its kind of a big deal).  It is on a large plot of land surrounded by a huge moat.  We entered the first building (almost a gate to the grounds), surveyed a few religious symbols at which Buddhist people were praying as well as intricate wall carvings, and emerged on the other side facing the magnificent structure beyond.

The actual structure of Angkor Wat is incredibly well preserved and restored.  It consists of an outer complex surrounding a massive structure rising almost straight up.  If you can see in the picture, the stairs are almost vertical and require generous usage of the accompanying handrails.

The view from the top of the temple afforded us some jungle views as well as a scope of how big the Angkor Wat complex is considering we couldn't see the break in the trees where the moat resides.  Walking back to the tuk tuk gave us one last good glance at the temple in all is splendor.

Next up was another temple complex called Bayon.  It is bigger than Angkor Wat but has many more individual temples and shrines.  Below is Hunter and I playing it cool while exploring the ruins.  Most of the temples in Bayon have had much restoration to return the structures to their original shapes.

Our second temple in this area was comprised of similar blocks but they had been carved into massive faces.  Of course we had to get creative with our pictures to look like true tourists.

After finishing Bayon, we rode with our driver to some smaller sites and individual temples.  The one below is Ta Prohm.  This is the famous one that the movie was filmed at, probably because the jungle has overtaken the temple giving it a truly old feel.  Trees have rooted over walls and structures and grown into a massive forest within the temple walls.  In many places, extra supports had to be used to prevent the trees from crushing and toppling the remnants.

After a long afternoon and morning enduring scorching heat, humidity, and the constant proposals to buy cheap temple trinkits, the crew needed a break.  A few monkeys gave us farewells as we exited the Angkor area and made our way back to Siem Reap.

The sweaty and tired crew after a long day of exploring...

Later that night after a cool down at the hostel, we went and explored pub street, which is literally exactly what it sounds like.  We grabbed dinner at a pub, then passed by more pubs on our walk.  Knowing that we had a very early bus pickup bound for Bangkok, we decided some flesh eating fish would be a good ending to our night rather than pub crawling. The absolute downpour of rain made this decision even easier.

Nothing like a tasty street desert.  Fried grasshopper and cricket really hits the spot...

Overall we loved the city, people, and culture of Siem Reap and we would love to go back.