Cambodia: the last day

Ok, last post about Cambodia, I promise.

Me with the 50 cent beer. Note the pile of bags in the
chair next to me. That would be after we stuffed the
smaller bags inside the bigger bags, for easy
carrying.  Srsly. Like 10 bags.

Our last day in Cambodia, we toured around town one more time, making our last visit to the market and shops. The highlights:

• We bought about $100 worth of bags. Made from cement bags. This organization in Cambodia helps villagers sew bags and sell them for part ownership in the company and the money they make. So, we bought really rad bags (tote bags and duffle bags and miniature pencil case/toiletry bags). All told, we spent about $100 on bags.

The BF at the sidewalk cafe

The 50 cent beer

• 50 cent beers. We found a lovely little restaurant on the corner across from the market and had some snacks and beers. And because it was happy hour, the beers (local Anchor beer) was 50 cents. I had two. That means I spent a whole $1 on beers. We need more happy hour like that in America. Or in Singapore, for that matter.

My feet in the tank of fishes. Also in the tank, a nice
couple from Florida and the 9-year-old girl who shamed
my feet into the water.



The fish are eating my feet.

• Fish ate my feet. They offered fishy foot massage: $3 for 30 minutes of fish massage. And a beer. So, clearly we did that. We sat on the edge of a large fish tank, smack in the middle of the sidewalk, with our feet in a tank full of tiny fish. As soon as our feet entered the water, the fish started nibbling on our dead skin. After marching through temples for a few days and "accidentally" hiking up a mountain in the rain and sweating profusely and wearing sandals and Sperrys....our feet had PLENTY of dead skin to feed the fishies. The sensation of having a little sucker fish eat the skin off your feet is super tickly and weird. So much so that The BF started screaming like a girl when he put his feet in. And I gave myself a core and quad workout sitting on the edge of the tank, bouncing my feet in and out of the water, holding them just above the surface, gathering the courage to dunk my feet all the way in and leave them. It wasnt until a 9 year old girl from NY sat down beside me and made fun of me for being a wimp that I got my feet all the way in and left them there.

All in all, we had a great trip to Cambodia. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for an adventurous vacation and a trip to SE Asia.

Cambodia: floating village

Us on the boat

There's a place on the Tonle Sap Lake in Cambodia where there's a floating village. The whole village is built on stilts above the lake, with lower levels that are tethered to the stilts, to adjust to rising water levels. In the rainy season, the water is much higher than during the dry season, so the lake levels change drastically.

The whole village uses boats as the form of transportation. There are houses, temples, a sheriff's office, restaurants, hotels....a full village. And all of these places are accessible only by boat. Some of them back up to a road, but during the rainy season, the roads are mainly washed out, so they're not a primary form of transportation.

The washed out road and bridge.

We hired a little shallow-bottomed 8-seater motor boat to take us on a tour of the village and the lake. We saw houses and villagers and fishermen. We also saw pigs living in wooden crates a few feet above the water. And houses you access by ladder from a boat that have a HUGE flat screen TV and television antenna on the roof.

While touring around the lake, we saw underwater forests, floating restaurants and a couple of fishermen selling fish from their boats. The boat had big coolers of ice and interested buyers would paddle/motor up to the fisherboat and pick out their fish. The fisherman would pack up the fish and some ice into a plastic bag and off you would go with your fish. 

The boat

Once we got in the boat, out on the lake, we had a lovely time. But the getting to the boat was another (slightly traumatizing) adventure.



After our impromptu "very strenuous" hike, we ate lunch (delicious, of course) and then got in the car to travel to the lake. I was wet, cold and a little tired, watching the rain hit the windshield and watching people work the rice paddies on either side of the roads we were traveling. By this point, we were at least an hour outside of the city of Siem Reap and in truly rural, agricultural Cambodia. As we traveled along, I kept my eyes out for wildlife: I saw stray cats, chickens, cows and WATER BUFFALOES. If you have never seen a water buffalo, go do it. They are such cool animals. They're shaped like cows, but bigger, thicker and with WAY cooler horns. 

The boats

 As we're passing fields of water buffaloes, the road is getting narrower and narrower. Until it's one lane, unpaved, rutted, muddy clay. And there is a river on one side. And it does NOT look like we are getting close to a lake. Or a boat dock. We continue on this road for a good 20 minutes until we pull up next to some (not gonna lie: rickety-looking) water craft. We get out and board a craft. Which proceeds to have engine failure. So we get out and board another craft. And enjoy our tour of the lake.

Cambodia: just a lil hike, mmkay

At the waterfall at Kbal Spean

From Banteay Srei, we got back in the car and headed to Kbal Spean. Our guide had told us that morning that we would go out of town to some temples, then continue out of town to the lake, for a boat tour of the floating village. On the way from Banteay Srei (temple 1) to Kbal Spean (temple 2), Piseth turns to us (in the backseat) and says "The BF and Charlie: we are heading to Kbal Spean. We will get out of the car and hike up to it. It will take 45 minutes to get there. The hike is very steep. Very strenuous. Ok?"

At this point, we're like "uh....ok?" I mean, we are in the car, halfway there. And we wanted to see this thing, so we werent going to back out. But I'm not entirely sure that was an option. I think he was just telling us this as part of his tour guide spiel, not as a question or even as a warning.

The BF and I at the waterfall. See how we are NOT wearing
hiking gear? Also, we are drenched in sweat.

So we get to the spot, get out of the car, grab some bottles of water and start hiking. We proceed to hike about a mile uphill, gaining about 700 feet in elevation as we do so. Now, a 700 foot elevation gain might not sound like much, but over only a mile, that kind of elevation gain means I'm using my hands and feet to scamper up some rock clumps in more than one spot on the "trail". As a point of comparison, Little Si (outside of Seattle) is an elevation gain of 1200 feet over 2.5 miles. That's about 70% of the incline of this little trail.

Our local, fit guide scampers on up the trail, staying just within eyesight of us, where he stops and waits. Then he continues on while we slowly make our way up. Keep in mind, we were informed of our hike about 10 minutes before commencing on said hike. The BF is wearing sandals (granted, they're Keen all-purpose sporty sandals, not some Rainbow flip-flops, but still) and I'm wearing Sperrys. Boat shoes. Known and desired for their lack of tread on the sole.

We reach the top of the hill in due time, quite sweaty, but otherwise fine and begin taking pictures of the waterfall and carvings in the river bed. Kbal Spean is the location of the "thousand lingas". A linga is a phallic symbol and according to legend, water that passes over a linga is imbued with special powers and holiness. Therefore, in order to have pure, holy water in the village below, the Khmer people carved a thousand lingas into the rocks in the riverbed. And a thousand years later, the carvings are still visible. Pretty impressive.

The riverbed carvings of lingas

The rain pouring through the
thatched roof on the edge of
the guard shack where
we waited out the storm.

Of course, while we were taking pictures of the carvings, it started to rain. Not "spritz a little on and off like Seattle in January" kind of rain; the "dump buckets of water at a time so hard it hurts, like July in Florida" kinda rain. We duck into the nearby trail guard station to get out of the rain, and sat there for a few minutes waiting for it to die down. We chatted with our guide and learned that he had a wife and son and that he wanted his son to grow up and go to college, perhaps even medical school. 

Sitting in the guard shack, waiting for the rain to die down.
My Sperrys have been with me on four continents,
through all kinds of weather. And now, they've been with me
on an impromptu Cambodia hike and rainstorm.
Love these shoes.

When the rain finally slacked up, we started hiking back down to the car. In the rain. On a now slippery steep trail. It took us a while to navigate back down, getting rained on the whole way, and I just kept thinking "Fritha and Conan would love this. But I'm glad I'm not holding Bucca's leash right now. I would totally fall and slide all the way down this muddy mountain."







We finally get back to the car, where our guide is waiting patiently. We plop our wet selves into the backseat and head off to lunch.

Cambodia: the pink temple

When I arrived in Cambodia, I had very little knowledge of the country, city, area and temples I had traveled to see. But I learned a lot.

One of the epics carved into the walls of Angkor Wat. The
wall carvings were all "depicted about" epic stories and tales
from Hinduism.

The Angkor temples were primarily built as Hindu worship temples and the walls of each temple are covered with unique carvings of stories that are important to Hindu mythology. I learned all about the carvings from our tour guide, Piseth, who was very helpful. He spoke very good English and was very patient with our questions about the different legends or architectural wonders he was pointing out.

The apsara carved into the walls at
 Angkor Wat. Apsara were believed
 to be angelic dancerwomen who
accompanied the gods. In the carvings
"depicted about" the apsara, they
were very beautiful, with lots of jewelry
and ornate clothing. Also, big boobs.

For example, at Angkor Wat, which is a square, each wall has a different carving that is "depicted about" a story or epic from Hindu mythology. (That's how Piseth would say it: "Charlie and BF, this is a carved wall. This carving is depicted about the Hindu god Vishnu.) One of the famous stories in Hindu mythology is the churning of the ocean. It was shown in many places throughout multiple temples: on the entrance way to Angkor Thom, on the wall of Angkor Wat, within the Bayon, etc.

This story, along with the story of the Ramayana, an epic which includes details on prince Rama, appeared in several places, including Angkor Wat and Banteay Srei. 

Me in another doorway. Not sure
why I'm so into taking photos like this....

Banteay Srei is a much smaller temple, by comparison, and is the only temple in the complex built out of pink sandstone, rather than gray sandstone. There are many scholars who believe this temple to have been specifically for the women of the empire, due to its location (far out), smaller design and more intricate carvings and decor. We visited Banteay Srei the day after visiting Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom and Ta Prohm. It was a little farther out of town, so it was a bit of a drive, but it was very beautiful.

Intricate carvings

Entry gates at Banteay Srei

Entry gates at Banteay Srei

Me asking our guide lots of questions.

The intricate carvings at Banteay Srei. Everything was
 more ornate,more detailed and more embellished
here than at the  bigger Angkor temples 

Zip-off pants, FTW. Again.

The  orange t-shirt, brown zip-off pants and offending bare legs.

The top level of Angkor Wat is still used as a temple and as such, there are guidelines you must adhere to before climbing the 50+ stairs (at a 40 degree incline) to get to the top temple. Women with uncovered legs and shoulders are not allowed up. It was 98 degrees and 95% humidity....clearly I was wearing shorts the day we visited the temple. But because of my aforementioned affinity for looking down on things from up high, we returned to Angkor Wat the next day (sans guide, with appropriate attire) for additional exploring. 

The view from the top

The view from the top

After contemplating several options for "appropriate attire" for the temple, including taking a scarf I bought in the city market and tying it sarong style around my waist, I opted for my hiking pants. Also known as my zip-off pants. These bad boys were once the object of my ridicule, but have more than once earned my love and praise. Peru, for example. Mountains of western Washington. And now, Cambodia. I donned my brown zip-off pants (sans legs) and an orange t-shirt and headed off the day. When we arrived at the stairs to the top of the ruins, I promptly zipped on some pant legs, got clearance to pass and viewed the top of the structure. It was awesome. I descended, removed said legs and went on about my way. There was no way I was wearing more clothes than absolutely necessary: it was 104 degrees Fahrenheit that day. I know this because the refrigerated truck vendor guy who sold us some bottle water read us the temperature off his meat thermometer. It was SO HOT he was reading air temperature on a MEAT THERMOMETER.

Once again, my zip-off pants have proven to be worth their weight in gold.

Me in the top of Angkor Wat

Cambodia: the temples

Before you start thinking I'm lame and traveled halfway around the world to eat bacon at a hotel, let me tell you about the adventuring.

I'm standing on the roots of a tree that is growing in, over
 andaround the walls of the temples at Ta Prohm.  
That tree is GINORMOUS. Also, pretty crazy that the 
roots are growing together with the stones and not 
destroying/crumbling the walls.

When planning the trip, I knew I wanted to go to Angkor Wat and see the temple ruins. I had come to this conclusion based on a few things:

• I like big things. Large architecture fascinates me.



The BF and I are standing in front of the 
Bayon, where they think the royal
 family lived  (supposedly) in 1100.

• I like old things. Everything in America is SO new and young. Even the old stuff in America is just not that old. Growing up in North Carolina, I'm well-versed in things like "circa houses" on the coast, the early fishing industry, colonial America, Pocahontas and the Lost Colony, etc. But even that stuff is only a couple hundred years old. Europe, Asia, South America...these are places where they have REALLY old things.

The faces that line the entrance gate to Angkor 
Thom. (the better looking faces have been 
restored by conservation efforts) The faces on 
either side of the entrance depict the gods 
and demons using a snake to churn the
ocean, according to Hindu mythology. 
This story is depicted in several places 
throughout the Angkor ruins, but nowhere
 as LARGE as the gates to Angkor Thom.

•  I like looking down at stuff from up high. I like the window seat on airplanes, I love the Eiffel Tower and even though I'm supposed to be a too cool for school Seattleite, I think the Space Needle is pretty cool. (I dont love the $16 ticket fee to go to the top, but I do love the Needle.)

Now, these things may seem valid enough to warrant a trip halfway around the world, but there's one more. When I was a kid, I had this game called GeoSafari. It was a digital base/screen with different cards that you would put on the screen and it would ask you different questions and you had to match the answers. The topics were all geography/world history based, like US states and capitals, world countries and capitals, traditional garb, country flags, languages, etc. One of the cards was world landmarks and the card included Machu Picchu, the Tower of Pisa, Eiffel Tower, Great Wall of China and Angkor Wat, among others. Ever since then, I've had this weird interest in seeing all of those places I learned about as a kid. The interesting part is that even though I learned the basic stats on these places as a kid, I didnt really know much about them. Still dont. I'm not sure I could have told you Angkor Wat was in Cambodia until a few months ago. And I'm not sure I knew it was temple ruins until more recently than that. So it's with that lack of knowledge that I planned a trip to Angkor Wat.

I'm standing in a doorway at the Bayon. 
I like to take pictures standing in doorways. 
Not sure where that comes from....

With all that going on in my head, I was SUPER excited to see the temple ruins. All of them. In addition to Angkor Wat, there are dozens of other temples in the area, as part of the greater Angkor Archeological Park. Over the course of three days, we saw a LOT, but not everything.

I'm standing at the top of the inner temple of the Bayon, 
where the royal family spent most of their time.

  

Cambodia: the hotel

So, Cambodia pretty much rocked.

Our "villa" in Cambodia.

The bathroom in the villa.

We had a great time. The country is very poor and still reeling from the effects of war, conflict, land mines and a terrorist political regime. But in Siem Reap, redemption is beginning, thanks to tourists like me. The town has some 8000 hotel beds, for hosting Americans, Europeans, Asians, etc. for conferences, events and general tourism. But in the rainy season (which is now) many of those beds are empty. Therefore, we got a good deal on a swanky, resorty hotel.

See the bridge going to the island with the pool bar?

Our villa was the size of a nice townhouse and was separated into 4 suites. We were on the second floor, in a suite that was bigger than The BF's studio apt in Seattle. We had a balcony overlooking the pool, which had a bar on a little island in the middle of the pool. It was not a swim-up bar, like we had at the hotel in Indonesia, but I mean, I guess it was ok.

The balcony overlooking the pool.

We had a breakfast buffet every morning that offered fresh fruit: watermelon, honeydew, pineapple, grapefruit and dragonfruit. (the fruit was all cleaned and sliced and peeled, so we were safe to eat it). In true, multi-cultural fashion, the buffet also had cereal, croissants, pork fried rice, steamed vegetables in oyster sauce, made-to-order omelettes, pad thai and bacon. Because Cambodia was run by France for so many years, the baked goods in Cambodia are pretty delicious. I think I had pain au chocolat and/or croissants every morning. Also, baguettes. Sliced, toasted, with some kind of blue cheese. Delicious.

Cambodia is mostly a Buddhist country, but at different points in history has been mostly Hindu, so there's plenty of that influence as well. As far as I know, the only dietary aspect of these religions is that Hindus don't eat beef. (Many Hindus believe cows are a special gift from the gods and therefore eating beef would be sacrilegious). Therefore, the breakfast buffet served bacon. And it was very good bacon, IMHO. Just the right amount of crunch, with enough grease still on it to require wiping your hands after every bite...but not so much grease that it's running down your arm. Mmm...yeah....

What made this doubly awesome was that the week prior, we were in Indonesia. A country which recognizes six official religions, but the majority of its residents (90%) claim to be Muslim. Muslims don't eat pork. Therefore, the breakfast buffet at the resort in Indonesia, which was otherwise lovely, boasting some bodacious croissants and downright problematic butter (srsly....I may or may not have eaten it by itself), served only turkey bacon. Turkey. Bacon.

Have you ever had turkey bacon? I mean, why are they even allowed to call it bacon?! As a breakfast meat, it's a fine option, but it is NOT bacon. They should have to call it something else entirely, as calling it "turkey bacon" is like lying. It's basically false advertising. If I were a pig, I'd be offended. 

But beyond the bacon on the buffet, there were several other aspects of this hotel that were just fantastic:
- Beer from the mini bar was CHEAPER than in the hotel bar, at just $3 a can.
- Incredible service from EVERYONE, from the driver and hostess who picked us up at the airport, to the pool bar dude who ran from the bar to my table in the rain, to bring me a beer.
- $15 massage. One hour, with an incredibly strong-handed tiny little Cambodian woman. $15.
- Air conditioning
 

All in all, it was an excellent spot to stay during our visit to Cambodia.

The streets of Siem Reap

Cambodia is very tropical. Lots of vegetation, lots of things grow here. And the BF and I sweat a lot.

But we're having a good time! Some photos from our first day, in the town of Siem Reap.

The Old Market in downtown Siem Reap. Market sells everything from silk goods, pants, scarves, placemats, etc. to tourists. It also sells meat and fish and fruit to locals. Wandering through an open air fish/meat market in 95 degree heat and full humidity is an experience.....that my nose would very much like to forget.

The streets of Siem Reap, where there are few cars and LOTS ot tuk-tuks. Tuk-tuks are moped-pulled coach thingees, something like a modern-day horse-drawn carriage.

The active streets of downtown Siem Reap.

Just chilling in a Cambodian cafe, after drinking a $1 local beer. $1 beer?!? From my seat in the cafe, across from the market, we saw all kinds of locals and tourists, including a couple of European travelers (we guessed German) who we would run into three days in a row. And about whom we would speculate quite a bit. The BF thinks they are boyfriend/girlfriend. I think they're father/daughter. Yeah....

It finally happened!

Cambodia is where dreams come true.

Ok, not really, it's actually a very poor country where people have been oppressed, tortured and exposed to the evils of several intense and homocidal regimes. Because of all the turmoil - oh yeah, and the wars that have left landmines scattered about the forests STILL - the country has little to no functional infrastructure, for things like roads and telephones. And so many of the people here are followers of Buddhism or Hinduism or animism and dont have the peace or hope that comes from knowing Jesus. So it's very sad.

But, thanks to tourists like me, some areas are beginning to pick up. Siem Reap, the town nearest the temple ruins at Angkor Wat is now the country's busiest, cleanest and safest city, with travelers from around the world coming in by the thousands, bringing industry and dollars to the area. The local businesses depend on this income and recognize the role tourists are playing in their economic development and as such, are very accomodating.

For example, we booked a trip via the internet (Expedia or some such) and found a deal on a flight/hotel package. Part of the package included airport transfers to/from our hotel. I was figuring this would mean a shuttle van from the airport with us and 9 other tourists, packing us into town and making the rounds of the various hotels. But no!

You know how I always say "some day I want to be one of those people at the airport getting greeted by a driver holding a sign with my name on it?" (I'm especially prone to saying this when I'm at the Vegas airport...for CES or otherwise).

Well that "some day" was TODAY! We exited the customs check point at the Siem Reap airport and rounded the corner to exit the terminal and there she was: a lovely young lady holding a sign with my name on it. (Ok, technically it had The BF's name on it, "& party", but that still counts! I'm "& party"!)

Her counterpart grabbed our bags and showed us to our car, where they had chilled bottled water and cool towels waiting for us. What a lovely way to enter a country. Thank you Cambodia.