Blogs from Angkor, North, Cambodia, Asia - page 97

Joom-reap-leah Cambodia!!! (Goodbye Cambodia) Well, this will be our last email since we are finally back from Southeast Asia. And I promise to keep this relatively short... So many people have asked.... 24 days straight, spent together in a foreign continent. Did we fight at all? Actually, Teresa and I did get into one fight. It was in Thailand... if you want to see what happened, click here: http://storage.calgrads.com/temp/sagat_stage.jpg We must say it feels damn good to be back in the good ol' U.S. of A. Wow, we certainly appreciate some simple things here in this country: air conditioning, clean running water, traffic lights, and burritos. Yes, I said burritos. While asia has a great variety of food (you know, pigs feet, chicken feet, and ox feet), the one thing we craved most was Mexican food! ... read more

About an hour ago (circa 6:30 am) six of us returned from our morning excursion to THE Angkor Wat...I think in my haste, and sleep deprivation two days ago, I failed to adequately explain the Temples of Angkor. Angkor, was the former capital of southeast Asia...similar to perhaps Rome. Between the 9th and 14th centuries A.D. Angkor, in the area now known as Siem Reap (the name Siem Reap means Siam defeated, thus they defeated a Thai invastion) was the epicenter for much of southeast Asia. So there were approximately 100 or so temples at one time...and we are just seeing some of the highlights. ***** After a hiatus from this morning I am back at the computer while the others are resting. Presently it is raining, which is to be expected since this is the ... read more

Today we found my favorite temple: Banteay Srey. It's an hour away by tuk tuk, and I wouldn't want to try that bumpy road perched on the back of a moto after the Bokor experience. Since I suppose most of my readers don't have the Cambodian Lonely Planet handy, and the book can put it much better than I, I'm including a quote here: "Banteay Srei is a Hindu temple dedicated to Shiva. Considered by many to be the jewel in the crown of Angkorian art, the temple is cut from stone of a pinkish hue and includes some of the finest stone carving seen anywhere on the planet... Banteay Srei means "Citidel of the Women" and it is said that it must have been built by a woman, as the elaborate carvings are too fine ... read more

I've gotten pretty good at counting in Khmai: muy, bee, buy... so Bee Day would mean my second day at Siem Reap. The temples we visited this morning were not as massive as Angkor, but just as majestic and full of mystery. One question I still can't find an answer to is if they stones were carved in place or, if they were carved somewhere else and assembles later at the temple site. The day's itinerary included Bayon, Preah Khan, Ta Som, Neak Pean and then the Roluos Group, which are temples another 20km away. We made it to Bayon by 5:30 and had the place to ourselves, even the guards nuns and vendors weren't there yet. Nuns give out insence for a "donation" so you can offer insence to the altars they set up around ... read more

Sua s'dai! That's hello in Khmer! (I learned that from a 22 year old Buddhist Monk at Angkor Wat today). Siem Reap is simply amazing... I can't even begin to express what it's like to be here. The 11th century temples of Angkor and the complex history of the Khmer Empire is one thing, but the feeling I get from the people here is undescribable. I'm not sure if that comes from being a small town in the province of Siem Reap, or if its simply the Cambodian way. I have an inkling its a little of both. Yesterday, I hired a local man named Vigol to take me to Angkor on the back of his motorbike. (Now, Nanny, don't worry, the thing couldn't push 20 km/h if it wanted to), Angkor is made up of ... read more