Angkor Away - Cambodia

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After two days in Cambodia, Elise and I would like to announce that we have been adopted by a nice American couple who mistook us for Cambodian refugee children, so from here on out we will be Elise and Gregg Jolie-Pitt. We look forward to coming to America, and the upcoming release of "Mr. and Mrs. Smith II" starring our new mommy and daddy.

Siem Reap, Cambodia (Angkor Temples)
We decided to take a side trip to Cambodia figuring since we came this far and probably wouldn't have much reason to go back we should take advantage of their burgeoning tourism industry. So, we (and by we I mean of course, Elise) researched and came up with going to Siem Reap to see the ruins of the Angkor Wat and Khmer antiquities. Its funny that this was sort of an afterthought and we didn't really think much of it, but it ended up being some of our favorite parts of the trip.

A few thoughts regarding our general feeling toward Cambodia (gleaned from two days experience so take with the usual grain of rice, or salt, sorry we're in Asia).... The Cambodian people have had a very tough run over the last several decades and are just now starting to have the freedoms associated with Democracy - as a matter of fact our guide was not even familiar with the term democracy. Therefore there are a lot of very poor people, who don't really look poor, or beg too much, it was more in the demeanor. This started with our cab driver from the airport who made us feel guilty for having our tours pre-arranged from America rather than support the locals. Meanwhile, our guide and the driver were both Cambodian so I think we gave to the locals as well. This sort of attitude creeped up now and again, but by all means the people we met were overall very friendly and warm towards us. At the hotel most of the people working there were clearly interested in improving their English skills as they engaged us in conversation all the time (though i think some of that was a job requirement).
You can tell that Cambodia is newer to Western tourism than Thailand but I'd imagine this will change over the course of the next few years.

Also, our guide Phally (like Paulie ) was very friendly and if not fluent in English, certainly good enough so that if we understood half of what he said, we at least got the gist. We also took the cue from him, if he finished saying something then laughed, we knew to laugh.

Siem Reap - the town
Siem Reap may have been our favorite actual "city" that we visited because it really felt like what you imagine a Colonial Asian city to be like. The town consisted of a few main streets with market stalls running through them. The city loooked as if you dropped pre-Katrina New Orleans into the center of a rice paddy, you'd get Siem Reap, without the strip bars and fruity drinks. Again, with our travels to town we witnessed the sort of desperation of the people trying to eke out a living - this was presented to us in the warm package of Mr. Vutha our personal Tuk Tuk driver who insisted upon taking us to town from our hotel and waiting until we finished what we were doing to take us back. Now, this was pretty nice, but not until night #2 did we realize the true love between Mr. Vutha and ourselves when we came out of the hotel and were met by a new driver who was about to take our fare until Mr. V did what can only be described as "Tuk-blocked" the other driver and swept us away again.

When not in the bustling metropolis of Siem Reap - the Far East Mayberry, we spent most of our Cambodia time at the Angkor Temples

Angkor Wat
I'll do my best to pare this down to the essentials because there could be (and in fact are) volumes published on this subject.

Basically the Khmer people erected these amazing societies over a thousand years ago filled with statues, temples, libraries etc. mostly dedicated to the Hindu Gods Vishnu, Rama, and Shiva. Over the course of the following centuries as Cambodia switched over to Buddhism the buildings remained but were rededicated to Buddha.

Today though, the temples are mostly ruins, though pretty well kept - but really they are an excuse for Cambodian children to sell you unneeded or wanted tourist trinkets and books. And they all seemed to think Elise's name was "LADY!"

I honestly can't quite do justice the scale and beauty of the place but Elise will vouch that I photographed just about everything I saw from every angle and will gladly share my photos upon request.

We also paid a visit to the Floating Villages of Sop Lake
Essentially these people live in houses that float down the lake - which is gigantic and flows into the Mekong River - and primarily live off fishing and selling cans of soda and miniature bananas to tourist boats. It actually felt somewhat "Apocolypse Now"-ish, in that you are cruising down a Cambodian Lake, you wave at a child and the next thing you know, you are boarded by 10 little boats with goods to sell. This lifestyle makes it awfully hard to receive letters because one day your house is here, and the next day if it rains, you might be 300 meters down the lake.

One last tidbit came at the airport. When leaving a country recently ruled by one of the most horrific, bloody governments in our times, you have a little trepidation from the police presence, but we felt mostly safe. That is until you put your bag through the security check and have to enter a room that says "Body Search" only to find that your magnetic scrabble has piqued their interest. Thanks mom! Anyway, we left safely and moved on to Bangkok for a quick night and then to Hong Kong - which will come in the next segment.

Finally - the beloved Brown-O-Meter which has met its match this trip with the Chub-O-Meter....

Brown-
Elise made it up to about a 4.6 and Gregg's nubian tendencies have escalated to a 7.2

Chub -
we don't want to talk about it, but Weight Watchers will be on speed dial.

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Comments

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laughter is the best medicine!!!
hi lc and gregg! you make my day. every time i read your blog i wind up laughing! could you send daily blogs about your lives when you return home? can't wait to know that you are home safe and sound and am soo happy your honeymoon has been so wonderful!!Dying to see the pixs too.Love you guys!