"I left my heart........"

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It is Saturday night and we are in one of my absolute favorite places - Siem Riep, Cambodia! There is a calm and a peace here that sings to my soul.

We left Viet Nam this morning - gorgeous day - relaxing 1 hour flight - and arrived in sunny, humid Siem Riep around the lunch hour. We knew, and had heard, that this area was hard hit by rain in the past few weeks. It was quite devastating to see, from the windows of the plane, just how bad the situation was/is. Unbelievable, actually.

We got to the hotel where we were greeted like family - had a yummy welcome drink - and then, after a brief stay, off on our buses for a tour of Angkor Thom - which was built by Cambodia's greatest builder, Jayavararman VII. This 10-square km city is enclosed by an 8 metre high wall and encircled by a hundred meter moat said to have been inhabited by fierce crocodiles. There are 5 twenty metre high gates in the wall in each of the N, W and S walls and 2 in teh E Wall. Bayon is located in the geographical heart of Angkor Thom. The 54 tower temple is quite a remarkable site - initially, the temple seems to be a shapeless mass of grey and brown stone but as one approaches, one realizes that each of the towers is in fact carved and there are over 200 huge enigmatic faces of Avalokitesharva bearing down on you wherever you turn. Absolutely amazing to see.

Then, we made a valiant effort to get over to one of the Temples but, because of the rains/floods, our van turned around. We would have been stuck in the mud and none of us were interested in taking that risk.

Back to the hotel - spent an enjoyable time visiting with our guests in the lounge - had a buffet dinner and now.........I'm writing the blog, while my colleagues Brenda and Robert are over at the magnificent Spa having an 'elephant massage' - I can't even imagine what that is all about and can hardly wait to tell you all about it! All I know is, it's been a long day - and they both deserve it!

And that's the news/story of the day. Tomorrow, more touring, fun and adventure. Stay tuned!
(Some of you have been asking about the incredible coffee table book that I have, with the blog story and photos from my last World Tour. My client, Donna Clark, makes these. You can contact her directly at [e-mail] to inquire about getting a book made for you .......just in time for Christmas. Makes a great gift! I absolutely LOVE mine!)

Good night everyone - good night, Mom. I love you!

(for some reason, some of the photo captions don't match up - and I can't seem to make the adjustments - so.......you figure it out, based on the photo, ok?!!)

Pat

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Comments

[Rose]

Sad Face.....?
That was quite the face, Our hotel is nice. Will be on the trip tomorrow. Night night Pat

[staci blank]

muddy waters
Thats some devastation. Enjoy this evenings calm. Have a great weekend. Will catch up in time for A BIG Moday #dwts...and it BETTER BE HOPE. I just can not take another week of her. xoxo

[Yan Fortin]

Sadness, Wisdom
Something looks spiritual and wisdom at Angkor Thom... For the flood, sad situation, hopefully people will get through this tragedy.

[Sylvia McNabb]

Steve and Zoe were in Cambodia in April. They absolutely loved it. We saw their photos and were quite impressed, but the last photo was the best. It was of an Ultrasound, and was labelled "Our First Family Vacation", and that is how we found out we were going to be grandparents!! Pretty creative don't you think. Knowing me you can imagine i didn't take that exciting news very quietly!!!. By the way on their vacation they rode on the back of an elephant. Be sure to send us a photo of you doing the same thing!!!

[Michelle Broer Carr]

Hello Pat! I am enjoying your blogs and feel like I'm travelling with you! I love it that you are saying goodnight to your Mom every night, it touches my heart! Enjoy the rest of your trip and hope to connect when you get home! Michelle

[Kristy Russ]

That temple is amazing!
The carving of the temple is incredible. What a ton of detail- imagine how long it took to do that. Love that kind of history. Too bad about the flooding- hope it doesn't take too long to recover from that. It looks pretty extreme...