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Dear Siem Reap,
In no particular order, here is how we will remember you..
LOVES
1.
Ankgor. This one is entirely expected, but so amazing that it cannot go unmentioned. We first visited the main temple at Angkor Wat in the afternoon, when the lighting is optimal for photography and general gawking, and ended by hiking up Phnom Bakeng to catch the sunset. The next day, we planned a big day which was unexpectedly cut short. We did manage to explore the Angkor Thom, which once housed the primary temples and administrative buidings of the ancient Khmer capital, as well as the jungle temple at Ta Phrom and a few other small temples. Just this morning, we (just barely) caught the sunrise at Angkor Wat and saw Banteay Srey, which boasts the most well preserved carvings of any of the ruins in Angkor.
2.
Mom's Guesthouse. Air conditioning, hot water, private shower, MTV Asia. Backpacking royalty never had it so good.
3.
Ta Phrom. Remember King Louie from Disney's "The Jungle Book"? Ta Phrom gets its own mention because it looks exactly like his palace/lair!
4.
Delicious fresh pineaple & mango shakes. We will now ignore parental warnings about fresh fruit and order away.
5.
Sleep & Appetite. You are the first Southeast Asian city where we experienced normal levels of both. Sure, the timing was wierd, as the sleep thing normalized in time to almost cost us the sunrise at Angkor Wat, but we forgive you.
6.
Your lovely lady monks. Okay, we like the male monks, too, but there is one female Buddhist devotee we won't soon forget as she asked us to join her in prayer at the Bayon of Angkor Thom.
LAUGHABLE IDIOSYNCRACIES (aka hates)
1.
Tuk Tuk snaffus. We got through PP without a scratch. In fact, tuk tuking in your nation's chaotic capital was heaven compared to this. We blame the driver Mom's hooked us up with, however, not you. He was 15 years old max, and had probably driven a total of 5 times before we got into the lemon of a tuk tuk he was charged with. Anyway, we brushed of the love taps he gave other motorists and waited patiently as monks on bicycles passed us up. Midway through day 2, when we found ourselves laying sideways on by the road trapped in a capsized tuk tuk, we drew the line. Jae, if you ever read this, we held up our end of the bargain by not telling Mom's about the ''accident" (aka when you drove off the road for no apparent reason). Now, please stop asking us if we need a ride.
2.
Hardware in my lunch. With our appetites back, we grew a set and decided to brave one of your many roadside "restaurants." Heeral decided to give Khmer noodles another try. This time they were more like Ramen. She slurped them down hungrily, only to find the oddly familiar taste of cold metal in her mouth with the last bite. Mmmm, iron nail!
Hopefully we'll meet again,
Mihira and Heeral
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milims
non-member comment
aaaaaaah
so i think i am your groupie. heehu you might get tetanus, be careful about eating metal. in other news, i've stopped eating things off the ground. it feels weird. miss you! trip sounds amazing. post pics.