LOVING Cambodia

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Hello from Siem Reap!

We spent a few days in Kuala Lampur (KL as they call it) before our flight to Siem Reap in Cambodia.

The day we got there, it was raining and pretty cloudy. We wanted to do the tour of tower (can't remember its name) but you're supposed to be able to see evvvverything from up there. When we arrived, the lady said it wasnt worth our time and money because of the rain. So from there, we walked to the shopping mall (I know, I know...of all places). This mall was UNREAL. Everything from Tiffany's to Body Shop to SUBWAY (we were really excited about having a real sandwhich...boy did it hit the spot). We spent way too much time in the mall...and then headed back to our hotel area. We went out for a few beers at a nearby Irish pub, played some cards with a few English girls, then called it a night.
Up the next morning nice and early, we went for a run around our neighborhood. Its a very clean and safe feeling city, from what I could tell. Minus the one sign on one of the main roads which depicts a man snatching a woman's purse, and the word BEWARE. So, we excercized caution as always.
Our last day in KL consisted of me hiking around town trying to find my replacement Mastercard that I had arranged to be sent to a travel agency. The travel agency had moved, so it took us a few hours, a stop at starbucks (they are EVERYWHERE in KL....moreso than McDonald's believe it or not), and a few nice people giving us directions before we found it.
Afterwards, low on energy and hotter than hell, we took the skytrain/metro to the mall...yet again...as we had decided to go beat the heat watching a movie. Haha. What terrible tourists we are. At this point though, I think we were all seeking the comforts of home a little bit.
We saw Valentine's day. Pretty ridiculous movie, but we were pleased with our relaxing little afternoon.

The next morning, up at 4am, we got a cab to the airport and took off for Siem Reap at 7am. We arrived at 8am, checked in to a really nice hotel with clean beds and a clean bathroom, and rewarded ourselves with a little nap as we were all quite exhausted. We had lunch, walked around, found the market where they sell just about everything (jewellery, silk stuff, scarves, purses, knick knacks, fruit, veggies, fish, etc). We also went to the artisan's workshop where they make a lot of wood carvings, stone carvings, etc. We stopped for a few 50cent beers along the way, had dinner at a very delicious little street food joint, then took a walk through the night market where a sign boasting free beers if you paid for a $2 "pedicure" had us stopping in our tracks...
The pedicure involved putting your feet into a pool that contained a million little fish that would literally EAT the dead skin off your feet. I couldn't handle it. It was waaaay too weird for me. Cristina had a million of them around her...which she attributed to the fact that she hasn't had a real pedicure in a long long time. Haha.

The next day, after a nice run, we headed off in a tuk tuk (a guy on a motorbike dragging a cart type thing along from behind) to the famous Angkor Wat temples. It was a long day of walking around and exploring, but very cool. We watched the sunset from a temple and then headed back to the city for a quick dinner, a quick drink watching some traditional cambodian dancing, and off to bed nice and early.
Up at 430am, we headed back to the temples for sunrise. Although exhausted, it was unbelievably beautiful. We spent the morning visiting more temples, and then saw the landmine museum in the afternoon.
It made me feel quite ignorant...not having known much about the history here in Cambodia. But also proud that we're Canadian (the treaty to end the use/production of landmines was signed in Ottawa, and is actually called the Ottawa Treaty, or something rather. 70 countries have signed it, excluding the US because they feel its necessary to keep producing them, even though they are so so dangerous). It is believed that there are still between 3-6 MILLION landmines in Cambodia that have yet to be found.
As a result, there are so many people in Cambodia who have lost relatives, or who have lost a leg, an arm, etc. Its quite sad...
So many people come up to you trying to sell you just about anything, just to get by. Postcards, pineapple, random wooden instruments.
We visited an orphanage for a few hours one night and played and danced with the kids. It was really eye-opening, but also nice to see that these kids are well taken care of and are happy, despite their past.
On the way back from the orphanage, in a tuk tuk, Cristina almost had her wallet stolen! Some guy on a motorbike, passing us, reached over to our tuk tuk, and tried to grab her wallet from her hand! Goes to show you you can't go flashing that stuff around....thankfully she had a tight grip on it.

Day 3 in Siem Reap, both mine and Cristina's ipods died. Poof. Nada. Mine is actually still "frozen"but nothing has changed in a few days. So last night, Cristina and I went on an ipod journey. We found cheap MP3 players, but turned out they were "second-hand" and infected with viruses.
So we both dropped the coin to buy a brand new ipod nano...16G, with a video camera, radio, a pedometer, etc in it. It was the cheapest one they had! Haha.
I just cannot live without an ipod, especially on long bus rides like we're about to head on tonight (taking a night bus to Sianoukville...8pm-630am. They give you "beds" essentially, so we're saving money on a hotel which is nice). There's also a store here that will load music and movies onto your ipod for a small fee...so we've taken advantage of that.

All in all, we're really enjoying Cambodia. The people, the food, the atmosphere...its all really great. We're looking forward to the next few days by the beach, and then heading to Phnom Penh, the capital, for more historic sight seeing (prisons, and killing fields......yikes).

Hope you are all well...
Missing home a little bit more these days, but still really enjoying myself.
Everyone's getting along....although we do take our alone time here and there.

Take care,
Love Ash. xo

P.S. I KEEP forgetting to send this link along, for those who dont have Facebook. Sorry I havent uploaded more. I've tried, believe me. Its painfully slow here.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2239395&id=90401774&l=ba379ca70c
hopefully you can access it...some people have difficulty.
CIAO XO

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