CAMBODIA

Well, i started writing this on the Blogger app, but then I added a photo and it crashed and now I have to retype words. Too bad for me, and also for you because there was good stuff in there.

Anyways. Lisa and I are now in Siem Reap, Cambodia. It's hot!

That is a nice change from Hanoi, not because it was that cold, but because we really did not pack for low teens weather. Our hotel is the bomb, we just finished a nice swim and the staff are just so lovely. The Cambodians do this little hands with palms together bow thing when they say hi and bye and it's very endearing. 

We landed at the airport yesterday afternoon. We had to fill out our personal information... Four times I think. No, five. 1. Entry form  2. Exit form  3. Customs form  4. No-ebola form (why couldn't we have the No-ebola question before 20 other pieces of information?) 5. Visa application. They like their bureaucracy here! Oh, and this is what Cambodian customs ended up looking like. Ha.

 

I know, lots of airport details. But I think the stories are good, and I get to decide. When we landed in Hanoi we got ripped off by the taxi driver, so at the Hanoi airport we arranged to get a ride to our Siem Reap hotel through that hotel. Lisa was outside first and very excited to see our name on the paper! We followed our driver to the parking lot and walked by two tuk-tuks and then it was just cars. Lisa: "awww I really wish we were going on one of those." then we walked by a van and we got on the tuk-tuk!

A tuk-tuk is a motorbike that is integrated with a caboose/carriage thing that can hold up to 4 people. It has a roof hut no walls or windows. They are everywhere in Siem Reap and if you walk down the street, drivers are always trying to get you to get into their tuk-tuk.

The main reason why we are in Cambodia is to see ruins. The second is because we really like their food. Neither has disappointed us so far. Today we went to the Angkor complex and saw some pretty amazing stuff. Quick history lesson. Cambodians trace their heritage to the Khmer empire, which apparently reached its zenith around 1100-1200. They were apparently so good at producing food and getting along that they had time and energy to build some seriously monumental temples and structures. The Angkors are the largest religious complex on earth; Angkor Wat (year 1150ish) is the single largest religious building anywhere. I'm compelled to check that fact but I'll leave that to my editor.

 

Angkor Wat is amazing. It's huge. It's tall. It's so extensive. Is it weird that i am most impressed with its moat? That's a big big square hole. 1.5km outside diameter, 1.3km inside, 3m deep. That's... 1.68 million cubic metres of dirt. Or 1.68 billion litres. That is also a large number of shovelfuls and too much digging to think about when it's this hot out.

 

So Angkor Wat is awesome, but we knew that already. After lunch we got in the tuk-tuk and drove to Angkor Thom. Which I liked even more! Where A.W. was a temple, A.T. was the capital city, bigger in area, more diverse in its scope and architecture, and also surrounded by a huge moat. We went to four or five separate buildings inside Angkor Thom, most of them temples, and all of them pretty spectacular. It's amazing to stand in the field and look around and there are just these huge stone buildings there and there and behind those trees and on and on. The photos don't do justice to the magnitude of this complex.

 

Tomorrow we will go and see more stuff, and cruise around in the tuk-tuk. Maybe a $6 massage after? Why wouldn't we!

 

And, we fell for our first real scam today. Points for guessing which one it was. Stupid white tourists...

 

Okay, now to catch up on some photos. Maybe the best thing I have seen yet: In Hong Kong, they sell toilet paper in a bag with a handle. Why don't we have this??

 

 

In Hong Kong I used a payphone! Woah!

 

 

This is Halong Bay. It's ridiculously beautiful. We are concerned that all of the boat traffic is taking its toll. We went kayaking in a 355-degree enclosed lagoon, and even though no motor boats are allowed in there, it was covered with a serious film of oily dirt. Lisa reached into the water at one point and ended up with a ring of slime around her wrist. I wonder how they can and will deal with this in the future, because it does not seem sustainable as it is.

 

This is Lisa doing Tai Chi in the morning! It's a nice place to wake up. There are lots of boats around, as you can see. There are women in rowboats with beer and junk food that circle between boats. "helloo!!  Buy something?!" with their accent and the way they yell, i think they sound strangely like Milton from office space.

 

On the way back from Halong Bay, we drove by tons of rice paddies and workers out there, doing their thing.

 

We also stopped at Vietnamese tourist trap statue rest stop. Woah.

 

It's almost Chinese new year / Tea and everyone is excited!!

 

 

This is Jorge! He is our trip friend.

 

In Hanoi, there are these places that sell Bia Hoi at night for 5,000 dong (about $0.25) per glass. You sit along the street on tiny children's patio furniture and its random and fun!

 

For Tet, Vietnamese people get these trees to put in their home, like Christmas trees.

 

This is Pub St in Siem Reap. It is crazy. There are literally people dancing inn the street. Fun!

 

Okay that's all for now. Bye!