Val and I have been in Siem Reap for the past few days. This is a bustling town about 6 hours north of Phnom Penh and is a short tuk-tuk ride from the temples and other sites collectively known as Angkor Wat. Angkor Wat is actually only one of the sites in the area. There are dozens of sites dating back to the 9th century and are in various states of decay and restoration. The amount of tourism it is drawing to this area is bringing in a lot of money to the economy which is good, but some of the effects of this are not necessarily great. It would be great to come back here in 10 years and see how this all develops.

Before I jump in to describe the sites, I have to pass along a funny thing that happened to Val and I at a local grocery store yesterday. We went in to look for a new toothbrush for Val, and happened to look at the wine selection they had (which was quite extensive). Val spotted a familiar label, but not from one of the bigger wineries. This happened to be a bottle we have at home, that's why we recognized it. It is a rare bottle of 2002 Jerry Garcia Zinfandel! The cost was $22.80. I have no idea if this was expensive or not since our bottle was a gift. We didn't dare buy it because you have no idea of how it had been stored here and the heat would ruin wine in a matter of hours if it wasn't kept in the proper conditions. It was quite a surprise and just another little reminder of home:)

Now, about those temples! We agreed with our tuk-tuk driver that we wanted to see the sunrise at Angkor Wat. Apparently this is the best way to experience it. We set the alarm for 4:15 and met our driver in front of our guesthouse around 5:00. We drive about 20 minutes to the entrance gates and purchased a 3-day pass for $60. This required a passport sized photo which is laminated onto your pass ( a great souvenir). From here we continues into the area of Angkor Wat. When we arrived, we were surprised to find that there were already several hundred people inside the walls of the grounds waiting for the sun to come up. Angkor Wat was built in the 12th century and is the site that is in the best condition, and is also considered the quintessential model of the style.

We toured Angkor and then drove into the grounds of Angkor Thom and stopped for some breakfast. After this we visited three more Wats, including Ta Prohm which was used in the movie Lara Croft, Tomb Raider. Many of these have been reclaimed from the jungle, but there are huge trees that are either still destroying them, or supporting them, depending on how you look at it. The photos just don't do it justice. We finally ran out of gas around 1:00 and headed home for a cold shower and some lunch. That night we explored the town a bit and decided to have some dinner at a local restaurant with a bunch of the locals. The food was tasty and plentiful! We headed home and were in bed by 8:00 since we were planning on seeing the sunrise again in the AM.

The next morning we headed out again around 5:00 and went straight into Angkor Thom, one of the largest of the sites. We arrived to find we were the only ones at the first temple we visited. We climbed to the top of Bayon and got some photos before the first tourist showed up. It was incredibly peaceful and one of those moments that you just have to revel in. It took us several hours to finish touring Angkor Thom. Afterwards we sat down for breakfast before exploring one more wat and then headed back into town for a nap and to cool down. Later that day we went back out to climb up Phnom Bakheng and watch the sunset. As we approached, we realized this was a mistake. There were hundreds of tour buses and thousands of people climbing the hill. It was also a cloudy afternoon and we realized there wasn't going to be much of a sunset. We still climbed the hill and then up into the temple. The view was spectacular, but the crowd eventually chased us away and we headed back to town.

At the guesthouse, they were doing their usual Friday night barbeque so we joined in. For $5 we got tons of great food and the beer was cold and cheap. We sat eating and drinking for a few hours before Val and I just about passed out from exhaustion.

So today we slept in, enjoyed a relaxing breakfast and then went for a walk around Siem Reap. We booked our bus tickets out of here and then headed back for a nap and a cold beer. Tomorrow we head back into Thailand, to Chiang Mai specifically, but we have to go through Bangkok to get there. This will be 24 hours of buses, mini-vans and trains. Should be another adventure!

Until next time,

Eric