Ancient Ruins Rule!

There it is! Angkor Wat!
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After a grumpy disposition from an overload of historical atrocities discovered in Phnom Penh, the group flew to Siem Reap for an ancient look into the magnificent ruins of the way past of Cambodia.

We arrived into the city into the very clean and modern airport of Siem Reap.  (I joked that they probably built it for Angelina! ha, ha)  Our afternoon was free to explore the town.  The heat was pretty incredible, so we took the day in small blocks of time.  We went into town for a local style lunch, and then headed back to the hotel for a swim.  The sun was so strong though, that the pool temp had to be in the 80s!  Refreshing, considering the air was definately close to 100 F and the humidity was thick!  We later met for drinks at another FCC and had dinner on the main strip in town.  We ate at the Red Piano which boasts a drink created by Angelina Jolie while there filming Tomb Raider.  They even have an autographed photo of her in the bar.  They love her here!  After a filling meal of Lok Lak, my new favorite dish (beef in a oyster sauce with tomatoes and onions), the girls headed to the night market.  It is a new tourist attractions built on the edge of town.  We were not hassled or yelled at our whole trip wandering through the thatched roof stalls and well lit alleyways.  I even was able to find shadow puppets for my cousin Marnie, and pay a good price without the normal bartering!  Very enjoyable.

Hey, isn't this the most perfectly framed photo with the temple in the background! Ha, ha!
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We quickly hit an outdoor internet cafe on the way back to the hotel.  It was quite an experience, as we dodged giant crickets that flew and swooped at our heads as we quickly typed emails!  I avoided screaming as one zipped by my ear, but I jumped so high that the guy next to me couldn't help laughing!  I appreciate internet in a third world country, but the bugs could go!  Ha, ha!

The next morning we hit the big one.  Angkor Wat!  The eighth wonder of the world is all it is hyped up to be, big, intricately designed, and beautiful!  It was built by Suryavarman II between 1113 and 1150.  We climbed over stones, caught great photos, learned some history, petted a monkey, and climbed some death defying steps to see the top!  It was incredible.  We really didn't notice the heat too bad due to the sheer awe of the structure!  This is just one of the many spread out over some 40 miles around thevillage of Siem Reap.  They all were built between the 8th and 13th centuries and range from single towers made of bricks to vast stone temple complexes.  We were going to tour quite a few, just not them all!

The group posing for a photo op!
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Our next temple visited did not keep us from the heat.  As the sun rose further in the sky, my entire body sweat every last drop of liquid allowed.  My clothes were so wet at the end of the tour, I felt as if I had jumped into the pool!  I have never sweat that much in my life.  The temple of Wat Thom was totally impressive though.  The carvings in stone were so detailed and well preserved, it was amazing!

After temple trekking until we couldn't trek anymore, we hit the pool at the hotel to cool down!  We rehydrated with tons of water, and then decided to head to the local childrens' hospital to donate blood.  A local doctor created this hospital to provide free health care for the children of Cambodia. Without a facility like this one, many children would die from simple infections and malnutrition.  They like to collect blood donations from foreigners because it has a better chance of being healthy.  We even got a t-shirt for our efforts!  After our good deed, we had dinner as a group in town again, and hit the hay.  We were going to leave the hotel at 4:30 am to see the sunrise over Angkor Wat the next day!

A family getting a water blessing. Even the car is getting blessed!
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It was totally worth rising early to see.  The colors over the darkened temple made you feel as if you were transported back in time.  If it weren't for the other 100s of tourists groups wandering the grounds along with you, struggling to snap the best angled photo, it would have been perfect!  Ha, ha.  We sat and enjoyed the ambiance for a few moments, but then hit the hotel for breakfast.  We then saw some more temples, the Landmine Museum, and back to the pool for lunch.

Hey, one of those things doesn't quite belong!
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Our afternoon was spent at the jungle temple.  We witnessed a water blessing, giant trees growing through the stone structures, and our guide, Yusa, reenacting Angelina stories at the sights where they filmed the movie!  It was an amazing afternoon.  You scramble over tree roots as big as cars to see a temple appear out of the jungle green.  The carved faces, pictures, and sheer enormity of the structures our incredible.  They used 1000s of elephants to create these mass structures.  Hard to imagine!

Face carvings at the jungle temple.
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We enjoyed the whole afternoon despite the incredible heat again, and slept well after a filling meal of Cambodian dishes.  The next morning, we drove a ridiculously long way on a very bad road to Bangkok.  The road is in disrepair because the head of Cambodia is in a deal with the airlines!  Yeah for more corruption!