I wasn’t going to post this until I got back b/c it needs pictures but I’ll add them later.  Right now I’m SCuba Diving on a small Island off the coast of Thailand, Koh Tao.. its amazing!

April 12th, 2008 - Siem Reap, Cambodia. Got up at 04:45am to meet Long-D after staying up until 12:30 with Meredith. Drove the 7km to Angkor Wat and got a 3-day ticket because I had no idea what I was in for.

We went to Ban Sanreai to watch the sunrise (SunRYE! as Long-D says) and I was immediately surrounded by kids selling books, bracelets, water, and everything else you can imagine. Its real easy to be annoyed with them but you have to keep in mind they are just doing what their familes asked them to do.

Long-D and i talked about his family, the US, and his Tuk Tuk while we sat on the ruins waiting for the sunrise. It was a beautiful SunRYE! over the lake and we went on to this shack for breakfast. It as attached to an old Cambodian women’s house and her kids waited on us. Long-d and I talked some more and he became fascinated with my iPhone when I was showing him pictures of my tuk-tuk (re: jeep). It was quite entertaining to see someone’s reaction when you show them this tiny device that does all these thing that he’s never heard about. Mind blowing.

Breakfast was good, rice, fruit and pork and Long-d had some beef concoction. After we ate he took me to Toh Prohm and it was absolutely empty. I was able to take my time and explore the amazing ruins and Long-d waited for me on the other side. You can walk, climb and stand on the ruins as if it was a big playground which made for some fun picture taking experiments. I hope they turned out OK. When I got to the other side Long-d was waiting for me and off we went to Toh (Forgot the name) which is known for the filming of Tomb Raider.

Speaking of Tomb Raider, Angelina Jolie is all over the town. In bars, billboards, stores and even on menus (drinks named after her). Quite odd.

This Toh _______ was the most amazing temple of them all. Not because it was the largest or most elaborate but purely b/c how nature had overtaken it. Redwood sized trees with roots bigger than me shooting up through these monstrous stones and explode into the jungle’s canopy. One of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen. It really felt alive.

By this time, I caught up with several Asian tour groups which was pretty annoying so I plopped under a shade spot and let them go by. One by one, every single one of them snapped a picture in front of the tree and just as they were leaving another group strolled in. Ugh! I noticed one particular guy with a big camera who wasn’t paying attention to his tour guide, so I gestured for him to take a picture of me with my camera. He nodded to confirm he understood and I hopped up on the tree and he snapped a few and I scooted off trying to stay in b/t tour groups so they weren’t in my pictures. I was able to keep a good pace b/t tour group until I stumbled across this old man under a tree. He was carving and making things out of bamboo. I asked him what he was making and he said “Cow Bell”, I was impressed and he picked it up and shook it to show me how it worked. He got a kick out of my amazement and let out a big 2-tooth smile. I responded with “I have no cow” and he smiled again apparently with no idea what I said to him. I bought one for $1 and I asked if I could take a picture. He nodded and smiled for the camera and off I went. We waived bye to each other and both of us were smiling. He just made $1 and I had one of the coolest moments I’ve ever had.

I continued on from temple to temple climbing up some of the steepest steps I’ve ever seen. By the time I got to the top I was wiped out so I sad down on a shady ledge and started talking to a young Cambodian named “Jam” (Ja-am). Maybe he meant James but at this point I had no clue what any Cambodian’s name was. We talked and he told me about the history of this particular temple and about his schooling and life in the area. Another cool moment. These Cambodians are pretty cool

I moved on w/ Long-d and eventually got to the Angkor Wat 8 hrs after my day had started. By now the heat had peaked at 95o without a cloud in the sky. I was baking. Trying to stay hydrated I had put down 4 (1.5L) bottles of water and I still wanted more. When you pull up to Angkor Wat the temple fills the horizon and its all you see. Visually overwhelming. You cross this long causeway over the moat and walk in only to realize that what you just saw is the outer wall. Down a short hallway and out the door, Angkor Wat towers the jungle’s trees at the end of another long causeway. Truly Amazing. Its hard to believe it was just hiding buried in the jungle until 90 years ago.

I walked the grounds and explored the Wat which from the outside is one of the most amazing structures I’ve ever seen but in all honesty the inside is quite bland. Its the pride of Cambodian but I don’t think the Cambodians have the money to restore the Wat (wat is a temple) to its original state which truly is a shame b/c everything else about it is so impressive.

Walking out of the Wat I met a lady from the UK, Christina Shelley, (Chrissy) and we both said the same thing at the same time which gave us a good laugh. We talked for a few moments about the heat and she told me she had a fancy hotel with a pool and invited me to use it this afternoon. After baking all day I said hell yes and told her I was going to head back shower and come over.

I cleaned up and rested and set out to find Meredith @ her guesthouse so we could hang out tonight. After some help from her front desk (ie they handed me their entire guest registry), I found her room and slipped a note under her door to meet me at 7 @ my guesthouse if she wanted to hang out tonight. From her place I hopped on a moto for my first and last time.

I squeezed the handrails with a death grip as he zipped off into traffic. I was scared for my life but eventually go to my destination. I called Chrissy to tell her I was there and jumped in the pool. After an hour or so cooling off in the pool, we shared a tuk-tuk back into town . I cleaned up, chilled out and waited for Meredith in a Cambodian hammock in front of my guesthouse. Those hammocks require a special skill to get in them safely but once you are in, they are nap-inducing like nothing I’ve ever laid in.

While I was chillin in the hammock I noticed a young UK couple pull up and talk to their Tuk-Tuk driver about the temples and when they were done I called them over as they passed and told them my opinion about what their driver told them and my day at Angkor Wat. Their names were Ruth and Greg from the UK, on the last week of a 4 month ‘trip’ around SE Asia. They were nice enough and I ended up giving Greg my 3-day pass to Angkor Wat which still was valid for 2 more days. I was templed out and not going to use the pass anymore. They thanked me and left. As they did, Meredith rolled up and popped into the hammock next to me.

We chatted about our day and headed into town to eat. We shared a Cambodian pizza (not too bad) and headed to a bar w/ a balcony to have another drink and meet a new friend of hers from her guesthouse.

His name was Philipp, a 24 year old Austrian from Vienna. We each had another drink and talked some more about our travels. Philipp has been in SEA for 2 months and has 5 more left.

Funny Story
Philipp was trying to decide what to eat but hasn’t had chicken in his 2 months in SEA for fear of the bird flu. Meredith convinced him it was ok so he ate some chicken and pepper dish. Two days later when he shows up at my room, he says he was sick all day the day before b/c of the chicken. Oops!

We all came back to my guesthouse and had another drink and hared some stories. it was there I learned I haven’t really lived. These two both had amazing stories about their travels. Whitewater rafting the Nile in Uganda, Cliff diving in Croatia, and hitchhiking through New Zealand. Meredith 29 and Philipp 24, have truly had some great adventures. I was a little envious because I couldn’t think of a comparable story.

I said goodbyes to Meredith as she was moving on to Phnom Penh and Kep tomorrow. We said we’d keep in touch and Philipp and I said we’d hang out tomorrow since we’d be both still be in Cambodia for a few days.

Seems like a lot of people were doing what I was doing and hanging out in Cambodia during the Thai New Year. New Year sounds like a party but in Thailand its more about family so everything closes down with the exception of the last few days which are Songkran.