Remembering Cambodia

It’s Wednesday and I am spending the day floating down the Mekong River, through Laos. I figured it was about tmie I updated the blog - starting with Angkor.

What can I say about Angkor that isn't better expressed by pictures. It really is one of those places where a picture is worth a thousand words. My friend George and I spent 3 and half days in Angkor, two and half of those wandering around the temples (by which time we were templed out) and a day wandering around the markets and shops of Siem Reap.

The temples in Angkor truly are breathtaking in their size, scope magnitude and detail. My first siting was coming from the airport towards our hotel and seeing Angkor Wat. It appeared as though this ancient city was rising up from the past. (ok, I know it sounds melodramatic, but it really did). We spent the next couple of days seeing the biggies - Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom, the Bayonne, Banthei Srai (although farther away from the main site - definitely worthy of a visit) and Ta Prohm were definite highlights.
I wish I had the ability to express in words how impressive and amazing these temples and old ruins are, but I think more talented writers than I struggle with putting that into words - so I can only refer you to my pictures.

From Angkor, we went to Kep, known as the Riviera of Cambodia. A sleepy seaside town known for its crabs. And they were DELICIOUS. They definitely rival those I’ve had in Baltimore. Sweet and prepared in a wonderful white pepper sauce. (I know, blasphemy from a Baltimorean). Since it rained quite a bit while we there, we weren’t able to take advantage of the great pool and not so great beaches of Kep. While walking about town, we did see alot of hammocks. In fact, hammocks seem to be quite popular in all of Cambodia. In Kep, there were rows and rows of them in thatched roof open air buildings. And while, I not sure about why, I can only assume that the hammocks are available for rent by the hour for snoozing. Hammocks are so popular, that we saw quite a few tuk-tuks with hammocks inside for their proprietors to sleep in while not ferrying customers. It sees like a wonderful way to wile away any hazy and hot afternoons.

Although in some respects Cambodia sees like the poor relations of Thailand, with most of its population engaged in agriculture, it has a beautiful landscape - mostly fields and not lots of trees (at least the parts we drove through) and I found the people to be quite welcoming.