Cambodia, day two highlights

Day two started with breakfast at the hotel, and then it was off to see more sights!

We spent most of the day on the outskirts of Siem Reap. This was a scene from the road out of the city after we got past Angkor Wat. Buses, donkeys, elephants, bicycles, etc... you see anything and everything on Cambodian roads.


We then climbed Pre Rup, a temple older than Angkor Wat. It was still early in the day and the climb up the temple felt great in the sun.


Next was a visit to Banteay Samre, a temple built almost like a smaller-scale Angkor Wat. This was a fun place to explore, but what I remember most is the little girl outside the gates trying to sell scarves. She couldn't have been more than seven, but her smile and her enthusiasm were signs of natural-born charm that set her apart from all the other kids we saw in Cambodia peddling stuff to tourists. I wound up buying a scarf from her for a dollar, though I later wondered if I should have just given her a dollar and told her to go to school. Dilemma.


Last on the itinerary for the morning was Banteay Srei. This was an amazing place because of the beautiful, intricate carvings that cover it. Hard to believe these carvings have been around more than one thousand years.


It was then back to the city (Siem Reap) for lunch. We had amok fish, a steamed fish dish that is at nearly every restaurant in Cambodia. We were lazy so we ate at the restaurant in the hotel, which was quite overpriced. But even at ridiculous hotel prices, we had fish, curry, rice, and drinks for $8 a person.


After lunch we spent some time at the pool, and then headed into the city for shopping and to search for a restaurant for dinner! We got there in a tuk-tuk, a motorcycle-powered rickshaw. This was the view from the back. Unfortunately this picture doesn't capture the crazy traffic that we were in the middle of...lane lines that are more suggestions that rules, horns blaring, dust, people crossing the street right in front of cars....I LOVED it!!

As we headed into town in our tuk-tuk and watched the sun go down over Siem Reap, I almost felt like bursting with joy. I had *finally* made it to Cambodia, a place I had been wanting to visit for so long. There I was with R on a warm night, enjoying ourselves immensely and amazed at the youthfulness and energy of this country that had undergone such a remarkable transformation. I felt extremely lucky to be there, and more than that, unbelievably happy.