July 1- Siem Reap

Well, we knew we would be travelling during monsoon season, but we hadn't really experienced it until we got to Cambodia. We have so much to catch up on! Our first full day here we spent exploring the town of Siem Reap and we have spent the last three days exploring the temples of Angkor, which were truly spectacular. We so badly want to post photos for you to see, but unfortunately the computers are too slow. We will definitely get them up once we get to Bangkok, so check back in a few days to actually see the Temples of Angkor.

On June 28 we slept in a little bit, and then went and checked out the town of Siem Reap. It is a cute little touristy town, with an odd juxtaposition of the poverty you would expet to see here and a slew of four star hotels and fine restaurants. We walked around a bit, checked out the markets and had dinner at a restaurant that was decorated with images of Statler and Waldorf (the two old critics from the opera seats in the Muppet Show). The markets were full of the same old things you would expect: silk scarves, tea sets, cow intestines, and t-shirts.

On June 29 we hired a tuk tuk to take us from Siem Reap to the temples of Angkor, about 15 kilometers outside of town. Longdy proved to be a trusty driver, and hauled us with our two new friends out of town towards the ruins. Much to Jillian's delight, Jamie had brought speakers for his iPod, which was loaded with nothing but country music! Needless to say, it was the most bompin' party tuk tuk in all of Cambodia.

Most of the temples of Angkor are enclosed in a park, with a 26 kilometer road running around the perimeter of the park. We stopped first at Angkor Wat, the largest and arguably most impressive of the ruins. It was built from 1100 to 1170 and it surrounded by a stone wall, enclosing an area of 2 square kilometers. The central tower stands 55 meters (3 stories) high and we climbed to the top for an amazing view of the surrounding towers and corridors. To this day it remains largest religious structure in the world and it is the best preserved of all of the temples of Angkor. It is really hard to describe how amazing it was. The temples are all made of stone (mostly sandstone, but each temple is unique in its composition) and the walls are covered with intricate carvings. Many of these carvings depict apsaras (heavenly nymphs), Hindu gods or serene Buddhas. Others are simlpy geometric or floral designs, but still amazing in their own right. Angkor Wat also had several pools in it, as many of the other temples had. In between the pools were long corridors leading to different shrines for various Hindu gods.

Climbing to the top of the towers was an adventure! The steps were seemingly made for monkeys, each step being only about 6 inches deep and about 8 to 12 inches high. There were no railings and looking down was not for the faint-hearted. There were only big stones and bigger stones below you. Going up wasn't so bad, but going down we were wishing they had installed the Angkor elevator.

After Angkor Wat we took the tuk tuk over to Bayon, another temple. This one was not very impressive from the outside, but once you climbed up to the third level, it was apparent why this was another favorite temple for tourists to visit. This temple boasted 54 towers with one face on each of the four sides of the tower. These faces were roughly 2 meters tall and all bore a striking resemblance to King Jayavarman VII, who commissioned the temple to be built. They were supposed to be the face of Avalokiteshvara, a Hindu god, but legend has it this was not the case. It was pretty cool walking around and seeing these towers with the faces all over them. And of course, this was another one that we had to climb up to see the goods.

All of the climbing tired us out, so we took a break for lunch. There were booths set up across the street from each temple with hokey souvenirs and cheap Khmer food. Each time we descended from the tuk tuk, we were surrounded by an army of children, each touting their bracelets, postcards, flutes, and guidebooks. They were able to count all of their postcards for us in more languages than we could recognize (German, French, Japanese, Spanish, Chinese, English...) Ari tried to add Hebrew to their repetoire, but they quickly lost interest when it was apparent he did not want to buy the postcards he was counting.

When we sat down to eat, the children eagerly came over, selling their baskets of goodies, and tried to strike up a conversation by asking where we were from. Jamie told them he was from Vancouver, and in unison they proclaimed that Vancouver was in Canada and the capital of Canada is Ottowa. We told them were from New York, and they knew the capital of the US is Washington, and that the capital of New York is Albany. (Jillian's students in Harlem didn't even know the capital of New York or that New York was both a state and a city). When Jillian tried to tell the kids she was from North Dakota they were a little taken aback and could not correctly identify that capital. To be fair, Ari couldn't either. There must not be a lot of tourists from North Dakota coming to Cambodia - who would have thought?

Then it was back on the tuk tuk, a few more tunes from Brooks and Dunn, and it was off to Ta Prohm, our third temple of the day. For those of you who have seen Tomb Raider starring Angelina Jolie, it was filmed largely in Ta Prohm, so you know exactly the kind of temples we are describing. Ta Prohm was chosen as a picturesque spot to film because the surrounding jungle is still largely overgrown and there are a few large trees growing straight out of the ruins. It looked pretty badass.

While we were visiting Ta Prohm, we were reminded that it is monsoon season. Again, the heavens opened on cue as the sky darkened, temperature dropped, and winds picked up all in a matter of two minutes. We got soaked, but that didn't dampen our spirits. We hopped back in the tuk tuk, lowered the rain flaps, and left Longdy on his motorcycle to brave the storm alone as he gallantly pulled us back to Siem Reap.

That night, The Killing Fields was showing at the restaurant in our Hotel, and we began to watch it, but between the gruesome scenes and the crazy Mefloquine-induced dreams we have been having, we decided to skip out in the middle and call it a night.

Speaking of calling it a night, catch you later! We will tell you about the rest of our adventures here later on.

Lots of love,
Jillian and Ari