the kingdom of cambodia

wow.

just wow.

cambodia was awesome.  might be on the top 3 places ive ever visited.  we stayed in Siem Reap (at a sweet hotel) for two nights, visited a few of the temples including Angkor Wat, and also stayed in Phnom Penh for a night.  the temples were…beyond words.  even pictures dont do them justice (plug: mine are on my flickr!!!! CHECK THEM OUT!).  its amazing to be able to visit and stand at the very site where the center of a kingdom sat, the power just overwhelmed me.  the exquisite bas-reliefs, the detailed sculptures, the grandiose scale of it all…i was in awe.

and the people–most of them so poor, begging for money, the children hardest of all to turn down as they cried so hard with their hands sticking thru the windows of our bus…the experience with those people was really touching.  everyone else is so generous, so accomodating, so hardworking.  its a different kind of society out here in the east and cambodia really exaggerated that point for me.  sights of the countryside and the way people live was kind of inspirational.  basically shacks, these people make do with what theyve got.

other thoughts: food was very similar to vietnam. wayyyyy more cars than saigon. maybe 50/50 cars and bikes.  toyota camrys to be exact.  cows all over the place in the countryside, gotta watch out for them on the road…but they are the skinniest cows ive ever seen. nothin but skin n bones.  no speed limits.  even crazier than that, wearing a helmet on a motorbike isnt neccessary.  now thats just ridiculous.  cambodian massages, which apparently are just like those of the thai persuasion, were greattttt.  got a full body massage which was pretty rough and intense, with this girl walking on my back and stretching out all my limbs…it was kind of amazing.  got another full body oil massage which was not as intense but just as satisfying!  bought some souvenirs for friends (or they may end up being for me..) and came to the conclusion that shopping in cambodia is cheaper than saigon.

a wonderful few days.  leaving for nha trang (vietnam) tomorrow evening. ❤