Cambodia to Bangkok, Thailand

Bye Bye Siem Reap, Hello Bangkok!!  Off to the northwest part of Thailand we go. 

Now I know I said that we would no longer put our lives in jeopardy by taking a bus around SE Asia, however, that was our only alternative.  And once again, it was a scary ride, but this time much of the luggage was covering my view and both Shelley and I were too busy talking to notice how bad the ride actually was.  

At our rest stop, the couple sitting in the front seat with the driver said the driver had been dozing and they kept on tapping him on the shoulder…REALLY!?

After too many stops, we made it (BIG sigh of relief) and were dropped off somewhere in the craziness of Bangkok.  Now we had to figure out how to get to our hotel.  We read only to take metered taxis here in Thailand.  After helping some younger western travelers on our bus get in metered taxis, we were denied the use of a meter over a dozen times, before a young woman watching our plight decided to help us.  Thank goodness as our driver used the meter and we paid $3 vs the $12 being offered.

Between Cambodia and Thailand.  Shelley still smiling after the first third of our trip

The border crossing...our last country (boooooo)

HHHHMMMM, what does this mean??

Let's take a closer look...ahhhh got it!

We made it to our hotel and simply needed dinner after the long road trip.  We took a walk, found a street vendor serving food.  No English spoken here and a place most westerners would not even think to eat at.  And for $5, we had a great meal of noodles, rice, vegetables, and chicken.  Time to shower and pass out before exploring the craziness of Bangkok.

Cambodia: Temples and Siem Reap

Day 3 of the temples in Siem Reap:  Today we went to see the oldest of the temple areas--Rolous Temples.  Most of these were spread out and most in ruins all over the ground.  We were able to walk through them, but if this were in the US, liability would have closed them down years ago.  But since things are quite a bit more lax here you can pretty much do anything you want.

Most houses here in Cambodia are on stilts.  This is one we saw along the way to the temples

A grouping of houses and their common area

A view of the rice fields and a hill in the background

Another view of the farming areas, sprinkled with palm trees

One of the many small markets in this small village

A house in a village not on stilts.  This area was a little higher, thus not affected by the rainy season floods

Shelley holding up one of the giant elephant sculptures

A tree totally taking over the pillar of this temple

A boy playing with a knife as long as his arm...nice?!

My mom would never let me do this!?

A temple that we 'broke' in to as it was closed to visitors.  5 large pools surrounded this temple

Shelley standing by her always favorite lily pads!

A small house between two of the temples.  Probably housed people at some point

A seemingly infinite walkway within a broke down temple

You can see what time and mother nature has done to this and many of the temples

Some of the oldest temples in Cambodia

Shelley imitating the sculptures (too many temples at this point??)

More steps, again for an amazing view

I wasn't happy with the face Shelley made, so lets try again

Much better!!

Pushing down the temple, like Samson

Monks crawling in and out of their classroom

A temple by the Royal Palace in Siem Reap

On the grounds outside the Royal Palace

A view of our hotel and pool in Siem Reap

One thing I have not mentioned, was that at every stop, young kids and tons of adults would ask you incessantly to buy whatever it is they are selling.  You are surrounded by people at every turn when walking through the temples, when exiting the temples, before getting in the Tuk Tuk, when exiting the Tuk Tuk.  It does take away from the beauty of the area and becomes simply annoying.  You can try to ignore, but they are so persistent and by the third day we would begin talking with them.  At that point, you realize they only know the words they are chirping at you and nothing beyond that—similar to a parrot.  But playfully, we were able to make the kids laugh by trying to get them to buy from us.

Since overland visas to Thailand were limited to 15-days (the government is in bed with the monopoly airline—Bangkok Air—so, if you don’t fly in you only get 15 vs 30-day visa), so we simply enjoyed the remainder of our time in Siem Reap.  We were able to visit many of the shops that work is done by the underprivileged and enjoy the pool/books/each other for a couple more days.

Cambodia: Temple exploration Day 2

Once again, pervasive heat and humidity, but we were refreshed and ready to rock and roll.  This would be another long day where we explored the temple areas surrounding the two we visited two days before--Ta Prohm, Preah Khan, Preah Neak Pean.  Most of these temples were more in disrepair than the Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom.  But very interesting and many of them are being reclaimed with the help of many outside countries for funding.

Stretching on the walkway to the next temple

Peak-a-boo, we see you!

Baking in the sun, walking up Asian steps makes for a hot day

Another view from the top

Small group of temples in the trees

Another picture of some temples

A cool grass walkway leading to one of the temples

Try and find Shelley!!

Soaked, but made it!!

Trees have begun to take over many of the temples

This is the temple where Angelina Jolie filmed Tomb Raider...Seriously!!

You can see how the jungle and Shelley have taken over

Two small temple towers

The jungle is winning this battle

Gives you a perspective of a sweaty American...I mean of the trees taking over

Most of the lakes in the area smell really bad and are really dirty

Shelley running from the collapsing temple

Some towers still standing, but much of it has fallen

Don't remember why we took this picture.

Behind one of the temples, this is where someone sleeps who sells things to tourists

A relatively clean lake in front of the last temple

Thumbs up to another great day

Erik trying to read the sign for me

Smaller temple along our route

Another exploration day complete

Aaahhh, look at the cute ducklings before they become dinner!!

We also made a stop at the Landmine Museum.  During the Vietnam War and after with the reign of the Khmer Rouge thousands of mines were placed around the country and it still affects many people to this day.  The museum highlights the issue and brings to the forefront the countless victims to light.  It is a sad story how many farmers and children across the country continue to lose limbs and their lives due to these mines.  The director of the museum is one of the leading organizers of the de-mining efforts.

Many of the mines dug up by the Director of the museum

Un-exploded bombs from Russia, China, and the US

We found a place (only one) with frozen margaritas, so we made this the beginning of our evening to help with the cooling off process.  Since we moved hotels and needed to walk a couple of miles to get downtown, a cooling time was needed so I didn’t sweat through my clothes prior to eating.