It's a holiday in Cambodia

On Sunday we rented bicycles and rode out to the famous Angkor Wat temple. The ride there was done under sky scraping trees, then around the river of water that surrounds the temple. We marveled at the intricacy of the carvings on the walls, the ceilings and the statues, and climbed a steep set of stairs to the top of the temple, to then admire the breathtaking view of lush vegetation. We had to stop midday because we realized we had burnt pretty badly. On the way back, we stopped and bought two fresh mangoes and a pineapple. We ate them gluttonously while wading in the pool at our hotel.

The next day, we decided to hire a tuk-tuk driver for the day, because we hadn't realized how big and how far away the temples were from each other. We got up at 4:30 to catch the sunrise at Angkor Wat. While we were told it was a good way to visit the temple as it wasn't busy, we discovered hundreds more were probably told the same. We admired the sunrise with a myriad of tourists from all over the world. We then continued to visit seven more temples, some of them still in great condition after hundreds of years, and others almost in ruins. Unfortunately, all the temples were swarming with sellers and beggars, which tarnished our experience a little, because while we were trying to admire the temples in awe, we were constantly being tugged to buy, give and pay.

Then yesterday we walked to the Old Market, and bartered our way to great prices. The market was much better maintained than the market in Ho Chi Minh city. The smell was minimal and all the shops were busy and full of Cambodian silk clothing.

And here's a little song we kept referring to during our travels in Cambodia:

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-KTsXHXMkJA

Alex & Elena