Cambodia!!

Hey Everyone!! 

I hope you are doing well. I am doing fabulously! I got back from Cambodia Monday morning at 6:30 AM and taught class at 8AM. Let me tell you there was a lot of coffee drunk that day. It was worth it though. Cambodia was a lot of fun. It was a nice break from teaching and we were able to come back ready to tackle the rest of the time until the Feast. 

Cambodia is an interesting country, to say the least. I definitely like Thailand better. It was great to visit though. The history of Cambodia in the past 30 years or so is quite tragic and downright depressing.  There was so much turmoil and evil that took place not too long ago. It just blows my mind to think that things like that actually happened. We went to the killing fields and S21 museum. These are places where the Khmer Rouge killed many, many Cambodians. It was sad, depressing and made me somewhat mad that no one did anything to stop the cruelty. There are some amazing sights in Cambodia as well. We went to Angkor Wat and saw many temples, monkeys and ancient artifacts simply lying around. Beyond that, we just hung out and relaxed. We had some amazing French while we were there too. An interesting tidbit of information Cambodia has a lot more beef than Thailand does. We found that interesting. Random, I know. 

Okay... onto to the photos what everyone wants to see. :)

Our journey began in Chiang Mai, Thailand 8pm Sat night on a bus to Bangkok. We reached Bangkok Sun morning at 5 am. We hung out in Bangkok. We went to Starbucks and went to a couple of malls go figure. We flew out around 2:30 and reached our guest house around 4pm or so. It was nice to finally get there. It had lovely mattresses and warm showers. 

The airlines instituted the same rule that the States have about liquids... only 100 ml. I wish I had known ahead of time... hence the sad face. 

This is Victory Monument in Phenom Phen, Cambodia.

"The Victory, or Independence Monument, was erected in 1958 to commemorate independence from France. Often jokingly called the "Big Pineapple," it is a modern reinterpretation of traditional Khmer architecture. After the chaos of the Khmer Rouge years the monument has come to symbolize Cambodia's war dead."

Wat Phenom

The clock was really cool. This Wat is on the only hill in Phenom Phen. Inside the Wat as in most Wats were many, many statues.

Now for some of the depressing side of Cambodia...

This is at the Killing Fields where people were taken to be killed. In this monument are skulls of the victims who were tortured and killed by the Kmer Rouge. There was also clothing from the victims in the monument.

Ben and Nathan reading some of the historical information about the era of Cambodia. 

We also went to the S21 museum. I didn't take any photos, but it was a school that was turned into a prison and essentially a touring center.

The Mekong River.

After sightseeing and being depressed from the sights we saw. We went to dinner, walked around the city and played darts.

Nathan is just too good.

Ben and I were a team for one of the games. He and I won taking revenge on Nathan who creamed us both when we weren't playing teams.

From Phenom Phen.... to Siem Reap...

Boat tour we took to see the floating village! It was a neat little village and fun boat ride. 

One of the views where we stopped to take in the view. I love the reflection in the water!

Some people working and other swimming in the water. It was interesting they all waved and said hello to the 3 of us Farang. It made us all feel a little bit special.

In the Village. A young boy driving his boat with part of the village in the background.

Floating House.

Dessert one day on our trip. We stopped at a Swensens. I was soooo good! We were shocked by the fact that there was an American Flag on Ben's dessert.

Now for the temples at Angkor Wat...

Rock Climbing is great and is one of my favorite things, but Climbing Temples in flip flops and a skirt give climbing a whole new meaning. Having said that, it's one of the reasons I took the next photo.

"Warning! Climbing At Your Risk."

To me, it sounds like they're trying to dare you to climb. :) It was interesting maneuvering up the steps as some were non-existent.

Yes, they have monkeys around some of the temples. How cool is that! 

I kept my distance, but Nathan was fearless and the monkey thought his shoe and pants-leg  might be a tasty treat to gnaw on. Amusing from where I was standing.

One of temples they are redoing.

Nathan Climbing one of the temples.

Bayon Temple. It was pretty amazing to walk through. There used to be one-hundred eighty faces now there are about one-hundred seventy or so.

The guys beginning to climb up the temple as I was debating if I was going to attempt it or not. Ben looks pretty mischievous. At this point, we weren't sure, if we were allowed to climb up or not.

Inside Bayon looking out.

Bayon with the relics lying around.

At the top of one of the temples.

Ta Prohm. 

This tree is growing over the temple. It was pretty cool. Picture do not do it justice. 

Some of the detail one of the pillars.

 

Another view of the temple.

There are just heaps of them. Kind of Crazy!

Angkor Wat!

Inside Angkor

In the courtyard type area of Angkor.

Some of the pillars inside

Look at the detail! I wish I could read it. :)

I found a flower! What do you do when you find flowers? Take photos of course!

Looking at Angkor from another temple. It was a nice little walk.

A cairn made from ancient relics?

(I think I need to go rock climbing soon. :))

Another photo of Angkor.

The guys taking photos. Tourists? :)

Me with Angkor in the background.

The 3 muskateers at Angkor Wat another day at Sabbath sunset.

Angkor Wat

Nathan and a cleaver 16 year old who got me to purchase postcards. 

So the story here... Nathan bought postcards for $1. This guy was selling them for $2.50. I told him I would buy them for $1. We went back and forth bargaining for about 10 minutes or so. Finally he said, "Okay, let's thumb wrestle. I win you, pay $1.50. You win, you pay $1." How could I say no to that! Plus I really wanted to postcards. Well, he won the war, but now I have a fantastic story. :)

Well, in a nutshell, this was our fabulous trip to Cambodia. Pictures do not do it justice. I may snag some from the guys and post a few more photos. If you want more information on the temples or the historical aspect of Cambodia, you may want to check out http://www.angkortrip.com.

This week has been a bit crazy adjusting to being back and teaching, but the break was definitely needed. Please continue to keep Aj. Leon (Mr. Sexton) in your prayers. There have been a couple of updates saying he is doing somewhat better, but prayers would still be appreciated.

Please continue to pray for all of us. 

Take Care! 

Much Love,

Lainy