When I last left off we had just departed from Bangkok en route to Siem Reap, Cambodia. The wait at the airport involved some Auntie Ann's pretzels and some comfy lounge chairs, but was relatively short, as was the flight to get to Cambodia. We arrived to our hotel (Angkor Home Hotel) fairly late and thought that we'd head back out for dinner and to check out the town. We laid down on the bed and feel asleep...until the next morning! Ha!
The next morning we enjoyed an early breakfast pool-side, and it was quite nice featuring rambuttan and dragon fruit, in addition to some amazing noodle soup. For the day we had hired a guide to take us to Angkor Wat and the surrounding temples, so we got an early start on the tour.
We spent the majority of the day sweating while trekking around these amazing temples, walking ON TOP OF the sandstone carved buildings and sculptures! I imagine the government will have to step in sometime soon and create some regulations for sightseeing, but for now guests were allowed to climb all over the structures. They were truly amazing to see and to hear the stories of Buddhism from our guide. Mid-afternoon we stopped in a small area of restaurants just outside of Angkor Wat for a bite to eat. We were immediately approached by hordes of children requesting us to purchase their wares - they were quite cute, knowledgable about the US and the English language, and I ended up buying a bunch of woven bracelets from one girl. She was more than thrilled to receive the $1.00 income from the purchase.
The afternoon was spent touring the main spectacle, Angkor Wat. Unfortunately some rehab work was being done, meaning the structure was draped in brightly-colored tarps, ruining our photos. Seeing as the work isn't all about us, we managed to make do ;0) We spent a few hours walking around the grounds and climbing up to its peak to watch the sunset over the horizon.
When we returned back to our hotel we went for a little swim, had some "Happy Hour" drinks and relaxed at the hotel's koi ponds. Shortly thereafter we headed into town to walk around for a bit of shopping and to grab some dinner along their restaurant/bar strip aptly named, "Pub Street." The guide books suggested sticking to American cuisine while visiting Siem Reap, so we settled on pizza from Le Tigre de Papier. We dined alfresco which provided ample opportunity to view the action on the street, including too many prostitutes.
Our evening ended with another crazy tuk-tuk ride to our hotel before our early morning departure the following day - back to Bangkok in order to head to the islands in the south.
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