SIEM REAP, CAMBODIA

Hi from Siem Reap!

Our last week in An Bang, Vietnam included more beach time, and an excellent dinner, inclusive of a large ribeye. Looking forward to being back in Vietnam in Hanoi at the end of April for more pho! Our flight to Siem Reap was delayed and we arrived at 3am, but we met a fellow traveler while we were waiting who we actually ran into again the following day. Nice when that happens.
Cambodia thus far has been a little melancholy. We head to Kep in southern Cambodia on Thursday morning, which we are looking forward to, and it will be interesting to experience the feel of a smaller town. Siem Reap (and I imagine Phnom Penh might be this way as well) is a bit overwhelming for me personally, much of the area where we are staying is geared aggressively toward tourism, and it is definitely noticeable that by and large you see two generations of people in a city of 1M. The USD is used here. Which is also a bit of an odd experience. While it may not be the most comfortable place I have ever been, its good to be here. One of the more disturbing things for me has been seeing so many tourists who seem to be charmed by or entirely oblivious of their being extensively catered to with the attitude that the “prices are great” or this is “a good deal.”

That said, very glad we were able to see Ankgor. Last night we bought tickets and saw the sunset from Angkor Wat. It wasn't too crowded right before closing, so we were able to walk around a bit and take pictures. Today we saw 7 temples in total - I think - starting at 7:30am. The first few temples were our favorites, as they were not at all crowded, and easy to look around. Our tuk-tuk driver was so nice, and took us to a lot of lesser-known temples. One that we visited down a winding dirt road was very cool - we were the only people there. We ended with Bayon Temple in Angkor Thom and Ankgor Wat, which were more crowded. The more heavily excavated and larger temples are very impressive in terms of size and general maintenance. We were ready to leave around 11:15am, having covered a lot of ground and fully sweating through our clothes.
Will send another update from Bangkok, before heading to Luang Prabang, Laos!