Cambodia and the Angkor Experience

Hello friends and family!
Before I get to the telling of our time in Cambodia, I want to backtrack a bit to our last days in Vietnam. And of course there are lots of fun pictures!

http://picasaweb.google.com/jillian.constantine/MissSaigon

http://picasaweb.google.com/bgrobovsky/VietnamPartII

Our journey brought us from Hue to Ho Chi Minh City (aka Saigon) and there we were lucky enough to join in on the Vietnamese Lunar New Year (TET) celebrations. Saigon is city of over 6 million people and all were ready and raring to ring in the new year. When we arrived the city was bustling in preparation for Feb 6th (which marked the frist night of a three day long festivities), but Betsy and I managed to crave out sometime to visit the Saigon sites. From a walking tour conveniently provided by Lonely Planet we saw their open air markets, posh neighborhoods of the wealthy, the French influenced megatron of a Post Office and busy everyday life on the streets. We also went to the War Remnants Museum which chronicles the Vietnamese side of what they term the American War. I have never stepped foot into a museum such as this one. All visitors, including myself, walk about the exhibits with a look of horror and sorrow as you realize just how awful it was for everyone involved in this particular war. After taking it all in and still now it is hard to believe; but in the end I do remain hopeful that we all continue to learn from the past and the actions of those before us and be a better citizen of the world for being informed.

In addition to celebrating the Lunar New Year, Betsy and I did manage to find the one lone sports bar that broadcasted the Superbowl and with about 60- 70 people we watched in awe of the Giants overtaking the Patriots. For those of you who new my grandfather (a most loyal Giants fan) he was smiling down on all of us on that Sunday.

I found Saigon to be a lovely city brimming to the full with kind and curious people. At any and every opportunitly Vietnamese would approach Betsy or I to ask questions about America and ourlives there. They were also open sharing what their lives are like. this mutual exchange is some what I love most about traveling so far.

Cambodia
Nothing could have prepared me for Cambodia. Betsy and I made our way to this cheecky (yes I have been hanging around a lot of Brits) country by boat which now completes our travel by all types of transportation goal. To reach Cambodia we journyed into the Mekong Delta region and then floated down the Mighty Mekong to the boarder of Vietnam and Cambodia. The Mekong River has lush green banks full of fishing villages and merchants. There are even quite a few "floating villages"which is a community that lives entirly on the river in wooden framed houses. Schools, markets, partically anything that one needs can be found within the floating village.

The first city we stayed in was Phnom Penh, the captial which is populated by 1 million people. On our boat ride to Cambodia we met up with two British girls and decided to find lodging somewhere in the city. Oh yeah, the bus that was supposed to take us from the river to the city left us in some remote town because they didn't have enough room - so the four of us (Betsy, Ruth, Lucy and I) waited for a car which the boat company assursed us was coming. After about an hour of waiting you can imagine how excited we were when it actually showed up. So into Phnom Penh we went and ended up at a small guesthouse on the Lake Boeng Kak. Smile Lakeside guesthouse proved to be quite an experience and fully introduced us to the lack of plumbing in Cambodia. We more or less had a cold water spout to shower in and the toilet situation was well, a situation.

Phnom Penh offered a really nice entrance into Cambodia with everyone smiling to us on the street and a general lightheartedness which is so different from the Vietnamese. Everything with the Cambodians can be laughed off and teasing one another seems to be commonplace.

Cambodia also offers its visitors the chance to learn about the not well known genocidal regime of the Khmer Rouge. Again I am reminded that we have to know and learn about the past so that our future is one not full of murder and genocide.

Cambodia houses one of the wonders of the world at Angkor near the city of Siem Reap. After a 6 hour bus ride across the country side which provided a quick look at how the non city populations lives, which includes free roaming animals, lots of agriculture, houses built on wooden stilts and lots of palm trees, we arrived at Siem Reap. For the next two days we explored the ancient ruins of the the Khmer civilizations that date back to 9th and 13th centuries. Vast temples built with the intention by the Khmer Kings to guide all those who entered into a journey that replicates the universe's creation. It is beyond magical as you wander and climb among what was once a thriving epicenter for the Asian countries. I could write a thousand blogs about just our two days at the different temples, but for now I will leave you to the pictures which probably communicate it better than I.

http://picasaweb.google.com/jillian.constantine/CambodiaCambodiaCambodia

Betsy and I head next to the beaches of Thailand so I hope to post again once we get there!