Hello Family and Friends,
I hope this finds you and yours doing well. Things here are hopping, so I haven't had much time to catch you up about Cambodia! Here goes:
On the way to Cambodia, I stayed for 3 nights at the Bangkok home of my friend, Angela, and her sister, Veronica. Thanks Angela and Veronica for taking such good care of me!
Whilst in Bangkok, I met up with some former colleagues (Mike and Jim), and got my very first set of braids. This is how it happened:
After meeting up with Mike (we worked together in London), I went to H&M where I saw a black woman with braids. I asked her where she'd had them done, and she gave me the phone number of the stylist. I called the stylist while I was still in the store, and got an appointment for the next day, which happened to be my last day in Bangkok before going to Siem Reap. Patricia is Senegalese and lives in a high-rise near Lumpini Park. My braiding session took 9 hours! I honestly don't know how she was able to do it, but she says she does it all the time. Amazing! Here's a picture:
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| Braid-a-thon |
Still not sure getting braids was a wise decision on my part. I'll keep you posted!
Siem Reap was AMAZING! My hotel (The Golden Banana -
http://www.golden-banana.info/) was wonderful, and I fell in love with the Khmer people and their history. We saw a lot of Wats:-) 'We' included me and my guide, Sopheara (photo below). Before arriving, I had visions of being bored out of my gourd with so many wats, but to my surprise, it was all very interesting. So glad I went. Following is a photo gallery with captions. Enjoy!
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| Sopheara - Best Guide Ever! We laughed a lot:-) |
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| Angkor Wat at sunrise |
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| Me and my braids at Angkor Wat |
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| Apsaras on the columns at Angkor Wat |
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| Angkor Wat |
For more information about this amazing place, go to this link:
http://www.tourismcambodia.com/attractions/angkor/angkor-wat.htm
Angkor Thom was by far my favorite. Link here:
http://www.sacred-destinations.com/cambodia/angkor-thom
The faces at Bayon Temple had me mesmerized. I really did not want to leave!
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| Entrance to Angkor Thom |
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| While it was nice to have Sopheara take pictures - I did manage a few selfies. |
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| Nothing but smiling faces! |
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| A kiss is but a kiss~ |
My 2nd day in Siem Reap was spent bouncing around in the tuk-tuk on very bumpy roads as we drove to Tonle Sap Lake to see the floating village. I was told that during the rainy season, the road can be impassable. More information at this link:
http://www.roughguides.com/destinations/asia/cambodia/siem-reap-temples-angkor/tonle-sap-lake/
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| Ox cart filled with hay on the bumpy road to Tonle Sap |
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| Floating house |
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| Floating store |
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| Floating school (sign says "This school is sponsored by One Child Matter & Assemblies of God") |
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| The sign on this school building says "Tourists please do not disturb the children..." |
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| The boat driver - he looked like he was about 15 years old |
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| A boat similar to ours |
The third day was the last day with my guide. We saw 4 wats...each had its own special charm. Here's a link to the first temple, Banteay Srei:
http://www.sacred-destinations.com/cambodia/angkor-banteay-srei
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| At the entrance to Banteay Srei |
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Link for YouTube video Preah Khan:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6oKXr_ENUoQ
Here's a wikipedia link for Preah Rup:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pre_Rup
Last but not least, we went to Ta Phrom (this is the temple that was highly publicized in the Tomb Raider & Indiana Jones movies. Here's a link to information about this wonderful place:
http://www.sacred-destinations.com/cambodia/angkor-ta-prohm
A YouTube video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BkZ09aN-wbQ
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| Me at Ta Phrom |
In Siem Reap, I also went to:
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| Phare Circus - I laughed throughout the entire show! |
- A dinner show at the Kulen II Restaurant that featured Cambodian Musicians and Dancers. The food was buffet-style and just so-so. Here are 2 YouTube video samples of the performance:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_hv7Hyn0BY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uCSMnLgd54
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| The tuk-tuk that ferried me around Siem Reap - what a delightful experience! |
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So long until next week!
