Angkor WAT?!

Hey everybody,

In case you didn't get it, that's me trying to put the emphasis on the
WAT? - I know it's not original, but we haven't been exactly mature in
this trip.

We made it to Siem Reap a couple days ago via bus - six hours but not
too shabby. A little rushed as they neglected to tell us there was no
room on the 830 bus and so they had booked us for 800. We had stayed
at Sunday guest house in phnom penh, and had gone to see the killing
fields and the prison. It's crazy to think of the horrible things this
country has been through in the last 30 years. If you haven't read up
on the Khmer rouge or pol pot we can chat about that later - heavy
stuff that I didn't know enough about either.

Siem reap is great. Staying at jasmine guest house - great little
place. Sunday guest house had arranged for us to be picked up so it
was super convenient. Went straight out to angkor wat, and saw the
main temple and sunset from the hill. Then it was local food and an
early night - or so we thought. Onthe walk back we finally stumbled
upon the fish that nibble on your feet. Wow. Truly epic. For only two
dollars you can stay in as long as you like. At first I couldn't take
more than a few seconds at a time - they tickle! But I ha so much for
them to work on we stayed for about an hour - and they hadn't even
gotten to the good stuff. Feels cool but definitely not a time
effective way to get rid of all this tough skin on these weary feet.

Missed the world cup game - go Netherlands - but did get up at 4 am to
see the sunrise - beautiful. Then saw the main temple - which was
virtually empty still. On our way back we stumbled across some very
cool monkeys. One managed to steal the water bottle from my pack but
couldn't get it open ;-). We've got a great video of it all.

Paul and I crashed until the afternoon, when we saw, for lack of a
better description, the tomb raider temple. It was in the movie. Very
cool as they left it in it's natural overgrown state with trees
everywhere and true ruins. If you've played the game uncharted or
uncharted 2 on the ps3 it totally looks like that. My favorite was
this room - the echo room - where if you beat on your chest the sound
resonates offthe walls. Any other noise - clapping, whistling - won't
do this, and it only works in the right location. ID love to
understand the acoustical properties that make that happen.

We managed to catch a second sunset, and this time we indulged and had
some beers. It was perfect.

The only thing we didn't like was all the children trying to sell
thugs. We've decided as a group not to buy anything from them. We
don't wantro support anythig that keeps them out of school. I don't
know ifthats the right thing to do but you can only try.

Just got a massage - my body is aching - and now off to bed to try and
catch the end of the Germany game at around 2-3 am before heading off
at 430 for another sunrise. Hope everyone is getting fuller nights of
sleep, and sorry to hear about the crazy heat wave!

Prices - tuk tuk for the whole day to take you to the main temples -
12 dollars

Angkor wat full colour book, called ancient Angkor - bargained down to
5 dollars

Massage with oil - 10 dollars

Angkor wat pass - 20 for one day, 40 for three days, which you can
take over the course of one week, and 60 for 7 days, which you can do
over the month. We tookthe last one since we'll be here again soon!

20 dollars a day for a tuk tuk to see the distant temples. About 36 mm
away.

5000 riel or just over a dollar for a footlong sub - it's freaking
fantastic.

16 dollars a night for a room for three with air conditioning and free
breakfast.

Great travelling buddies - priceless ;-)
DOCNIC on the go...