Cambodia: It IS the heat...and the humidity

One of these years, we will take a vacation where we relax...this is not that time. We've been non-stop since we arrived here Saturday night, and we wouldn't have it any other way. Siem Reap, which is the home to Angkor Wat (UNESCO World Heritage spot #3 of the trip), is largely driven by tourism and has grown rapidly since about 2003. The airport is the oddest thing. You feel as if you are landing at some hotel, with high ceilings and wooden beams. A visa is necessary to enter the country, but unlike Vietnam, you buy it when you land. This consists of filling out a small form, handing it over to a customs official with $20 and your passport and then watching it go down a line of 16 (yes, we counted) men who stamp various things and look inside your passport. The last man then calls out your name and hands your passport back to you with a visa. Ta-da! Impressively, they pronounced Moira's name correctly. US Customs officials could learn a lesson from this.

The other thing you notice upon landing here is the humidity. You instantly get a dewy sheen on your face...and when you are out walking around in the sun, your clothes start to stick to you pretty quickly. I'm not sure what the temperature is today, but it was 92 degrees with 80% humidity yesterday when we were out traipsing around from 8-5...and I'm guessing pretty similar today. Makes for some sweaty looking pictures with us in them. And this isn't even their warm season. We've heard more than once that it's pretty comfortable now, especially as it gets up to 40 degrees Celsius (104) in summer.

Side note: As travelers to foreign lands, we find ourselves very ignorant of the metric system. We learned it as kids, in anticipation of the US converting to it...but then...nothing. It would definitely make traveling easier as we aren't sure how far 150 meters is (I try to think of swimming pool distance) or how deep 2 meters is (over our heads).

Enough on that...our guide here is Sophea (pronounced So-phere). Like our other guides, he is a very nice and knowledgeable man. He is also short and slight...any of us could probably take him if we wanted...but he's so nice we'd never do that. He is from this area, and married with two children. He has a great knowledge of the temples as well as Cambodia and enjoys telling us about it. There is so much to learn and know that it's almost information overload. We'll gloss over the temple details, other than to say they are incredibly amazing...you can learn more from our pictures at a later date.

We have hit so many places in our two days here...but these are the highlights (and I may have missed some as two of my fellow travelers are getting massages right now and weren't able to contribute too much to this posting):

• Angkor Thom: We rode in by elephants to this. Yes, touristy but it's like riding a camel in Egypt. You gotta do it. Steph and Cindy had an elephant named Kitten. The "drivers" have a little pocket in the back of their shirts that says "tips" and contain a $5, in case you didn't get it with the word tip. It's from around the 12th Century and second only to Angkor Wat in terms of its size and scope. Cool wall carvings (bas reliefs) and faces carved into the temple.
• Ta Prohm: This is a jungle temple and has very dense vegetation around it. There are these huge banyan trees that have grown into and around the walls and roofs. It's quite amazing to see...almost mysterious. They filmed some scenes from Tomb Raider here (note to self: add that to the Netflix queue).
• Angkor Wat: This is the granddaddy of them all. It's the single largest religious monument in the world. It's got everything from sanctuaries to Apsaras (dancing girls, really) to bas-reliefs depicting war scenes to a hall of Buddhas (whose heads have all been stolen) to towers. No way to describe. You'll have to wait for the pictures. Like the other temples, the climb to the top is very steep...a 70 degree angle. This was done so you wouldn't turn your back on the temple when descending (not an issue when you have to walk down sideways to avoid toppling). The wait to go to the top can be up to 1.5 hours but we breezed right through as Sophea timed it well for us (see note below on Asian tourists).
• Phnom Bakheng: This is a hilltop temple that we had to hike up to get to...but provided excellent views all around, including of Angkor Wat. Too bad Steph and Cindy lost all their camera battery juice by the time we got there.
  
• Beny Melea: This is a place further out and not even highlighted in some of the books. Like Ta Prohm, it is more of a jungle temple with lush surroundings. But it's not as restored as the others. To do so would require more time than it did to build it. There were two French Brothers who shot a documentary here (forget the name right now) and they built steps to get around it more easily. The government asked them if they could stay after they left, which makes it easier for everyone to visit now.
• Artisan's Village d'Angkor: This is a place where disabled, orphans, poor, etc are taught a trade in things like wood carving, stone carving, silk weaving, etc. We got a tour of the school and then went to town in the shop. Not too much detail on this as some of you may be receiving gifts.
• Sunset "cruise"on Tonele Sap, the largest fresh water lake in Asia: This basically was a water taxi ride out through floating villages of Vietnamese and Cambodian families to a large boat where we had cocktails and dinner while watching the sunset. Other than us, there was one guy from the US who is working in Vietnam and our guide. The big boat never left where it was anchored...which was probably a good thing as it didn't look too sea-worthy (or lake-worthy).

That was a lot in a 48 hour period...and doesn't even cover it all. Here are the fun things we learned and other things we did:

• Cambodia is a small country: 14 million people.
  
• They get 28 national holidays including the King's birthday. I did have to explain Thanksgiving to Sophea though.
• Sophea is married with two daughters. Kids here go to school 6 days a week (half day on Thursday).
• Couples still consult fortune tellers for the best day that they should get married, given their signs. Sophea asked for a second best day after he was told to get married on a Thursday. Luckily for him the second best day was Saturday.
  
• Our hotel, the Residence d'Angkor is a beautiful oasis, with soothing music, ceiling fans, gorgeous wood, candles at night, and an amazing fresh water pool.
• Each night, the hotel leaves us a gift. The first night it was Monkey Balm which cures all ills from bugbites to stiff necks. The second night was pepper. And the third night was a gorgeous fan.
• Much to Cindy's dismay, there are monkeys at Angkor Wat. We saw a baboon right when we drove in. This irrational fear of monkeys is likely a result of the Wizard of Oz.
  
• Asian tourists are very loud and travel in packs. There are a lot of Thai and Vietnamese here, as well as South Koreans and the ever-present Japanese.
• The best time to visit the crowded sites is between 12-3, even though it's the hottest, because that is when all the Asian tourists go to lunch and siesta. We avoided long lines at Angkor Wat with this approach.
• There are a lot of parallels between the temples here, the pyramids of Egypt, the ruins in Peru and the Moai of Easter Island. All kings and rulers wanted some type of monuments before they died. And also, the way each put the stones together and transported heavy stones is a little mysterious.
• Tomb Raider is more than a movie...it is Lallande's new favorite drink, consisting of Couintreau, lime juice and tonic. If you buy nine at the Red Piano, the 10th is free. Lallande didn't get that far but intends to experiment with the ingredients at home until she gets the right mix.
• Women and children are at all the entrances and exits to the temples trying to get you to buy postcards, books, scarves, etc. They say "Dollar madam" so much I am hearing it in my sleep.
  
• While there are a lot of motorbikes here, it isn't as crazy as Vietnam. Helmets just became compulsory (as Sophea says) a couple of years ago...but only for drivers. So you will see a family of four with only the driver wearing a helmet.
  
• Outside of the immediate city area, homes are traditional stilt houses. Many of them have what look like scarecrows outside (elaborately dressed, some with guns), to ward off evil spirits. Sophea said a lot of families added these during the swine flu scares (not to worry...it's not a problem here). There are also a lot of homes with signs saying what NGO donated their water tank.
• The average life expectancy in the floating villages is 54, but they are working to improve that. The villages have karaoke, schools, churches, etc. There is a basketball court that can float to people's homes for things like parties. And so many families have TVs. They have to charge batteries every three days.
  
• Sticky rice, purchased by the side of the road, and made in bamboo is divine. And costs only 50 cents.
  
• You can get a very nice 60 minute massage at a nice spa (Bodia) for only $24.
• You can also get...although none of us have...a 15 pedicure from Dr. Fish. This consists of dangling your feet in a tank while fish nibble on the skin.
  
• There are 4,000 riel (Cambodian currency) to the dollar. But we don't have to worry about this as everyone wants dollars and the ATMs dispense it.
  

Two more things about Vietnam before I sign off...first, it must have been a lingering jetlag thing but I called our favorite guide Kiep throughout the last blog. His name was Kiet. Not sure why I hit p instead of t. Also, I was reminded by the peanut gallery that I didn't include the rules of the road in Vietnam. They beep all the time. Kiet and our driver told us "Beep beep means Ï'm on the left. Beep beep means I'm on the right. Beep Beep means...I'm very angry!"

We've got an early wake up call tomorrow for a tuk tuk ride to Angkor Wat to see the sunrise...after that it's on to Laos, and Luang Prabang. More from there...