South East Asia, Cambodia

Last view of Vientiane hotel lobby as we get ready to leave for Cambodia.

We say good-bye to Souk 9:58

Phnom Penh airport.

We meet our local guide for Cambodia. Her name is Ling Er...we just call her Ling.

A map of Cambodia 1:41

On our bus 1:45

A view of the modern city from our bus. 2:19

Katari Hotel -Phnom Penh where we stay for 2 nights.

Hotel lobby. 2:52

Our room. 3:01

A view of Phnom Penh from our hotel room.

View from a second window facing a different direction. 3:16

Linda W and Emerson before we head for dinner. 5:31

A restaurant next to the Mekong river. 5:51

A view of the Mekong from Kroeung Garden restaurant where we had dinner. 7:06

We stroll along the river. 7:30

Stolling further, we pass by part of the Royal Palace.

We viewed but did not partake in any of this protein (some of it alive and squirming!). 7:46

The most unusual food booth we saw on our trip. 7:47

Roni thanking me for this Harvey Walbanger reunion! 8:17

A view of Phnom Penh from rooftop sky bar. 9:01

The ladies sharing a drink in the sky bar. 9:01

We visit The Killing Fields in the morning.

The raised path through the burial sites. 9:03

"Magic Tree" - Loudspeakers were mounted on the tree to drown out the moans of victims being executed. 9:12

Depressions in the ground reveal locations of the mass graves that were found. 9:12

Location of a mass grave where more than 100 naked women and children were found. 9:14

An example of one tool used in the killings. Why did this happen? There is no good answer though some have compared it to the China's Great Leap Forward. Pol Pot never appologized. 9:23

Some of the recovered bones.

The memorial stupa at the Choeung Ek killing field. 9:25

Yes, show respect. 9:27

A memorial statue of a mother and child. 9:42

Inside the stupa, it's the same on all four sides.

There were about 1.7 million victims (about 25% of Cambodia's population at the time) of the 1975-79 genocide led by Pol Pot and his Khmer Rouge.

Later that morning we visit Tuol Sleng Prison Museum.

The Tuol Sleng Prison Museum is the memorial site of the S-21 interrogation and detention center of the Khmer Rouge regime. The Khmer Rouge converted a secondary school into this prison. 11:03

Old classrooms were converted into prison cells.

The cells were very tiny.

One man's story. One of only 12 survivors of an estimated 20,000 from this one of 150-190 torture and execution centers.

This man points to himself in both photos. He's the younger of two brothers who survived the war. We meet his older brother next. 11:28

We meet the older brother and another woman who talk to our group through our tour leader, Ling, about their lives during the period where Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge brutally killed so many of their own people for no reason.

Linda and Emerson with older brother. 12:23.

Phnom Penh street scene. 12:33.

Independence Monument. 12:40.

Lunch. Roni with napkins rosette. 12:24.

Our menu 1:12

Hotel lobby 3:09

Some of our group wait in hotel lobby before heading out again. 3:21

We go to the Champey Academy of Arts

Champey Academy student musical 3:44

Student dancers put on a performance at Champey Academy of Arts. 4:00

We participated in a dance 4:15.

After the musical, we head next door to meet some of the Champey Academy art students 4:20

Here's one art student working meticulously. 4:21

Later we board tuk-tuks for a city tour. Pointing and waving at us are Don, Judy and Nancy. 6:10

Our tuk-tuks drive by the central market area. 6:16

That evening we go to the Elephant Bar at Raffles Hotel Le Royal. 6:38

Linda has a Femme Fatale 6:54

Toasting our Femme Fatales (Linda W., Linda D. and Ladonna) 6:52

A famous visitor who drank a Femme Fatale. The hotel kept the lipstick stained glass she drank it from! (note the ingredients: Champagne, Cognac, and Creme De Frasie Sauvage) 7:15

Judy gets friendly help from a staff member at Raffles. They treated us royally. 8:29

Snapping a photo of the pretty Raffles Hotel Le Royal as we head back to our own hotel. 8:31

Linda and Emerson decide to take a short ride from the hotel to this park area on our last night. The statue is of Norodom Sihanouk

We asked our friendly taxi driver to snap our photo. 9:20

We check out this morning. 7:23

One more look around before we head out. 7:23

We have coffee just down the street at Brown Coffee and Bakery. 7:36

We drive to Seim Reap and meet our new local guide-Nin.

Our bus pulls over so Nin can make a purchase at a small roadside stand. 9:49

It's a lotus plant (and another "Learning and Discovery" moment!). 9:50

Nin talks to us about Lotus plant fruit which is used as a snack.

The Lotus plant's fiber is a type of silk and Wikipedia says its one of the most expensive fabrics in the world!

Tarantula figures in front of this store provide a hint of our next learning and discovery.10:06

Here we stop to learn about tarantulas. Ladonna, Roni, Johannes and Emerson pictured here. 10:10

The tarantula pee'd on Emerson. 10:20

Tarantulas on Linda.

Tarantulas crawling on Linda. You could feel the hard sharp end of there legs through the fabric.

There was a wooded area behind the house where the lady found a tarantula in its burrow.

We learn about the harvesting of tarantulas. Only one tarantula lives per hole. This woman coaxes one out of this one! 10:22

She shows us a male tarantula and it's fangs! 10:25

These cute local boys followed us around. 10:30

She demonstrates how to press on the heart to kill the tarantula. 10:32.

Next she demonstrates how to cook them. 10:33.

Tarantulas being fried in a little oil and a little garlic. 10:36

A plate of cooked and spiced tarantulas for our enjoyment.

Nim demonstates eating it in two bites! 10:44.

Ladonna tries it next. 10:45.

Then Linda - here goes! 10:45

A better meal at our lunch stop which is located by a small lake. 12:54

Linda and Emerson on a swing behind the restaurant. 1:37

We have another "off the bus" learning and discovery". This lady is making a snack food. There were several of these operations in an area along the road. 2:11

Both she and the machines are in motion.

A view of the snack. A customer stopped by and picked up a bag while we were there. We also got a chance to sample some and it tasted good.

We're approaching Seim Reep and we stop for a look at a 900 year old bridge just outside of town. When Tri and his uncle tried to flee Vietnam they were captured at Seim Reep and thrown into prison.

Near the old bridge we find some interesing trees. This one is a jackfruit tree. 3:18

And this is a sapodilla tree. 3:18.

A look down the bridge. Our bus had to go around the bridge due to weight limitations. 3:26

Young men playing sackie ball in the Royal Independence Gardens as we arrive in the town of Siem Reep. 4:40.

We see many bats hanging upside down in these trees in the Independence Gardens. 4:41.

A typical scene.

Outside our Angkor Paradise Hotel in Siem Reep. 5:02

Our room

Balcony

Dinner at the hotel. Grilled mushroom salad.

Her's our western set menu. 7:48

We head out the next day with our first stop to take a closer look at a rice field. 8:29

Our next stop a village neighborhood where we are taken for buffalo drawn cart rides. 8:45

Nothing like riding in comfort.

A nice home along our route. 8:59

Linda snaps this photo of the cart behind ours. 9:02

This modest house on stilts was in need of some grass siding repair and one member of group, Nancy, gererously donated some cash to help the homeowner. 9:11

We approach Chong Kneas Ferry docks. 10:03

From there we take a boat excursion on Tonie Sap Lake to visit Chong Kneas, a floating village of homes where the villagers take boats or water taxis to church, stores or school. Here is a floating church. During the monsoon the lake water rises substantially.

This boat is similar to the one we're cruising.

These stick structures are used to anchor the buildings.

A tiny anchored "store" selling ice.

A larger floating store.

Floating primary school.

Peaceful cruise on our tour boat allows some to cat nap! 10:51

Some of the homes in this area are anchored to land but are on stilts to handle the monsoon floods while other homes are designed to float up. Also, some are disassembled and moved to higher ground during the monsoon. 11:58

We head inside the home pictured above and meet and chat with members of the family that live there.

We have lunch after we leave the village. Our "set" lunch menu includes Amok fish which is traditional dish found in this area. Later on in the trip Linda finds some amok curry mix at a market to attempt making this dish at home. 12:32

Finished with lunch. We head back to our hotel where we have a break and Linda has a swim in the hotel's pool. 1:14

Linda and crew visit the first of several ancient temple sites. This is Ta Prohm which was left the way it was found (unlike Ankor Wat). Emerson took a break as he had a head cold.

Ta Prohm temple is covered by a dense jungle of trees and roots, allowing us to discover this archeaological treasure just the way it was found by the French in the mid-1800s. 4:14

Ta Prohm temple 4:28

This site whose strangler fig trees roots seemingly drip down over Ta Prohm's temple is most famous for its appearance in the Lara Croft: Tomb Raider movies. 4:32

LaDonna and Linda at Ta Prohm temple. 4:37

Ta Prohm temple has been left the way it was found. 4:46

Another structure with strangler tree.

We exit Ta Prohm temple through the west gate. 5:06

The trees are so intertwined with the structure that they help hold it up and would cause problems if they were removed. 4:29

We visit yet another Raffles Elephant Bar for Martini Night. (Emerson's feeling better!)

The Raffles hotel in Siem Reep. 8:51

The breakfast area in the Angkor Paradise Hotel. 7:26

Our tickets for Ankor Wat.

Moat around Ankor Wat 8:17

A map of the temple.

Ankor Wat 8:44

Ankor Wat - a Hindu-Buddhist temple complex originally constructed in 1150 CE, this is the place that a lot of people take this trip to see. 8:42

Inside Ankor Wat 9:44

The walls at Angkor Wat tell many stories. 9:53

The steps to get to the inside section were pretty steep. They would only allow so many to go inside at any one time.

People waiting to go to the upper section. 10:23

A monk visiting the temple.

Linda and LaDonna inside Angkor Wat.

A reclining Buddha.

A view toward the front entrance.

Inside the temple.

Lots of people still coming in. 11:14

A view from across the pond. 11:22

Monkeys grooming a baby as we were leaving.

Some cute kids 11:30

Floating bridge made of rubber/plastic? We use this to walk back over the moat as we leave. 11:36

Lunch 12:22

Finished lunch 12:22

As we head to our afternoon visit to "Oh Another Temple" (OAT joke!), Nin explains construction techniques of the use of holes in the blocks and how the blocks were smoothed out to fit tightly together.

We approach Angkor Thom which is a short distance from Angkor Wat.

Ankor Thom translates to "Great City" and was the last capital of the Khmer Empire. Located less that a kilometer north of the more famous Angkor Wat, it was designed with remarkable symmetry, incorporating elements of Buddhist and Hindu mythology.

Massive stone faces are believed to represent the king himself (or the Hindu god Brahma).

One of the faces.

More of Angkor Thom.

Nin points to one of the many carved scenes.

Here's another.

Pregnancy explained. 4:19

Nim describes how to differentiate between Chinese vs Cambodian depictions.

Bayon Temple is the central monument in Angkor Thom. The roads from the four gates intersect at the Bayon. 4:29

Angles 4:21

Modesty 4:40

Ankor Thom south gate is perhaps the most popular of the gates since it connects Angkor Wat to Bayon. 5:14

Our bus takes us back to Angkor Wat for the Sunset view of this famous temple and our last glimpse of it this trip. Nim passes out treats while we wait and enjoy. 5:39

That evening we dine at the lovely 2nd floor of the Sokkhak River Lounge Restaurant. That's Nancy admiring the hanging ferns. 9:32pm

We say goodbye to our room in Siem Reep. We're heading to Vietnam this afternoon, but first lunch and a visit to a museum. 11:09

Lunch 12:35

Angkor National Museum 1:17

Inside the Angkor National Museum.

The gallery of 1,000 Buddha images.

Fortune telling.

The bamboo leaves used for fortune telling. Only certain people could read them.

So many Buddhas.

Sitting Buddhas protected by Naga. Naga is a symbol of identity, origin, and spiritual protection in the Khmer culture. 1:50

Museum lobby stairs 2:39

Bodhisattva Lokesvara. 4 arms 12th century. 2:41

Tom and Emerson look inspect the relief map of Ankor Wat. 2:46

Heading to the airport we spy these cows in a cart. 3:20

Airport entrance. 3:56

The pretty airport as we get ready to leave Cambodia for Vietnam. Unfortunately Richard had his passport flagged as not having enough empty pages. He had it renewed on an emergency basis at the U.S. embassy but now it didn't match his visa to get into Vietnam. He had to fly home.

Cambodian Riel (KHR) to the USD 4,012