Banteay Srei, Preah Khan and Preah Ko

The day after visiting Angkor Thom and Wat, our guide drove us further from Siem Reap to three more temple sites.  We left some of the crowds behind, as bikes and tuk-tuks didn’t venture that far out.  Banteay Srei was our first stop.  While the section below looks like a ruin, it originally had a wooden roof, which has rotted away since the 10th century.

Phnom Penh

Phnom Penh was amazing, but it also had a raw side that we found very challenging.  We had crossed into Cambodia around noon, by boat as the last river leg of our tour of the Mekong river delta, and transferred to a minibus that drove us to Phnom Penh, arriving at 3.  The heat of the day was fading a bit, and we explored the neighborhood around our hotel, which was a block away from the Royal Palace complex.

Angkor Thom, Ta Prohm, and Angkor Wat

Angkor Thom

We spent two full days and two half days in Siem Reap, and spent almost all of that time at the temples in the surrounding countryside.  Angkor Thom is the largest complex we visited, and it was our first stop.

Khmer Dance

While in Siem Reap, we went to see a traditional Khmer dancing group.  We had seen dancing in Bali, and while both were accompanied by a gamelon orchestra, they were quite different, both visually and musically. 

Angkor Wat Sunrise

We got up very, very early to photograph sunrise at Angkor Wat.  Our guide enjoyed photography, and knew where some of the best vantage points were.

Mekong Snapshots

We decided to combine the travel and border crossing between Vietnam and Cambodia with a tour of the Mekong river delta.  Sinh Travel had a very reasonably priced 3 day package that took us from Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam to Phnom Penh in Cambodia, mostly by boat, working our way up the Mekong.  We met some great travelers in the small tour group, and it was both a fun trip, and a practical way to make our way into Cambodia.  Some snapshots from the river:

Postcard: Angkor Wat

Sunrise at Angkor Wat, Cambodia

Postcard: Phnom Penh

The Royal Palace in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

Postcard: Angkor Thom

Angkor Thom, Cambodia

Meals of Asia

The next installment in our meals around the world includes: Bali, Singapore, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, and Thailand.  We had some amazing meals, in Hong Kong and Vietnam in particular.  We were no strangers to Asian cuisine, but were surprised by the difference that local ingredients and regional variations made.  We were also surprised by the variety of delicious, cheap fruit smoothies, and you'll see we had them with most meals.  That may be what we miss most!

Here is the slideshow version:

Angkor Thom, Cambodia

We took about 750 pictures today at Angkor Wat, which makes it impossible to narrow down to just one photo. So here is just the first of many to come. This is one of my favorites from today, though.