CAMBODIA

Cambodia was wonderful! I loved everything about it. Rick, Caitlyn and I took a 3 day trip. W had 2 days of sight seeing. This one of my favorite places in Asia. Siem Reap has only been open/safe for tourists for about 10 years. They have about 115 hotels and a “downtown” market area and Pub Street. What they have accomplished in the past ten years is commendable compared to many of their surrounding neighbors. The Khmer Rouge and Pol Pot basically decimated this country. You can see the strength of spirit & determination in these people. They were lovely!! Literally and figuratively.

The temples are amazing and I predict in the next 10-20 years tourists will not be able to see, walk & climb where we went. There are several nations that are helping the Cambodians preserve these wonderful temples. Eventually for preservations sake I don’t think people will be allowed to get as close as we did.



My impressions were; the airport is nice, clean and modern. Transportation is cheap; it’s cost $10 USD to get to and from the airport and $1 per person to ride on a “tuk-tuk” around town. We were able to take a “tuk-tuk” from our hotel into the market area for dinner and shopping. Although they have their own currency they prefer U.S. dollars so that made it really easy. Shopping was cheap and they had interesting items to sell; silk scarves, art-work, jewelry, clothing, etc. Cambodians must love dogs because they were everywhere. All the dogs we saw were lying in the sun sleeping! The people were beautiful, sweet and friendly. The children were endearing. I had taken some small toys and candy to hand out. Most of the children were so appreciative bowing and saying “Thank You”. Very sweet!! There were some beggers…..mostly children; I had been warned about this. Mostly they just wanted to sell you something around the temple area.

The first day we toured 4 main temples and watched the sunset from atop one f them. There were monks all over the Angkor Wat area. We even saw young boy monk. He was interested in getting some children to play with him. We also saw Aspara traditional dancers at our hotel. There are many carvings of Aspara dancers at the temples.

The 2nd day we went on a boat ride on the largest fresh water lake in Southeast Asia. Wow! Most of these people were Vietnamese who had moved to Cambodia. It was apparent the Cambodians did not like them. They were very poor people living on boats in floating villages. They had a church, school, basketball court & restaurants all floating in the water. This is where we experienced the most beggars. The children would come up to you in little metal tubs and beg for 1US dollar. Some would get visible upset and shout if you didn’t give them money. I gave them my candy & toys. The people did everything on the water; repaired boats, planted flowers, kept pigs and chickens, had dogs as pets. It was so interesting how they lived in floating villages.

After that we toured a school for the deaf. The students were taught trades so they could make a living. We also visited a museum; saw the royal place and a temple dedicated to the Cambodian people whom lost their lives at the hands of the Khmer Rouge. During our visit we saw the visible effects of the landmines that were left behind. Many people are missing legs or arms.

Both nights we took a tuk-tuk to Pub Street and ate Mexican food. If you know my family you know they LOVE Mexican food and can sniff it out anywhere we go. We’ve had great Mexican food in Japan and now in Cambodia! It was a wonderful trip and we had some quality time with Caitlyn. I’m learning as my children are growing up we are spending less time with them but when we are together we are spending quality time and making great memories