Siem Reap and Angkor Wat

As soon as I arrived at the Siem Reap airport, I felt like I was on a island vacation... reminded me of Hawaii. The airport itself was so beautiful with tropical flowers and lots of trees everywhere. Once we got our visas, we met our driver after leaving customs. He seemed like a nice guy..sometimes dificult to understand. They took us to our hotel, StuengSiemReap and after checking in, we thought to check out a Indian restaurant. The food was okay at this place (the entrees were $1!!) but the service sucked. We went on our firt tour of Angkor. We saw Temple Bayon, ElephantTerrace, Baphoun, Royal Palace and Peakers. Some of the steps at these temples are SUPER steep and was somewhat difficult climbing to the top. We also climebed on top of Brkheang mountain to see the sunset which was beautiful! We could have rode an elephant to the top but decided to skip that. The sunset brought the tour to an end and we retired to our hotel. A little tired and sore...so, we super indulged and decided to get a 2 hour oil massage. And, these women came to our hotel room and did this!! What was hiliarous was that I got bored after 1 hour and Priya wanted to get another hour. We were ready for a little bit of a night out and decided to explore to see where we can eat for dinner. We came across this alley accidentally where there were many restaurants (this alley reminded me of Europe) and agreed to eat at this Khmer restaurant. This alley and restaurant were so cute, quaint and full of energy. Little did we know that there was a bit of a nightlife in Siem Reap. Our meal was delicious! My favorite dish was the Papaya salad...we took a stroll after dinner and the night seemed young at 11pm. But, we decided to call it a night as our driver was going to pick us up at 7am the next morning.
I like our hotel rooms (the one in Siem Reap and also the one in Saigon) but the one thing we haven't figured out is how to remove the hotel key and still keep the AC going with the lights turned off! Last night, we slept with no AC or fan. It wasn't too bad but I hate sleeping like that!! I haven't been able to sleep much and woke up at 5am. We had breakfast at the hotel... I love the papaya and pineapple here. AKB - I am trying to cut out carbs but it is hard. Today, we started our tour at7;30am and it was SO pleasant. We walked on the outskirst of Angkor Wat and walked into to the gate. Angkor Wat is surrouned by a man made moat where there used to be alligators! Angkor is amazing. It is a little difficult to describe but will show pictures later. The Ramayana and Mahabaratha are described on the walls in statues carved out of the wall. It felt so peaceful, pleasant and beautiful. I felt as if I could spend a week here..in this relaxed setting. Another items of note are that we saw Taphrom where Tomb Raider (with Angelina Jolie) was filmed!! We also ran into India's Minister of Irrigation, his wife and his little entourage. Almost all of these temples are being funded by different countries to be reconstructed. India is funding this temple, the Taphrom. Within this temple, you see several banyan trees with the LARGE roots that have wrapped themselves around the temple walls. Kind of crazy and cool. While we were taking picture, I met the Ambassador of India to Cambodia...who was explaining how the Minister is visiting and how (after I told him I am from the United States) his 2 kids also live in the U.S. - one lives in Albany and another in Troy. How funny! Anyone who is Indian has someone living in the States. The tour was beginning to end..visiting a few more temples ( i was a little templed out by then), we also visited a pagoda to see the remains of the people killed in the Khmer Rouge...which was really sad and disturbing. More thoughts on this later. We came to the hotel and P and I had lunch at this restaurant called, Champey...which was again was delicious! My favorite again was a salad called Palm Hearts and Green Mango salad. SO GOOD. We will be leaving for the airport in a half an hour to go back to Saigon. One last thing before I leave is that P has found her calling in Siem Reap (maybe all of Cambodia, if I can speak for the entire country)... people think she is a goddess here! My tour guide was drooling over her calling her a movie star, so beautiful and then telling us that all the Cambodian women and men were looking at her because she is so beautiful! My tour guide thinks she can be a movie star here!

Guest blogger, Chipmunk in the City: Getting Ready for India Is NOT a Chore-Really!

Today we have a special treat--a guest blog from our very special guest Blogger, Chipmunk in the City. Without further ado (or time spent on introductions) here it is:

So in about 19 hours I board a 15 hour flight for India. This would not be notable given my history of flight in the past three years except that:
1. Flu-like symptoms are showing up
2. I will have to miss my sat morning bball game because of it
3. I don't have shoes to match my Indian clothes

Here's what I am doing about it:
1. Taking Tamiflu in the vain hope that I will have the benefit of reducing my flu symptoms for more than the 1.5 days that 30% of people expereince
2. Playing bball anyway
3. Punting on the shoes. Will get to it in India!

That's it for now. More philosophical musings will follow in future posts!

-CintheC

Angkor Wat, Year of the Rat and Hanoi

I wonder if the spirits and the universe align with your thoughts or maybe, you just become more in tune with the specific things going on around you. I am wondering because as I think about trip to Cambodia and Vietnam,which is coming up in 5 days, there was an article in WSJ about Angkor Wat (see picture), another WSJ article about eating rats and a NPR piece on real estate in Vietnam. Angkor Wat in Cambodia is a world heritage site that was built in the 12th century built for King King Suryavarman II as his state temple and capital city. This is considered to be the reserved temple at the site, it was first Hindu (dedicated to Vishnu) and then Buddhist (no one is completely sure what happened to the Hindu idols). This temple has become a symbol of Cambodia, appearing on its national flag.

Another article (which was forwarded to me by my traveling buddy)in the in WSJ was about the Year of the Rat in the WSJ: "According to the Chinese calendar, the Year of the Rat begins tomorrow. But here it may have started sooner: Unexpected changes in Vietnam's food chain and diet have sparked a rodent-eating bonanza." As the article states, the flare-ups of bird flu claimed many lives and rat eating became more popular! Other items seen on menus are snakes, cats (known as little tigers on the menu)and the rats that end up on menus are actually field rats not the ones in the sewers which is what I think of when I think of a rat... What was great about this article is that not only did it describe the situation but it also provided some tasty recipes for those of us interested in trying this out!

On a completely different note, NPR did a piece about real estate in Vietnam, predominantly the larger cities such as Hanoi and Saigon. A woman in Hanoi was interviewed and her story was that she bought her 2 bedroom / 2 bath condo for about $92K at the resistance of her husband 3 years ago...now, this is worth 3x as much, to which she remarked, "Now, my husband is happy that I insisted that we buy this place!" I am not sure what was more interesting for me, the economical growth in Vietnam or the dyanmics between this couple which seemed liked couples everywhere...where things are better off when you listen to the woman! JK.

Dilemma in the AM

Take the train or drive? Almost every day it is the same story, should I take the train, which makes the commute 2 hours or just drive, which is about 1 hour. Taking the train is social and relaxing, and I feel good that I am being environmentally conscious whereas with driving (sometimes I wonder how I make it home alive as there have been many occassions where I am sleeping and driving), I can catch on the latest news on NPR and gossip, listen to music and catch up with friends on the phone...although there are many times where I am falling asleep and driving. Haven't fully figured out the best way to manage this, it probably is better to just get a job in the city!

Who am I trying to impress by starting a blog?

I think it is Bobbe.

Up and Coming

Up and coming is my trip to Vietnam and Cambodia with some girlfriends. We decided to make this a very easy trip by organizing it with a tour company. I don't usually like doing tours because it is structured but the thought of having everything taken care of from the time we step off the plane until we get back on it feels like a vacation. Looking forward to an escape filled with sun and adventure!