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!