Siem Reap

February 17 – In the morning Sam, Pia and Gabe went to floating village, I slept and started another round of Cipro since I’d been feeling poorly for a few days.  We moved to Siem Reap Rooms ($10/night) so we could have our own air-conditioned room in a quieter area of town and after settling in we took a tuktuk to Angkor Wat for sunset.  Gabe had recommended the sunset at Baphun which was really remarkable and not crowded at all.  After a few hours there, we got dropped off in town and walked around pub street, the main bar area in Siem Reap.  For dinner I got a fruit shake for $1 and we tuktuked home for another $1.

February 18 – Woke up at 4am, Mr. Som picked us up at 5am and drove us to Angkor Wat for sunrise.  Way too crowded, as everyone wants to be on the left side of the pond to see the reflection and the waterlilies.  I just stood on the right side most of the morning just so I could have a little space.  Sunrise was nice but nothing absolutely incredible.  Also saw Ta Prohm, Ta Keo and Bayon.  Ta Phrohm is known as the "Tomb Raider" temple and Bayon is incredible with faces carved into massive posts.  Paid Mr. Som $18 total for his 7 hours of work.  Came back and took a four hour nap.  Went into town, got dinner and went to bed early.

February 19 – Woke up again to meet Mr. Som at 5am and headed to Pre Rup for sunrise, which was much better not so much for the view but for the fact that there were only two other groups there which ended up leaving so for an hour we had the place to ourselves.  Headed 30km out of Angkor complex to visit Bantsrai (Lady Temple), which was smaller but had beautiful carvings all over it.  Had a laugh with some local children when Pia took a few photos of them with her Polaroid – such a cool idea to bring that and be able to give the children here pictures of themselves.  Got there at just the right time because as we were leaving all the tour buses started to pull up.

Went back to the hotel and took a nap until Mr. Som picked us up again at 4pm to take us to the sunset at Pre Rup.  Again, we wanted to go somewhere where you didn’t have to fight for a spot and it was lovely watching the sun go down behind these beautiful temples.  Got dropped off in town again and got a Mexican dinner at Viva Viva.  After a bucket of margaritas there, we headed over to Angkor What? Bar for a bucket of long islands.  Had such a fun night drinking and dancing it really made me wish we had a few more nights there.