Siem Reap, Cambodia

Well what was supposed to be a 12 bus ride turned into 18 hours traveling with border crossing, multiple stops and bus switchings. We finally arrived in Siem Reap at 2:30am. Luckily there were tuk-tuk drivers waiting at the bus station to take us to a nearby hotel that had 24 hour reception. It turned out to be a nice hotel with a pool so we decided we would spend all our time here at Temple Villa. After sleeping in, day one was just a relaxing day. We ran a few errands, checked out the town and sat by the pool. The next morning would be our first day of our three day ticket to Angkor Wat so as excited as we were we wanted to get there at sunrise to take in some pretty spectacular views. The first day we did what is known as the outer loop of the Angkor temples. It consisted of 5 temples. After living in a predominantly Buddhist country for year and now traveling in other Buddhist countries I thought I had seen my fair share of temples but boy was I wrong. These temples were built in the 1200's. Of course they have done some conservation to the buildings but they all still looked ancient and majestic. After exploring 5 temples and getting up at 4:30 it was time for a nap! We then went to dinner and shopping through the night market. The night markets are always my favorite with locals selling their hand crafted things or other typical souvenirs. The next day we slept in a bit hoping to catch the sunset at the temples. We explored 5 more temples in the central area of the temple grounds. At one of our stops as we were walking back to our tuk- tuk our driver was flagging us down. As we got closer we noticed that there were 2 monkeys on the backseat of our tuk- tuk. They had stolen my water bottle opened it and were drinking it. There were many monkeys in the area and many babies so although I was robbed by the monkeys they did allow for some great pictures and videos. With the temperature being in the 90's and my water stolen all we could take was a few hours before we needed to leave. Our tuk-tuk driver suggested we go see the floating village so we headed out for Tonle Sap. It is the largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia. It is dry season now so the lake is only 1-2 meters deep right now but in wet season it can rise to 10-11 meters. There are about 3,000 people that live in the floating village. The housing is free as you are living on a boat with no running water. These people make their living by fishing. They are also in charge of the upkeep of their houses such as replacing bamboo and keeping it afloat. There are also floating restaurants, convenient stores, a basketball court, and a school in the village. The school houses 122 orphan children who's parents have been killed in storms or tsunamis while fishing. At the convenient store we bought the school a large bag of rice that is said to feed the children for 3 days. We then got to go play with the children. It was so much fun learning their games and seeing the smiles on their faces. The next morning was our last day at the temples and we had saved the best for last...Angkor Wat. This temple is the largest in the world and I known to have beautiful sunrise views. We of course had to see this so that meant another 4:30 am wake up for us. Waking up early was well worth it as we watched the sunrise over the temple. Words can not explain the beauty but it was simply spectacular. We then did a bit more exploring through other temples until we could no longer take the heat. We then ate lunch and packed up our belongings as we will soon be heading out to Sihanouk, a beach town on the Southern coast of Cambodia. Happy Easter to everyone from Siem Reap! At midnight tonight I will be getting on yet another 12 hour bus ride. This one will fortunately be a sleeper bus again.