siem reaper

Amy and I just spent a great week in Siem Reap, Cambodia!

Our luck has been really good on our travels because we just happened to arrive on the first day of Siem Reap's annual water festival (which is a big deal). On the first day, we watched river boats jammed with 20+ rowers race and I even got a rudimentary Khmer (the language of Cambodia) lesson from a really nice old man. Amy chatted it up in French with another old guy who knew how to speak French from the occupation, had lost all his children to the Khmer Rouge, but somehow retained a hopeful and kind demeanor. On the second day, we got to launch candle lit boats down the Siem Reap river with some local kids (romantical :). The boat races span the festival, but on the third and final day the teams are judged and a ceremony is held. That was neat to watch, but the kicker was the fireworks. I've never heard Amy jump in fear and respond like such a little girl (many Combodians were chuckling at her). It was a bit dicey at one point when a large firework went off course towards the crowds.

The main attraction are the ancient remains of the Khmer empire which we really enjoyed visiting over a 5 day period. We're working on uploading the pictures. As you pull up to each temple there are a slew of souvenir stalls packed with shirts, faux mini temples, food, etc. The owners are really aggressive and many of them come running up to you at once as you pull into the temple parking lot. They are very loud and encroach your private space. Worse yet are the loud child hawkers who are missing school to give you the hard sell on bracelets, the same fake mini temples, etc. I feel really bad for these people, as they would clearly be earning a living differently if given the choice. At the same time, they are really friggin annoying and diminish the spiritual atmosphere of the temples. The downtown portion of Siem Reap is relatively quiet and clean (by Asian standards anyway) that is almost entirely driven by tourism. You can't walk 10 feet without tuk-tuk (motorcycle-drawn carriage) drivers asking "Tuk-tuk?". If you're travelling as a couple, they will ask the first person, then upon being rejected will proceed to ask their spouse. I have the same sentiment as with the hawkers; they are earning a living (which I appreciate), but they are crossing many boundaries. So why waste the (digital) ink to write about them? Because they are the perfect premise for a first person shooter game! Amy and I designed portions of the game over a pitcher of beer. While walking the streets of Siem Reap, you could obliterate the tuk-tuk drivers. When entering or leaving the serenity of a temple, you can gun down the hawkers one by one, or en masse with larger artillery. Khmer massages increase your life force; being haggled decreases it. The permutations are endless.

laos

we're in laos now! luang prabang to be exact. we were sad to leave cambodia, as we only saw a very, very small part of the country.

we want to say happy birthday to all the november birthdays. there are a lot of you out there! gae, elijah, stephanie, barbara, ginny, wei, lauren, denise....i'm sure there are more, so sorry if i forgot anyone!

and happy anniversary to rich and gae! i know we're early on that one, but as long as we're celebrating....

after a tasty breakfast of traditional beef stew at the soup dragon (thanks for the recommendation, daniela!) we checked out of our hotel and took a tuk-tuk (motorcycle-drawn carriage) to the airport. it's so much fun to travel in such style! the siem reap airport is so nice and clean and small and manageable. our flight was very quick and easy. the luang prabang airport was even smaller and we had no problem getting a taxi into town.

this city is nothing like any of the other places we've been in asia. it is an interesting mix between colonial europe and a slightly modern southeast asian city. it's very clean. people so far seem to be very nice. it has some beautiful architecture and a lot of pagodas. we've only been here for the afternoon, so i'm sure there's a lot more to see and do. we walked around for a bit, grabbed some dinner. we're excited to see what this town has to offer!

hope you are all doing well!