Hello lady...

Hello lady...you want water, lady?
You buy 10 postcards one dollar lady?
You buy bracelets?
Cold drink?

Agh! So Angkor Wat was awesome, despite all the women and children hawking various things and pretty much attacking the tourists at every chance they got. As I may have mentioned, Angkor Wat is a series of ancient (1100 ish) temples that are a major tourist destination in this part of the world. Yesterday I visited Bayon, Baphuon, and some of the other large ones and they were breathtaking as expected. I hired a tuk tuk driver ("S'na") who took me around to them from about 9-3. I learned that the ancient Khmer empire, which was when these temples were built, was actually Hindu, not Buddhist.

Later on in the day I wandered around the market and ate at one of the little stands - yum. Some kind of noodles, veggies, and an egg on top. I don't think they were rice noodles though. Soon after I met an American guy who's backpacking solo and we almost coordinated our plans for today but then it didn't work out. He lost his job and so decided to backpack for a while. He's in his 3rd month and plans on doing this for up to 2 years. I'm slightly jealous.

Then last night, I got my first (there will definitely be more!) massage. A full hour - in air cond - for $7 and it's only going to get cheaper. It was wonderful! Afterwards I had a headache from being in the sun all day and I'm still jet lagged, so I went to bed at 8. The heat is pretty intense actually - much hotter than I expected. It must've been 90 something trekking around those ruins yesterday. It's so hot even I don't mind a cold shower and that's rare.

This morning I had S'na come and pick me up at 5 am and we headed to Angkor Wat - the largest ruins - for sunrise. Me and seriously at least 500 other tourists. There are a lot of Germans here for some reason. There's all these Cambodian tour guides who speak German. I've also heard Spanish, French (of course, it used to be a French colony), and Korean. There are lots of Asian tourists but I'm not totally sure if they're mostly Korean or Japanese. So anyway, the sunrise was awesome and I got some great photos. I don't think I'll post them now b/c this internet connection is sucky. Afterwards, I asked S'na if I could meet his wife and son, so he took me to his house. I think I enjoyed that just as much as seeing the temples. He rents a small room for his family of 3 for $30/month. I didn't stay for too long because I had to catch my bus to Phnom Penh.

I got the 9:30 bus and just arrived at Phnom Penh around 3:30 (Monday). It was really nice to sit in air cond and see the villages along the way. At one point a Cambodian woman and her baby sat next to me and we tried talking to each other a little bit, but it was difficult. The Lonely Planet guide only gives like 30 or so words in each language. The only Khmer words I've got down are for hello (Suas dei) and thank you (ah kohn). So that was a little bit frustrating b/c those are the moments I like the best. For Vietnam I'm definitely buying a dictionary - especially for visiting H'Lem's daughter. There were also some interesting travelers on the bus. First, a family of 4 (with two kids 8 and 12) from Denmark who are traveling for 11 weeks and a couple from Sweden who are traveling for 4 months. I had a few "Oh you poor Americans" conversations today. "Only 4 weeks! How can that be?"

I've got a couple other interesting things for now. First, it seems as though some healthcare agency heavily distributed face masks to combat H1N1 and the Cambodians have discovered they work well for when they're riding their motorcycles so they don't breathe in the dust. So it's hilarious - everywhere you go, people are wearing those masks! Another thought - like some of the other countries I've been to, the disparity between the rich and poor never ceases to amaze me. I know it's really bad in the U.S., but it's really bad in other places too, such as here. There are frequently "shacks"next to luxary hotels...though of course, they're creating those luxary shacks to try to cater to western tourists. Sigh. The whole thing makes me really uncomfortable. Even though the temples were cool, I really felt awkward the whole time in Siem Reap b/c the locals keep treating all the foreigners like royalty. I'd much prefer to get a feel for how the real people live.

Well, I just checked into my hotel in Phnom Penh (mom, it's Royal Guesthouse, 218026, speaking of feeling like "royalty"!). I met an Austrian backpacker who's also traveling solo, so maybe I'll see if he wants to get dinner. I'm going to hang out here for 2 days and then take the bus to Saigon. I was thinking of flying but it's $170 and the bus is only $10 and a 6 hour ride. Not bad at all!

Lastly, mom, I decided NOT to get a SIM card for Cambodia. The minimum they sell is $5 and the guy told me that would last me a whole month in Cambodia. So I'm going to wait until I get to Vietnam since I'm planning on being there much longer.

That's it for now. Keep those comments coming!