Last Leg Home (from Cambodia to China)

(January 2014 Cambodia to China)

This entire post is written today...so sorry if the details are lacking. 

We rode our tuk tuk to the airport, gave our driver all of our small change and went through security. Everything went really smoothly and without a problem. We got through all the lines quickly and were at our gate in no time. The travel plan was: fly from Phnom Penh to Hong Kong: our flight left Phnom Penh at 11:50 am, which was lovely because we didn't have to rush and we could sleep in after our long late bus ride. The flight was about 4 hours long. Then, switch planes, fly from HK to Shanghai. We had a 2 hour layover in Hong Kong, so Peter would have time to stretch and play before we got on the second flight. Once in Shanghai we would have to get from the airport to the train station via metro, train from Shanghai to Nanjing, and then walk home from the train station (about a 20 min walk). Our flight was going to get into Shanghai around 7:30pm, so we would still have a couple of train options to catch. Excellent plan....but... twas only a plan. 

Cambodia Airport Entrance

Tuk Tuk entrance sign

The problem arose in Hong Kong, where our flight to Shanghai got delayed about an hour or two. Luckily, Peter had a great time playing in the kids area and we all got a good break. Everyone in the airport loved him. My favorite reaction though came from a man who was walking near Peter. Peter was only a year old at this point and although he could walk, he would still fall down sometimes. Well, Peter fell back on his bum as this man was walking behind him and the man lunged to try to catch him before he fell. Jonathan and I were nearby and didn't even flinch. Haha. Peter fell and then just got back up and started walking again. The man seemed confused and I just laughed inside. 

Anyway, our delayed flight meant that we got into Shanghai later in the night than we were expecting- I think around 9 pm instead of 7:30 pm. Then we had to get on the metro and take an hour ride to the train station. We got to the train station around 10pm only to learn that there were no seats open on any trains headed to Nanjing that night. What?!!! This was a problem.  A huge problem. If it was just me and Jonathan, we could sleep at the train station. It wouldn't be awesome, but it was possible, but add Peter in the mix. No way. He was already being crazy from traveling all day. Also, we didn't know Shanghai well enough to find a hotel for the night.

But, there are two train stations in Shanghai that train to Nanjing, so Leigh called the other station and they said they had a couple of slow trains headed to Nanjing at 11pm. So, we had about an hour to get from one station to the other, buy tickets and make it on the train. Let's just say, there was a decent amount of running like mad people while trying to navigate metro stops we'd never seen before and a metro line we weren't familiar with. We had to switch lines at least once...maybe twice. Whenever we were on the metro car, we'd try to come up with an alternative in case we didn't catch the last trains out of Shanghai. We figured, at least we were in a country where two people in our group were fluent with the language, so if we did get stranded, Jonathan and Leigh could work something out.

Anyway, we got to the train station in enough time and queried whether the train still had seats, and it did!  We bought tickets and raced to the train and made it in time. Now, we usually take the fast train between Shanghai and Nanjing. It takes between 1 hr 15 min-1 hr 45 min...depending on the train. But this was the slow train. It had many more stops and I think it drove slower too. So, it was going to be a lovely 3 hour train ride...on top of all our other traveling...and it was after 11pm when the train got moving. Also, since we bought the last tickets available for this train instead of having rows of nice padded seats, we had benches that could also be beds. When you walked through the car, the right hand side had open compartments with 2 long benches facing each other with a couple of feet in between and 2 more benches above them on each side- so 6 benches to each compartment. The bottom bench has enough head room to sit up on, but you can't sit up completely on the two above benches. The left hand side had tiny little seats that could be folded down to sit on, but were normally folded against the wall.

Also, since these cars were the cheap seats, our fellow travelers were a poorer class of Chinese. They were just as interested in Peter as any other Chinese we'd met. He did surprisingly well for the first bit of the train. People shared food with him, and everyone played with him. There were two younger girls- probably about 2 and 5 years old- who were super interested in Peter, but if we set him on the ground, the younger one would start screaming. She was terrified if he got close to her, but if we picked him up, then she'd stop crying and play with him at a distance. She eventually warmed up to him. Also, the younger girl and a little baby a few benches over had no diapers and only the cut out pants...on the train. Ugh. I don't miss that so much.

Peter (in Cambodian pants) and Jonathan hanging out in the middle bunk

Anyway, Peter played with the other kids for a bit, we made all the adults nervous because we let Peter walk around on the bumpy train and what if he fell?!!, the train workers tried to get us to buy snacks and an obnoxiously loud toy train, and Peter fought sleep like it might kill him. He screamed and threw his shows off, and tried to escape and wiggle for what felt like forever. He finally gave in about an hour from home. We slept as best we could and finally pulled in to our station at Nanjing between 2 or 3 am. We walked home from the train station, glad to be home and glad to be done with our Cambodia adventure. It was a crazy trip and a crazy day of traveling, but we'd survived and had so many fun stories and memories. We crawled into bed and slept. Our hard Chinese bed had never been that comfortable in all our life. The adventures of traveling!

Last few Cambodia Stories (mostly pictures)

(January 2014, Cambodia, I wrote the first 2/3 of this while we still lived in China...then it got buried in drafts, and now it is getting finished. Today is the day.)

I promise I only have a few more stories about Cambodia and then I will be done. It's taken me longer than I thought to write about everything we did/saw/felt.

Our room in Siem Reap

This is where we slept in Siem Reap: http://www.angkorvoluntary.com/. They didn't have a crib either...every single place I booked said online they had cribs for use, and every single place told us they did not have a crib upon arrival. Frustrating. 

This place though, they took care of us and gave us two double beds instead. It was great. The guesthouse was really neat in that they worked with orphanages and schools and gave rooms, either for free of for very cheap, to people who came to volunteer at those places. There was a really good feeling at this place. Only one or two of the guesthouse employees spoke English, but they all had such kindness in them. 

Also, it was at this guesthouse that I learned that geckos make a really loud squeaking sound. I heard it when Jonathan was in the shower and thought it was a rat or bird. I kept my eyes riveted on the place the sound came from, slightly terrified that some large creature was going to come creeping out to eat us, until Jonathan came out of the shower. Then I made him search for the source of the noise. When he told me it was a gecko, I didn't believe him for a bit. So loud for such a small thing. Google it. It's crazy.

This little girl entertained Peter when we were waiting/sorting things out after missing the bus and waiting for the night sleeper bus. I am so grateful to this girl. She kept Peter occupied and happy while I tried to not be so stressed. She taught him how to throw a ball. 

Evidence to the ball throwing, the ball is mid-air in the above picture as Peter had just thrown it. 

She just followed him around everywhere and redirected him when needed. Thanks little one for being awesome. 

This is the last room we stayed in Cambodia. This was back in Phnom Penh- Kings Guesthouse. This place was a huge let down- they didn't have the rooms they said they would hold for us and the bathroom was tiny, but we got in really early in the morning and really didn't care anymore about what the place looked like, as long as we could lock the door and sleep. We shared the room with Leigh. There were 3 single beds. Leigh got a bed and then Jonathan and I took turns between sharing a bed with each other and sharing with a smaller, but more kicky Peter.  

We woke up the next morning, had breakfast and then headed to the airport.

On the way to the airport in our last tuk tuk ride. 

Street view of Phnom Penh. 

As we drove through Phnom Penh towards the airport, I saw the LDS missionaries! It was really exciting for me to see them after 6 months of no missionaries in China. I hope they had a great mission experience.

Tuk Tuks lined up outside the airport.

We thankfully had an uneventful ride to the airport and then started our long journey back to Nanjing. Good-bye Cambodia, I hope we meet again. 

Church in Cambodia

I'm going to jump back to Cambodia for just a bit. When we were driving from the boat dock to our guesthouse in Siem Reap, we passed a meeting house for my church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The amount of joy that I felt upon seeing that building was much more than I would have expected. I had been stressed after the boat ride, knowing that we wouldn't get to see anything that day and being upset at that. When I saw the church building, there was a sudden feeling of calm and peace. The church was here. There were members and most likely some missionaries. After living for 5 months in a country that has allowed very little religion in, seeing an LDS church building was fantastic.

Even though we get to attend church in China, we meet in a hotel and there is no sign that the church is there, we cannot talk about our church to Chinese nationals and missionaries are not allowed into the country. So, seeing a building with the name of the church on the side, seeing a building that looked just like a church building was beautiful. I wanted to just stop and talk to the people there and hug them. We passed the church a couple more times while in Siem Reap, and each time there was just a peaceful feeling about everything.

When we had all of the problems getting out of Siem Reap with the bus situation, I mentioned that we should get a hold of the church. Leigh asked what they would be able to do, and I told her that I didn't know, but that we take care of each other. I knew that if we got stuck, we could get in touch with the members there and they would help us out. Even though we would be strangers to them, I knew they would help. I've had the church help out when I was in England as well as in Italy, so I knew that if it came down to it and we went to them, they would help us.

While in Siem Reap, I kept an eye out for the missionaries. Since they aren't allowed in China, it had been 5 month since we'd seen any missionaries. We never saw them in Siem Reap, but we saw them in Phnom Penh. We were taking our last drive to the airport. The roads were crazy, as usual, but as our tuk-tuk went around cars I saw two boys, in suits and ties, on their bikes! The missionaries! My trip was complete.

I loved seeing the church in Cambodia. I belong to a world-wide church, which is an amazing thing. I know that the gospel brings peace and happiness into life. I know that missionaries are amazing people who work hard to share the gospel. I know that we have a living prophet who guides our church. I know that families can be together forever. I love the gospel. I loved seeing it in Cambodia and I love it here in China, even if it is a little different.

Abandoned and the Sleeper Bus From Hell

*Warning: This post is an extremely long story of a day of adventure in Cambodia, as we were trying to get from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh.

Louis L'Amour said, “Adventure is just a romantic name for trouble. It sounds swell when you write about it, but it's hell when you meet it face to face in a dark and lonely place.”  

That pretty much sums up the next part of our trip. The Angkor Wat and Thom day was our last full day in Cambodia. When we were done there, we went to a small store to get some supplies for our 5-6 hour bus ride back to the capital. We felt pretty prepared. We were pretty sure Peter would sleep for the last 3 hours of the ride; we had food and we had done this before a couple of times, so we were set. We got our food and had our tuk-tuk driver take us back to our guesthouse to pick up our bags and bus tickets. 

Our guesthouse owner said he would get bus tickets for us, which was a huge help. When we got to the guesthouse, he wasn't there, and the people who were there did not speak any English. But we had an hour or two to kill, so we were not too worried. Emphasis on the 'too' part. Anyway, our guy finally showed up and had the tickets. He told us the bus was not leaving until 4.50pm, instead of 4.30, so we were totally fine on time. He called a tuk-tuk to come and pick us up and take us to the bus station. 

We got to the bus station and it looked abandoned. Correction: It was abandoned. There were no other people waiting there, just a really dirty dog, and there was only one bus there. The driver of that bus was sleeping in the luggage compartment under the bus. The tuk-tuk driver told us to wait for the bus here. He said to look for the logo on the front of the bus and that it would be there soon. There were a couple of shops nearby the station and some chairs. We went over to the chairs, put our things down, fed Peter some yogurt and waited. We waited some more. Then, we kept waiting. Nothing had changed. There were no other passengers waiting with us. No buses had pulled up. There were some kids playing nearby, so I guess that changed, but nothing promising. 4.50 came and went. Fifteen minutes had passed since the time our bus was supposed to arrive. We were all nervous by now. Leigh took her ticket over to the sleeping driver and showed it to him and pointed to a phone number. He called the number and talked for a minute, and then pointed over to the chairs we were sitting in. We took this to mean to wait there for the bus. 

So, we waited. We saw a couple of men, who were tourists. I approached them to see if they were also going on our bus. As I was talking with one of them, a Cambodian guy came up and started talking to our group really harshly. He kept saying that it was our fault we missed the bus. He said we were late. He kept saying, "I saw you come here at 5.15, the bus left at 4.50, you were late! You were late!" We tried to tell him we had been there since 4.30 but he would just yell at us. I took comfort in the group of men who were trying to help us. They were big- turns out they were Russian. One guy let me borrow his phone so we could try to call the guesthouse to see if they could help. But I couldn't get the call to go through and then they had to go. So, no luck there. 

They left, and the Cambodian guy kept badgering us to buy a new bus ticket from him. He seemed pretty shady and rather mean, so we tried to ignore him the best we could. Any time he spoke to us he seemed mad at us. It was rather obnoxious. By now, we've been at the bus station for about an hour. We have only seen one bus drive past and it wasn't the company we had booked with, and it didn't really stop, just drove past and parked. Leigh and I decided to go talk with some women nearby. The angry Cambodian guy kept hassling us, so we felt like if we were by other people then he might leave us alone. The women were in charge of a small restaurant and appeared to be setting up for the night. I asked if they spoke English. They did. I explained what was going on and asked if I could use their phone. They were happy to help. I called the guesthouse and got a hold of our guy and explained what had happened. He told me he would call the bus and the driver who had taken us there and then call me back on the number I had called him on. Good. I asked the women if I could wait there, and they said, "Yes, of course." So, back to waiting. 

A while passed, and even though I had learned a bit about flying snakes from a program on the tv, I hadn't heard back from the owner, so I called the guesthouse again. The reception wasn't the best and he talked really quietly. After many calls back and forth, I thought I understood him say that he was sending someone to help us. I thanked the woman for her phone and went back to where Jonathan, Peter and Leigh were. Soon, a bus arrived and a few people boarded. The angry man who kept trying to sell us tickets came up again. He was relentless. This time, he told us to get on the bus and they would take us for free. The driver was standing with him and he agreed that we didn't have to pay for it, and that the bus was going to the capital and we could speak to his supervisor if we wanted to, and he held out his phone. Our small group had 2 polar opposite reactions. I said, "Awesome, let's go get on the bus and head to Phnom Penh. Let's get out of this station and on the road." Jonathan and Leigh said, "Are you kidding?! Robin, this is how people get killed. We are not getting on that bus." 

Now, before you think I have no travel sense, I was planning on talking with the other bus riders, checking their tickets and speaking with the driver's supervisor before going on that bus. I wasn't going to get on willy-nilly without doing some checking first. Also, I had no bad feeling about getting on the bus, and I feel like if it had been dangerous then I would have felt differently. But, I didn't have time to explain myself before the bus left, because Jonathan was sure I was going to get myself killed. We decided to get a tuk-tuk and drive back to the guesthouse to sort things out. It was getting darker and we felt less good about being there. We got a tuk -tuk but he didn't know the address, so he called the guesthouse to ask how to get there. He then handed the phone to Jonathan and they conversed for a minute. Then I heard Jonathan say, "No, it just left. What?! We didn't know that." Turns out, our guesthouse friend had called the bus company and explained our situation and we were supposed to get on that bus, for free, because they transferred our tickets over. Of course, we learned this mere minutes after the bus was out of sight. I could have died. We just missed our ticket out, and that was the last bus with this company for the night. Our return flight left the next morning at 11am. The earliest bus left at 7am, and it was a 6 hour drive. If we didn't get out that night, we were not making our flight. Had this problem occurred at any other point in our trip, we would have just spent the night and left the next morning, but that was no longer an option.

We started negotiating a price with the tuk-tuk driver, the sooner we got to the guesthouse, the faster we'd have access to technology to figure something out. We had been brought to the station for $3, and this guy wanted $10. We said no. He went to $7; we said $3. He laughed at us. Exasperated, I said, "Fine, let's walk home." We started walking and this guy followed us down the road, slowly lowering the price. He refused to go down to $3 and I refused to get in his cab for any more. He finally went to $3.50. I still refused. We all refused. I recognize that I was being incredibly stubborn at this point. Should I have been less proud and taken his offer? Yeah, but I didn't. It was a matter of principal at that point and I wasn't going to relent. Finally, he found another customer and left us alone. We walked for a while more and recognized the guesthouse was much further than I wanted to walk, so we got the next tuk-tuk we saw and headed back. 

We arrived at the guesthouse and Jonathan started making plans with our friend, the guesthouse owner. Bless his heart, that guy did everything he could to make us comfortable and happy. He gave us tons of water and bananas for Peter. Peter had a blast playing with some people in the lobby while we made arrangements. The owner didn't seem to truly understand our predicament though. Maybe it was a miscommunication due to languages....who knows, but he kept trying to get us to take the bus in the morning, the bus that would make us miss our flight by 2 hours. Finally, he gave us the option of buying a ticket for a sleeper bus. Yeah, it was more expensive than a regular bus- by a few dollars, but it was cheaper than a taxi and much cheaper than buying a new flight home. We jumped at the option. Sleeper bus?! Of course. It would be great. We could sleep on the way there, and then just check in late to our next place. We didn't have to get up really early in the morning, so it would be awesome. It left at 8.30pm. We killed time at the guesthouse and called our next guesthouse to inform them that we would be checking in much later than expected. 

The time finally came for the bus to arrive, so we went out to the street with all our things, and waited...and waited some more. I played with Peter a game of "Spot the Geckos on the Walls" which was pretty exciting, and tried to keep him from fussing. It had been a really long day for him and he just wanted to sleep. The bus finally arrived and we climbed aboard. As soon as we got on, I realized that this was one of those situations where things look one way in pictures and a very different, usually more negative, way in reality. The bus looked awesome in pictures. It looked comfortable, spacious, and cozy. In reality, it was dark, confusing and smaller seats than expected. 

A guy led us to our seats/beds as the bus started going. We were trying to get everything situated, bags in the back of the bus, except Peter's bag and the food bag, and where do we put our shoes, and everything felt hectic. The seats were "70% reclined" like a lounge chair you see at pools. But the ceiling is just low enough that you can't sit up straight. I climbed in first, and set Peter down. Peter started exploring and in the process began to steal someone's blanket, and then proceed to tickle someone else's feet. Once I realized what was happening, I wrangled him. He did not want to be wrangled. He started crying, I was still trying to figure out where to put a bag and bumping my head on the ceiling, and Jonathan was still getting our bags situated in the back area. Hectic. Stressful. Verge of tears.

The screaming baby finally nursed and quickly fell asleep between Jonathan and I. At last, it was peaceful. We were on our way. We could put the entire crazy day behind us. We would fall asleep and wake up 6 hours later in Phnom Penh, all would be well....HA! Little did we know. 

I tried to fall asleep, but I was sleeping with a wall of windows next to me. There were curtains pulled shut, but I kept envisioning the window breaking and me falling out and being left behind in Cambodia. It was such a bumpy ride I was sure I was going to fall out of the bus. So, needless to say, it was hard for me to fall asleep. When I did manage to fall asleep, a bump or two later would be all it would take and I'd be awake again. Also, we had a little boy tucked between us in a space smaller than the width of a twin bed. I was scared to move because I might squish or awaken the babe. Finally, I drifted off to sleep. I woke up a little bit later with a numb arm from sleeping position and a cold body. This is basically how I felt the rest of the night. Sleep and then wake up with a cramping limb and cold. Jonathan was also awake just as frequently. At one point, we ate some bread, and Jonathan got my wrap skirt that I'd bought at the market to use as a blanket. The bus was supposed to have a blanket per seat, but we had none. The bus also had some pretty fantastic air conditioning. So fantastic, in fact, that it felt like winter all over. You couldn't turn the vents off, so there was constant freezing air blowing on us. At one point, I touched Peter's arm, and it was like ice. I have never felt his skin that cold before. So now, along with trying to sleep, and trying to stay covered with a thin skirt, I could add keep my baby from freezing to death on the list. Jonathan ended up stuffing the vents with plastic bags to stop the air flow. This helped some, but I never got warm again until we got off that bus, the damage was already done. 

Also, remember the 70% reclined seats. Turns out that was a horrible idea. They were slanted just enough that the upper half of your body would just slide down into the part designed just for your legs. But your whole body couldn't fit into that space without some limb cramping horribly. So, I was constantly pushing myself back up the seat to stretch out cramping legs. I don't even know how Jonathan made it through this ride. Peter woke up twice during the ride. Each time he would just cry and cry and cry, not just a sad cry, but a loud screaming death decree. He hated being held. He hated being set down. He was cold. He was uncomfortable, and he let us know. A couple of different ladies tried to hold him...nope. Didn't help. He would eventually calm down and fall asleep again. It was awful. I very distinctly remember at one point in the ride thinking, "If hell was cold, it would be this sleeper bus." 

We were in and out of unrestful sleep for the next few hours and finally we reached Phnom Penh. I have never been so happy to be off any mode of transportation before in my life. Blerg. But at least me made it to the capital so we could fly home. I guess we should be grateful that we didn't miss our flight, even if the way to get there was an adventure.

“Adventure! People talked about the idea as if it were something worthwhile, rather than a mess of bad food, no sleep and strange people inexplicably trying to stick pointed objects in bits of you.” ―Terry Pratchett

Right on Terry. Right on.

Shopping at the Wats

Another fun part of being at Angkor Wat was doing a little tourist shopping. As we were walking out of the Angkor Wat area to meet our driver, there were a long line of shops with their owners outside trying to coerce tourists to come in and have a look. Jonathan said, "Well, if you see anything you like, you should buy it, because we probably won't come back here and you won't have another chance to get it." Pretty much from then on out if I saw something and said, "What do you think Jonathan?" He said, "Buy it." It was great. It works for us because he knows me well enough to know if he hadn't encouraged it, I wouldn't have bought anything, and would have regretted it later, so he can say "Buy anything you want" and he knows that I'll only buy a few things. 

I knew I wanted some sort of clothing that I could wear in normal life- not a "I Love Cambodia" shirt, but something I could wear that would mean something to me, but not just scream "I am a tourist!" Well, I was almost derailed from this desire when I kept seeing these ladies selling these pants that were thin and light- excellent for the weather, with amazing prints on them. They were mostly brightly colored. Some were "Ali Babba" pants (their words, not mine; I call them MC Hammer pants), and others were the same material, but normal pants. Well, I got sucked in and bought a pair of the normal ones (should have gone for the MC Hammer pants). I'll probably wear them around the house once it gets warmer here. But you won't see me sporting those bad boys in public, and if you do, then you know I've hit an all time low, or that I'm doing laundry. 

We kept going and I saw lots of amazing artwork, that I considered getting, but we didn't have room and didn't want to carry that along for the rest of our trip. There were lots of people all selling similar things. Then, I noticed some vendors selling skirts. They were beautiful to me. Just a very simple wrap around skirt in lots of different prints and colors. One in particular stood out. It had elephants across the top and peacocks on a row further down. The colors were muted, which is not what I usually go for, but there was just something about this one. Then I saw a couple of others that I liked, and the debate began in my mind. Do I go for the muted colors with the print that grabs me, or the amazing colors with the print that is just so-so. I asked the shop owner which one she thought was better. First she tried to get me to buy both- smart woman. Once she was convinced I only wanted one, she opted for the brighter colors. She told me that I needed to get the one with bright colors because my skin is so beautiful and white so I can wear bright colors. She informed me that she cannot wear bright colors because of her dark skin. She was convinced that bright colors don't look good on her. She told me over and over that I was beautiful because I was so light. She even told me she uses skin lightening cream so try to be lighter. This is something that will likely forever frustrate me. She was a pretty woman, convinced that she would be prettier if her skin was lighter. She buys creams to bleach her skin. Meanwhile, over in America, people sit out in the sun- or in tanning beds- for the express purpose of making their skin as dark as they can. We think it's crazy that people use lightening creams, while we are baking our skin. People! Just be happy with your skin. Cambodians- you have beautiful dark skin. White Americans- you have beautiful white skin. Own it. Stop acting crazy. Rant over.

Anyway, I got Leigh in on the debate, and she said what needed to be said. Her words were, "Robin, you know you like the darker one better. Just get it." That's what I needed. I knew that I liked it the best, but then when someone else said that the other one looked better then I doubted my initial choice. I got the one with the elephants and peacocks, and I love it. I've worn it many times, and every time I wear it, I wonder why I don't own more wrap around skirts. They are so simple and can fit anyone. I can still wear it when I am pregnant again, I could lend it out to any friend and they could wear it. Simple. I'll probably be making some more of these when I get back to the states and can buy fabric without Jonathan coming to translate.

Peter helped me model the skirt. 

A close up of the print. 

The other thing we bought at the little market area were some of the cutest baby clothes ever. I am certain that if you take any item of clothing and make it small, it becomes exponentially cuter. It took about 3 seconds looking at some of the little shirts and I was sold. I still bartered with the woman, but, let's be honest, even if she didn't drop the price I probably would have bought the shirt. She bargained a higher price and threw in a pair of baby MC Hammer pants. Man, I'm a sucker. So, Peter has his own set of great Cambodian clothes to wear when it gets warmer.  

Here is Peter showing off his cute elephant shirt. I'll get another picture later when I put his pants on. It's cute. 

And, one more picture, because I'm the mom and I like this baby.

Being Blessed in Bayon and our Driver

There was one experience at the Bayon site that was really neat for me. We had just entered the temple area and we walked through a small room with a seated statue, probably about 3-4 feet tall. The statue had a yellow sash on as many of the Buddha statues did. There was a small box of sand in front of it with a couple of incense sticks sticking out of the sand. There was an old lady standing next to it with some incense and she was trying to hand them to people so they could be lit and the people could be blessed.

Well, the little old lady happened to be adorable, so I took one of the sticks and put it in the sand. She then proceeded to bless me.  She said many things in Khmer and then she leaned over to the statue and pulled back the sash just a bit and grabbed a little orange braided yarn bracelet. She tied it on my wrist, the whole time she was saying things. Then she rubbed a little spot where the knot of the bracelet was and said something along the lines of "Bless you. Bless your family. Bless with health, love and happiness." Then she opened a small box in front of the burning incense, which had a few dollar bills in it and motioned to it. Should have seen that coming. Blessings don't come free. I gave her a dollar and she said, "Bless you and your family" one more time. So, I guess I can check "Being blessed by a Khmer priestess" off of my to do list.

This is what the statue looked like, but the one I was blessed by was in a different part of the temple area.

The other thing that was cool about this day, aside from all of the ancient ruins, was having a driver. The tuk-tuk driver who took us to our guesthouse from the boat offered to take us to the temple sites the next day. He gave us a price that we felt was reasonable so we took him up on it. That was a great idea for sure, it made everything go more smoothly the next day. He picked us up the next morning and took us to the area. He dropped us off to buy tickets and waited for us. Then he drove us to Angkor Wat, dropped us off, and waited until we came out. Then took us to Thom, waited for us, and then we told him we needed to eat something, so he took us to a little restaurant and again waited for us. When we were done eating and on our way back to the guesthouse, we told him we needed to find a small grocery store so we could buy some snacks for our bus ride to Phnom Pehn. We told him we needed a place with bread, fruit, yogurt, crackers, or things like that. He took us to a small store that was right next to a bakery. We got the things we needed and then he took us back to the guesthouse. It was super convenient. I would recommend doing that if you are ever in Siem Reap touring the ruins.

Robin and the bug, sleeping in the tuk-tuk after a long day of sight-seeing. 

Angkor Thom Part 2

So, the area of Angkor Thom had many sites to see, so after walking around the Bayon, we continued walking around and saw many other amazing things. It was really nice to walk around in nature and see fantastic things. There were less people in these areas than there had been at Angkor Wat. Also, Peter continued to do pretty fantastic throughout the day. He ate many bananas and did a good job being held for so long and Jonathan did a great job carrying him all day. 

Giant Buddha statue. 

Another cool temple site. We weren't allowed to go in this one because Peter was too young, and we didn't want to split up and wait again. Maybe next time.

The temple we didn't go in. It was huge. 

Peter was a little grumpy cat here. But shorts and t-shirt weather. Brilliant.

Tree roots eating rocks.

These trees are so cool. Their trunks are so tall, and the roots reminded me of webbed feet of ducks. 

Young monks

More of the trees growing around rocks. I thought about teaching 5th grade all over and wishing I had this picture to show them to explain how tree roots can weather rocks. It's amazing that a plant can do something like this. 

As we continued wandering through ruins, we stumbled upon this place. There were the remnants of three trees growing from the base. I'm sure they cut the trees to try to preserve what they could of the building and yet the trees keep trying as you can see new branches growing out of the top. I can't imagine what it would have looked like to first find these places before anything was cleaned up or restored. 

It was fun to just walk around and see things that were unlike things we've seen in any of our travels elsewhere. We would see little food stands and shops selling tourist things as we walked. We also walked past a water pump by one of the places that had 4 little naked kids playing in the water, the oldest was probably about 7 or 8, splashing water on each other and having fun. I bet Peter would have loved to join them and just be free. So different from America.

Thom Part 1

After seeing Angkor Wat, our driver took us to Angkor Thom. They aren't too far apart, but it was nice to have the tuk-tuk and have a break from walking. As we drove along, we could just barely see the outside wall entrance, and then we saw this elephant!

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What a beaut. Elephants are such cool animals.

The path in front of the entrance was lined by these statues. The statues are all pulling on a snake; we saw this a couple of times, but I never learned its meaning. Most of the statues have lost their heads, but the people in charge of the area are currently working on rebuilding their heads. You can tell the the first four heads in this picture are rebuild. But, it looks like they are making the newly built heads look dark to match the rest of the statue as you can see in the 5th statue. I have mixed feeling about the rebuilding. It is good because then you can know what it originally looked like, which is neat. But then also, if you only saw it when everything is redone then it looks like an amazingly preserved ancient city when in reality it is lots of recently made things with a backbone of ancient ruins. I remember being in Russia and hearing- this is one of the oldest buildings, built in this year...except it was destroyed in WWII and has been rebuilt. Wait, so it's not really that old at all. But it is neat to see it in its glory.

The area of Angkor Thom is a collection of many different areas. The first thing we saw at Angkor Thom was the Bayon. It is a temple that was built around the same time as the Angkor Wat temple. It has over 200 carved faces all over and lots of pictures carved into the walls.  

Again, it felt in some ways so much like Rome, probably because of the columns. 

Find the faces; there are three.

Baby can't sit still for pictures.

Working on that walking, checking out those rocks.

On the main floor, there were lots of columns and archways and some carvings. Then, we went up a flight of stairs and faces....everywhere. One each post, there was a face on each side.

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And, like always, people took Peter because he is the cutest thing they have ever seen. One of the little Cambodian girls had the most beautiful eyes I have ever seen. They were this amazing goldish brown color. She was so beautiful. They kept telling me how lovely Peter was and I just felt the same about their little one.

Faces with faces

People don't know the meaning of the faces, but this one is so happy.

There were so many tourists there, from so many places around the world.

Explorer baby.

He was so happy to climb.

The next few pictures are some of the carvings I saw. There were so many more than this. There were pictures of armies and fighting and others of just regular daily life. They don't understand which historical events they coincide with, but they are spectacular.

I liked the dancing people.

Bayon, you were really neat. All of the faces were amazing to behold. It was remarkable to know this probably means something to someone, and maybe someday I'll know what they were for. You were a place I will never forget visiting.