Into the Belly of the Beast

With a few doses of antibiotics in me, some proper ointment and bandaging, I was starting to feel better. The woman at the pharmacy warned, "you must not swim; it is very bad for you to go into the ocean." "um, OK...too late." Tylenol with codeine was also starting to help the matter considerably.

Brilliant Business Model!

We had a couple of hours to kill before our flight to Siem Reap, so I suggested pizza and a movie. There is a brilliant establishment (of questionable legality I realize) where you choose a movie or TV series from a selection of thousands, snuggle up in a private room with AC, and have pizza and beer delivered! Perfect...just what the doctor ordered.

Then we were off by tuk-tuk to the airport, opting to fly instead of wasting a whole day on a bus back through Phnom Penh and North to Siem Reap. Siem Reap is the home of Angkor Wat, the world famous Buddhist Temple ruins in phenomenal condition. Hundreds of thousands if not millions flock here every year, and it's growing exponentially as Cambodia creeps onto "Top Destinations" lists and into travel magazines. The result is a city near solely dedicated to tourists and all the cliches that go along with one.

We had booked a room for the week at the Seven Candles guesthouse, a family owned establishment supporting education and youth development. We liked it immediately.

In the morning at 0630, we were to be picked up by a tuk tuk driver and tour guide, for a private two-day tour of many of the temple ruins. I was VERY worried about my leg. While walking for at least a few hours was relatively pain-free, stopping and standing was torturous. Know what you do on guided tours? You walk all day, and stand still to listen to your guide and take pictures. Shit.

The first two Tylenol with Codeine didn't do much, so I took another two, really wanting to be as functional as possible for all our sakes. Sadly, with the heat of the day coming on in full force, my stomach VETOED that idea. Lunch only seemed to make it worse, and I finally had to admit that I couldn't go on. I insisted James continue the tour, and I returned to the room to rest and recuperate. Later, I went to another pharmacy and asked for pain killers without all the acetaminophen. What a blessed place to be able to ask for whatever you need. :-)

Angkor Wat at Sunrise

The next morning, our pickup was at 0500, in an effort to make Angkor Wat for the sunrise. We joined the throngs of tourists, primarily Chinese and Japanese, and paid $2 each for awful coffee for the privilege of sitting on a mat. In my opinion, sunrises are usually never much to write home about, so we took the required pictures and set off to explore the temple. With my new medicine, I was thankfully doing MUCH better, so I was able to be a proper tourist listening to our guide and snapping photos.

Around 9am, we ducked out of the approaching heat of the day and avoided the THRONGS of tourists arriving at the temple complex. If I had to guess I'd say somewhere between 50-100 full size buses - and it's a shoulder season!
Later, around 3pm, we resumed our tour of Preah Khan, Angkor Thom, and Bayon Temple - all in the Angkor Wat vicinity.

The following day we would inch off the beaten path to Beng Lealea, about 75k from Angkor Wat with a visit to a Floating Village.

Temple post to follow...stay tuned.