Cambodia seven

parted ways with my english traveling partners and with battambong on a seven hour boat ride through the small little water villages of central cambodia. the water wasn't any more than three or four feet deep for most of the journey. the communities that we passed through were incredible; small houses on stilts lining the river banks. pretty safe to say that these people are not watching much greys anatomy. it seemed so very far from how we live our lives. the people were very poor and very happy. were the seats in the boat comfortable? no. did i have to get out of the boat several times and push? yes. were there crocodiles in the water? yes. did i almost poop my pants everytime i was in the water? yes.

in siem reap now, home to angkor wat and the many infamous temples. yesterday two aussies and i rented bikes and rode them to the temples to catch the sunrise. had to wake up at 530 but did not have to prepare for a day of pleasing customers or enduring the always varying mood of a self possessed boss. sunrise was pretty incredible so were the masses of japanese bus tours. spent the next twelve hours cruising around the many temples. i have never in my life seen something so incredible. each one outdid the previous, i was in complete awe the entire day and i really don't think that it has sunk in yet. you look at these massive temples from afar and you are blown away, then you get up close and the detail of every square inch is its own little story or carving. everyone should make an effort in their lifetime to see this. i think i took a thousand photos, felt pretty japanese myself. most of the temples were completely empty and many of them required climbing these crazy steep stairs that eliminated about ninety percent of the tourists. after riding for twelve hours and sweating atleast five gallons under hot cambodian sun, i was done. absolutely incredible day, will surely go down as one of my top one hundred.