I’m in Cambodia!

I flew from Tokyo to Siem Reap, with a stopover in Shanghai. One impression of Shanghai from landing at the airport: SMOG choking the air.

pea soup smog:/

There were articles on cnn.com that day that talked about how bad the smog was – schools were closed, people were told to stay indoors, etc. Not a place I ever want to live.

I stayed at the Le Meridien in Siem Reap – with points for free nights! It was the nicest hotel room I’ve stayed in so far on my trip. Forgot to take pictures of the actual room This is the courtyard area at the hotel:

le méridien hotel.. best room I’ve stayed in on my trip

Dragonfruit, rambutan, passion fruit, mango, bananas, tangerines, apple…

welcome basket!

I woke up at 4am on the first morning I was in Siem Reap, to go and see the sunrise at Angkor Wat temple. It was a really cool experience, even though there wasn’t really a sunrise view😂 I guess the sun was in the wrong place? Instead, it was me and 2,000 of my closest friends gathering in a small area to yell “Down in front!” at each other for two hours.

closest thing to a sunrise pic

we’re all waiting…

I started taking my anti-malaria medication, and no noticeable side effects thus far. I was definitely devoured by mosquitoes one morning, so I’m glad I have peace of mind by taking the meds.

According to my paparazzi connections (mom), Brangelina were in Siem Reap filming her new movie! One of my drivers has a friend who is a driver for the film crew! I tried everything I could to get to see the filming, but ultimately, timing didn’t work because the last day of filming was the day I got to Cambodia:/ Maybe next time, Brad.

Here are a few pictures from Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom, the two main temple areas…

angkor wat

angkor wat entrance

angkor wat – daytime

angkor thom = tomb raider!

angkor thom gate

angkor thom bridge

So many temples! Angkor Thom was actually a huge city, with around 150,000 people in 1100 AD! Surreal. It has two main temples – one Hindu and one Buddhist because the population included both religions (yay, religious freedom).

bayon – angkor thom

bayon corridor

terrace of the elephants (field where they had cockfights and ELEPHANT FIGHTS!😢)

review field

big buddha – angkor thom

phimeanakas – angkor thom

phimeanakas – my picnic spot

south gate – angkor thom

More “Tomb Raider”😆

tree roots!

amazing

tree

growing through the middle

wow

This is the day that I walked 12 miles and CLIMBED THE EQUIVALENT OF 48 FLIGHTS OF STAIRS! In flip-flops. Dirty feet…

this is what 12-miles-walking-in-flip-flops-dirty looks like

It’s not a tan, it’s dirt. Those Reef brand flip-flops though – my feet didn’t hurt at all.

Roadside restaurant with coconut rice that tasted like buttery popcorn somehow… it was so good.

buttered popcorn rice

restaurant

More on the culture (mixed reviews… Pros = people super nice, speak english (so much more than in Japan) & Cons = men pee in public) in next post.

Next up:  Siem Reap nights, Tuk-tuks, Pashminas, Phnom Penh