Dec 25: Merry Christmas! Although I wasn’t home with my family, I tried to do some wholesome things. I cooked a very large brunch for Muna and Justin and then spent the afternoon swimming and reading in the pool. Later in the afternoon, I went over to my friend Renee’s place because she had made some Christmas dinner. Many other teachers showed up and we drank wine, played games, listened to Christmas music, and enjoyed each other’s company. At about 1am, my friend Sahnah (that I met in the Senegal program, went to Mauritania with, and then saw back in October in NYC) came into Bangkok to visit me!
Dec 26: In the afternoon, we flew to Phnom Pehn! We got in late enough that all we did was eat a little food, find a guesthouse, have a drink, and go to bed.
Dec 26: In the afternoon, we flew to Phnom Pehn! We got in late enough that all we did was eat a little food, find a guesthouse, have a drink, and go to bed.
Dec 27: We woke up early in the morning to go to the Tuol Sleng Museum in Phnom Pehn. It was originally a school which was then turned into a prison during the Khmer Rouge. Thousands of prisoners were sent there while they waited to be sent to the Killing Fields for extermination. Each prisoner’s life was documented and a photo was taken of them, so we not only learned more about the history of the regime, but got to see the faces of all the prisoners that spent time there. It was chilling. Later that afternoon, we took a 6 hour bus ride up to Siem Reap. The countryside was flat and poor, reminding me neither of Laos or Thailand. When we arrived in Siem Reap and ate our first taste of Cambodian food – fish Amok. It’s a lovely white fish in a coconut curry sauce, served with spinach and over banana leaf and midly spiced with lemongrass. Delicious! My favorite dish of the entire week!
Dec 28: Angkor Wat day!!! We got up at 5am, hopped on a tuk tuk, drove the 15km to Angkor, trudged up a small but very famous temple called the “Bayon,” and waited for the sun to rise. It was such a cool experience, and the highlight of my entire trip, because it was still dark and eerie, you could hear bats everywhere, and we were the only ones on the temple. As the sun rose, the details of the rock that we were sitting upon began to come into view and we saw that we were seated on the temple of 54 faces! Apparently, when it was built, there were 54 different divisions in Angkor, so the king had 54 replicas of his face put on the temple so that he could be “watching” every section on the kingdom at all times.The rest of the day was just as spectacular. We walked from temple to temple, consulting our map and reading up on the history of each temple. 
My other favorite temple was “Ta Prohm,” the one with the famous tree roots. The temple was build around the same time as Angkor Wat (1100ish) but it wasn’t rediscovered until later, so the jungle had reclaimed much of the land. Because of that, the temple has a more wild, jungle feeling to it. It’s very green, with moss growing everywhere, and several HUGE tree roots growing on top, through, over and around the rock.
The one small disappointment was actually Angkor Wat itself. After seeing so many stellar temples, I expected a lot out of the most famous one. And it was huge and majestic. But it had less emotion, less uniqueness, less detail. It was a big, symmetrical, building. Beautiful, nonetheless, and great for a sunset, but I think my favorites were the other two I mentioned.
Anyway, that night we were zonked, so we ate amok again, fell asleep in the middle of a massage, and hit the sack by 10pm!
My other favorite temple was “Ta Prohm,” the one with the famous tree roots. The temple was build around the same time as Angkor Wat (1100ish) but it wasn’t rediscovered until later, so the jungle had reclaimed much of the land. Because of that, the temple has a more wild, jungle feeling to it. It’s very green, with moss growing everywhere, and several HUGE tree roots growing on top, through, over and around the rock.The one small disappointment was actually Angkor Wat itself. After seeing so many stellar temples, I expected a lot out of the most famous one. And it was huge and majestic. But it had less emotion, less uniqueness, less detail. It was a big, symmetrical, building. Beautiful, nonetheless, and great for a sunset, but I think my favorites were the other two I mentioned.
Anyway, that night we were zonked, so we ate amok again, fell asleep in the middle of a massage, and hit the sack by 10pm!Dec. 29: After a full day at Angkor, we decided to relax this morning. We woke up slowly, had a leisurely breakfast, and rented bikes to ride around town and to the floating village 15km outside of town. The village was a strange place. We had to rent an expensive boat, and we were then guided past a slew of people inhabiting boats floating along the side of mangroves. We were pushed off our boat to look at a “crocodile farm” an an “environmental learning center,” which were actually just cages and dirty aquariums filled with crocs, a snake, shrimp, and strange lake fish. The ride itself took less time that our bike ride to get there! Oh well, we did take some cool photos and got to see how some of Cambodia’s poorest live.
Dec 30: Bus ride back to Phnom Pehn. We visited the Central market, which is a bussling market with great-looking food, beautiful plants, cheap houseware, clothing, and other fun stuff to look at. Then we walked south along the river to watch Phnom Pehn in its evening routine at the park. My impressions of Cambodia were very positive. Though Phnom Pehn gave me the shady vibe a little bit, I did love the people up North a lot. They were friendly, smiling, and eager to speak and practice their English. The landscape may not be as breathtaking and lush as Laos, the food not as flavorful and varied as Thailand, but the place is definitely worth seeing for its history and people.
Dec 31: We flew back to Bangkok and spent New Year’s Eve dancing with friends at a local rooftop bar/art gallery. Needless to say, it was a late night!Jan 1: After a lazy start, Sahnah and I, along with some of my fellow teachers, took the bus to Koh Samet, a small island about 3 hours from Bangkok, and where I went at the beginning of December for a long weekend getaway. We got there by dinnertime and had a nice evening lying on the beach playing guitar and having a little sing-along.
Jan 2: Beach day!!! Reading, eating seafood, swimming, lounging around, kayaking, watching the sunset… this was the day I’ve been waiting for all break!
Jan 3: Muna’s birthday, so we left for Bangkok in the afternoon. Arrived at home and spent the evening hanging out with Muna and friends.
Jan 2: Beach day!!! Reading, eating seafood, swimming, lounging around, kayaking, watching the sunset… this was the day I’ve been waiting for all break!
Jan 3: Muna’s birthday, so we left for Bangkok in the afternoon. Arrived at home and spent the evening hanging out with Muna and friends.
Jan 4: Swam in the pool, and went to the weekend market with Sahnah to do a bit of shopping. Then went out for Nepali food with some friends to celebrate Muna’s birthday.
Jan 5: I started school, which was a bit untimely since Sahnah was still here. I think she spent the day relaxing by the pool while I reintroduced the English language to my kids!
Jan 6: School again. Sahnah did some sightseeing in the city. That evening we went out for Mexican buffet before I put her in a cab toward the airport.
It was a great vacation! Nice to see an old friend, and to travel together since we have similar travel styles. It was the perfect mix of new and exciting fun and relaxing days at the pool or the beach. Thanks for coming, Sahnah – I will miss you!
