Cambodia Challenge

Its hard to believe that we will be leaving Cambodia soon. But not before seeing the biggest and best of the temples - Angor Wat and Ta Prohm. Well, Mavis and I who had not been late once, overslept and they nearly left without us. We had no time for showers, just dressed and went downstairs where the bikes were waiting. No time for breakfast either. The girls had been waiting for about half an hour. As i had been woken abruptly, and had not had breakfast, i jumped on my bike and it took me a little while to kick the grumpiness that set in. But i soon got over it and apologised. This was the first time Mavis and I had ever been late. Mavis religiously set the alarm every night. I think we just needed the extra sleep. The Casa Angkor Hotel had very plush rooms and nice cosy beds. So we cycled to Ta Prohm first. This was where Tomb Raider was filmed. It was truly a magical place. I was a little disappointed as i forgot to charge my camera the night before and the battery had died. This was a mystical fairyland. Giant trees grow out of rocks. There are lots of carvings. Its the kind of place that a beautiful energy is found. I sat on the rocks to absorb some of it. This was my favourite place out of all the temples. Angor Wat was next and even though it was grand in size, i thought that Ta Prohm was more beautiful. Both places were crawling with tourists. the kind of place that is difficult to get a photo without some tourist's head in the way. I would love to paint Ta Prohm. Hopefully some of the other girls took good pics from it. While we were at Angor Wat, one of the girls left her camera case with a rather expensive lens in it outside. She ran back to see if it was there. There were some people picnicing - all dressed in white nearby. They had seen it and were going to give it to the police if no one came back for it. Luckily she retrieved it. In fact, I learnt that she had a mishap with the photos from the monks blessing. She had accidentally erased them all. They were the only ones we had. She took her camera to a Kodak shop and they were able to restore the photos. It was a lucky day for Beccy - perhaps her monks blessings had set in. Speaking of monks blessings. When i awoke this morning i found that my red cotton thread the monk had tightly tied around my wrist had fallen off into my bed during the night. Apparently one is supposed to wear it until it falls off. I like mine so much that i had Vicky tie it back on. I'm not sure that i am supposed to do that. At Angor Wat, we came across another monk. Vicky decided she was going to get a photo with Billy and a monk. So she approached him. He was really friendly and in his 20's. He was a very giggly shy sort of monk. He has family that live in Sydney. He was touring Angkor Wat with his family. He hopes that one day he will come to Sydney too. Vicky exchanged contact details with him. So sweet. The afternoon was free for us to explore Siem Reap. Mavis and I went shopping for a few last minute items. Mavis wanted to buy a silk dress. We went to the Central Market and seperated. I found a place that sold jewellery, I was interested as to how much it sold for. All gems - rubies, sapphires, emeralds. I was mersmerised. I asked the guy behind the counter to show me a few pieces. They were telling me that these were real. They even had a machine that beeped to say yes its really. Of course, I couldn't believe that. So instead of buying up big, I just purchased a pair of emerald earrings for $5 and a pair of sapphire earrings for $5. I'm going to take them to a jewelry shop and see if they are made of glass or not. I decided to head back to the hotel and started walking then realised i wasn't really sure of where i was. I thought i knew exactly where the hotel was. So i found a tuk tuk driver and told him where to take me. I was way off with my bearings of where the hotel was. oops. tonight was the final night and our cambodia challenge was coming to an end. We went to a fancy restaurant, of which i have no idea where it was or what it was called. The food was great. We sat at two big tables. Had a few margheritas. We finished the night with a drink at another bar called Nest. The slowest service in history. So typical of the laid back way of life in Siem Reap and Cambodia. So sad to leave, but so appreciative to have arrived, explored, cycled and had lots of fun.