if i were a travel writer... i'd write of places near or far... of places i've arrived to by plane, bus, train or car... and along the way, i'll take some photos... and so, here my story goes...

Viet Nam may be the most beautiful country thus far, but Cambodia definitely has the most beautiful people. Through our walks through the market place yesterday and our journey through the temples of Siem Reap today, the highlight was not the massive stones or intricate carvings, but the kindness and beauty of the people we encountered. We had wanted a tour guide for our visit to Angkor Wat, but since it is the high season and there is some Korean-Cambodian World Expo conference in Siem Reap this week, Teaam at the guesthouse was unable to get one for us. Instead Suun took us on a tuk tuk (basically a motorbike with an attachment for us to sit in) to the temples and we ended up making up stories that we may have read in our travel books and going off the beaten path. We had an amazing experience when we walked off a path and met a 20 year old monk who gave us a tour of the pagodas and told us a little about life and the training of a Buddhist monk. It was an experience no tour guide could have given us. Again, I don't have much time to continue writing much longer. We are in the process of deciding whether we want to take the 6 hour bus ride to Cambodia's capital tomorrow afternoon or if we want to fly into Pakse (southern Laos) or Luang Prabang (northern Laos). Even though we have more than a week left, the travel between these areas will probably be long and unfortunately, we're going to have to make some decisions about where we should spend the rest of our time before flying to Bangkok for New Years Eve. I hate these decisions! By the way, I think I took over 200 photos just in one day today - not even half are probably of the temples. Like I mentioned earlier, Cambodian people are beautiful and allowed us to take photos of them and their children. Some children you just want to pick up and take home with you. They speak english so well, and they sell you bracelets, or soda, or books - anything for $1. It's heartwarming and heartwrenching at the same time. Until next time, Deanna PS Merry Christmas!