Ancient Wonders, Battambong floating villages

Should I have been more impressed by Angkor Wat? Probably!

Well, Rich (the australian I met in Phnom Penh) and I made our way EARLY (445 am) to get our tickets and the 'best' location to watch the sunrise. Like everyother major structure in the world when I visit, its under repair. That said, it impaired the picture and didn't make for such a grand pic. Bummer. Well, we didn't end up waiting for the sun to rise before we went inside. Its huge, and would've been amazing to see in its time... moats, water, tress, etc! It started getting more crowded once the sun was up and we headed out to Bayon. That one was cool! I knew I'd enjoy it just from seeing all the pics. I tried to take a bunch of awesome and fun pics but none turned out the way I had visioned... and again, I didn't get that perfect shot! Oh well, the faces were great! Then it was on to the Tomb Raider temple! That temple is completely falling apart and has been taken over by the jungle! It was pretty neat... but a lot of it is being retrofitted for safetly reasons, i would assume, and thus not accesible. Oh well, it was cool. Wel, at this point it was only 1030 so we headed into town to the market to get a cheap .50 fruit smoothie! They are totally addicting.

By chance I noticed the one bus company went to Battambang in the afternoon and that we wouldn't have to wait til the next morning so we packed and caught the afternoon bus. Battambang is pretty much like every other nonhuge city I've ever been to. Lots of little shops. I found a place with steamed corn at the market and for under $1 I had to things of corn and some rice for dinner... what a bargain!!

The next morning we headed out to three different temple sites. One was modern temples on a big hill. Another was ruins on a hill with a cool cave as the reward for scrambling down the back side (ok, we could've walked down the steps and then around the hill... but what fun is that!). The last was a modern temple in front of ruins. We also saw rice paper (that are used to make spring rolls) being made... thats quite the time consuming process!! Next we went on the bamboo train. Its this old train that locals use to get around (it goes in a straight line for about 7-10 kms). The rule of thumb is... which ever '"car" has the least amount of people, stuff (or no motos, etc) has to get off the track and disssemble their car. Its pretty cool.. and I got to drive it. It sounds like they are overhauling the trains in Cambodia to do international routes and this lovely piece of local life will die in the next year. As obviously a tiny bamboo one car train can't compete with huge trains! Google it...sorry i'm not in a descriptive mood currently!

The next morning we went to an even smaller town. We saw a floating village... its crazy. Everything floats.... schools, shops, industrial bits, houses, etc. The water does not look nice and they swim in it, bath in it, drink it, wash dishes in it and I'm assuming go to the toilet in it. Imagine that.

The next morning was Easter... and I celebrated by waiting for the bus for 3 1/2 hours... then sitting on a bus for 2 1/2 hours... walking around Phnom Penh for 1 1/2 hours cuz we were cheap and looking for the cheapest Guest house. But I did get Mexican twice! I'm pretty sick of rice.. and really my only other option is curry... and that involves rice!! I went back to my favorite coffee spot... where the guy remembered me. I only went three times... and that was over 2 weeks ago! It was great, I enjoyed 2 coffees, reading and talking to him on and off for awhile.

Today is about taking care of business. Printing CVs and Cover letters, getting passport photos (and to attach to the CV), applying for the Laos Visa, scan/emailing tax forms for NZ, etc, etc. This afternoon I'm off to different language schools. I can't decide: travel (as many schools are closed this week and for Khmer New Year next week) or stay and look for job??

Ok, well, sorry I'm not writing anything too exciting... but eh, its hot and I've got no energy! Oh, I slept MISERABLY last night. Part of being cheap is having a fan and not an AC and its is SOOOO hot in our room. UGH. Hopefully I'll crash tonight and sleep through the heat!