the trip to cambodia began from bangkok on a big, beautiful bus with air-conditioning (foreshadowing) to the border.  the border between thailand and cambodia is a pretty mellow place, especially in comparison with others i have been to.  we stood in a number of lines to leave thailand, receive cambodia visas and enter cambodia.  across the border....end of concrete.

there really isn't much on the border of cambodia, some casinos for thais on weekend excursions, but not much else.  i fell in love with cambodia as soon as i crossed the border.  it reminded me so much of paraguay.  it had a feeling of poverty, but happiness, that almost makes you forget about the dust and garbage strewn all over the place.

the road (i use the word loosely in this case) to siem reap is dirt and most definitely designed by professionals for some up and coming baha style race.  the craters seemed like they could swallow a truck, and the bridges, well, i tried not to watch.  we, 7 people, loaded our packs and bodies into the back of a pickup and got ready for the 6-7 hour ride.  it was about 4:00 by then so we knew that most of the ride would be in the dark. 

as we drove out of town and through the countryside it seemed that everyone we passed looked at us and laughed and gave a big hello.  it was wonderful to pass the small thatched huts and villages on the way and have everyone waving and getting a good laugh out of us.  we couldn't move to fast due to the huge craters, so actually got jostled around more than taking big hits...... although we had those as well.  i pulled out my stereo and played some good new orleans funk for the others and, through some suffering, enjoyed the landscape and nighttime air.

pulling into siam reap was a relief.  we found a guest house, grabbed a bite to eat and , took a long cold shower.   the next day we would be heading to see the khmer ruins of angkor wat.

the seven of us all piled on the back of motor scooters and headed for the ruins.  the various temples of angkor wat entail around fifty monuments and cover over 230 sq. kilometers.  most structures were built between the 9th and 13th centuries by various khmer kings. 

the first day we visited bayon, a huge temple complex including temples and a special area for parades and ceremonies for the king,  including a great sequence of carved elephants.  the central temple is beautiful.  it's central  tower has four large faces carved in the rock faces.  around the outside are some incredible base reliefs that that depict daily life, some really cool depictions of alligators and fish.  the time it must have taken is mind boggling.   it was fascinating to walk through the ruins and imagine what it must have been like hundreds of years ago. 

the next day we visited a number of different sites.  one large temple was occupied was "occupied" by a number of young girls who followed us around and called me a monkey because of my hairy arms and legs.  they screamed as i chased them around on all fours like a proper monkey.  the highlight of the day was at phrom, or the jungle temple.  the temple has been left pretty much as it was found; trees growing through and around the walls, vines growing all over the place and stones littering the courtyard and blocking the doorways.  this was my favorite, and brought out all the jungleman dreams i had as a kid.  it reminded me of the ruins in jungle book when king louie the orangutan does his groovin' jig to louie prima.  excellent!!!  i did my best to behave, but had the song in my head the whole time i was there.

the last day we went to angkor wat.  we had been walking so much the previous two days, that we just wanted to kick it there for the day.  it was also the first of jan. and we got a somewhat late start.    we got there before the tour buses so had it pretty much to ourselves.  the outside walls are all carved depicting various hindu mythology.  the detail and magnitude of the carvings was stunning (running out of adjectives).   we spent the day walking about the grounds, soaking in the atmosphere and snapping pics.  the sunset was nice and calm and brought our little angkor wat adventure to a beautiful end.

yet........there was still getting back.  since there wasn't much going on the previous day everyone seemed to want to head to thailand on the second.  so, instead of seven people and packs in the back, we went for 13.  the truck was smaller and we would be traveling during the day.  fortunately we were the first ones picked up, so we grabbed the seats nearest the cab and got ready.  it's all mental!  i couldn't move a damn thing, so it couldn't be physical!  anyway, we arrived safe.  dirty, tired, sore, but safe.  we looked forward to our big, beautiful, air-conditioned bus to bangkok.