Sep 2,3- Siem Reap, Cambodia

I love Cambodia. I love the people, the history...the food! We left Saigon yesterday morning and were welcomed to Cambodia by the most polite group of people I have ever met. For a country with such a rough history, Cambodians are incredibly friendly and welcoming. Not to mention it also has some of the best looking men I've ever seen ;) The country relies on tourism, with roughly 2 million tourists every year. Some background on Cambodia. Between 1974-1979, Pol Pot, the leader of the Khmer Rouge, committed genocide on his own people and killed approximately 3 million people. He decided that 1974 was year zero, which implied that Cambodia was starting from a blank slate and all the intellectuals should be murdered. So basically anyone who had a brain and opposed him (teachers, engineers, etc) were taken to killing fields and shot. Because so many parents were killed during that time there is an unbelievable number of orphans in Cambodia, with 70% of the population under the age of 30.

Cambodia has such a vast history, and although the main religion is now Buddhism, it was originally Hinduism. It is home to the world's largest temple, Angkor Wat, which is a Hindu temple built in the 12th century. It's made out of sandstone and took over 400,000 workers 37 years to build, and is incredible.

The first temple we visited was To Prahm, which is where Tomb Raider was filmed with Angelina Jolie. This temple is almost in ruins, not from war or man, but from trees. Trees have grown around and through the temple, with their roots making the temple even more spectacular. We then visited Bayon, a temple composed of 216 faces of Vishnu, the Hindu god of preservation. Everywhere you look there is a face staring back at you, and the carvings are so intricate and detailed.

Today we visited Angkor Wat, the largest religious sculpture in the world. It is probably the most breathtaking thing I've ever seen, with three main towers in the center, surrounded by smaller temples. The wall carvings alone are marvelous, depicting epic tales of Rama and Sita, Hanuman's army, etc.

I had a special request (ahem Marie) to talk more about the food, and since I'm pretty sure Cambodian food is the best food I've ever tasted, I think this is a good opportunity. Last night we had an amazing meal consisting of:
Sauteed Eggplant with Ginger and Garlic
Grilled Fish with Raw Mango and Chilli Salsa
Amok Fish in Coconut steamed with Green Leaves, Peanuts, and Coconut Milk
Fried Fish with Ginger
Chicken Soup with Salty Lemon and Onion
All this including drinks for less than $30 altogether for 4 people.

Two days definitely wasn't enough time in Siem Reap, as we only got to see 4 or 5 temples out of hundreds. I would definitely love to come back here, home to one of travel wonders of the world.