Cambodia's Ancient Temples

As strange as it sounds, considering we're on a trip of a lifetime in an exotic land, we've adopted a bit of a routine. Our day starts with showers and breakfast. Breakfast has a basic selection of Chinese buffet along with a fresh omelet, plain conjee and, if we're lucky,Cambodian noodle soup. Then, on those days that we are doing day trips, we pile into the van and drive for at least an hour to our morning destination. Some of our most recent activities include a swim in a tropical waterfall, visiting the Angkor temples (which there are many) and an exciting elephant ride up a hill to watch the sunset perched on the top of an ancient temple. Out of our party of 13, only 2 of us have no Cambodian blood and therefore need to pay for admission to the Angkor temples. After our visits, we find some lunch and then go back to the hotel for a nap (parents only) and a swim in the pool. Then if we've got the energy, we do a late afternoon outing before a dinner and early evening bedtime. Our group is a hodgepodge of ages and nationalities with their own agendas during the outings. The older Cambodian members of the group (the oldest being over 80) just like being out and about with a few cute kids to spoil with toys and treats. They don't like doing anything too active and often wait for us at the entrance to each landmark since they have no interest in seeing things for the hundredth time. Then there is my sister-in-law, her husband and their 9-month old (Allison). They would like to see everything but the ball and chain aka Allison decides how much they can do and when they can do it. She's running their show and it's not uncommon for them to opt out of dinners or the occasional outing to let her sleep and eat in the comforts of the hotel. Sophie has decided that as the only 5-year old in the party she doesn't need to push herself as hard as the others. She often opts out of walks around the temples for the welcoming embrace of the older folk. And who can blame her really, visiting some moldy old temples has nothing over being doted on by 5 older family members that buy her anything she wants. That leaves the older two kids, Lo and myself. We are loving exploring the jungles, the ruins and everything else about our Cambodian outings. Our list of bumps and bruises to date include a 24hr case of food poisoning (me), almost falling between some steps to the jungle floor below (Nick), a bumped head on the side of the pool (Nick), a cut knee on the pool steps (Sophie) and a family case of bathroom issues. The only other story of note from the amazing temple visits (we'll have lots of pictures to show everyone) happened when Juliette and I got separated from anyone that could speak Cambodian and tried to exit and re-enter a temple site in the Angkor complex. Entry to the sites for foreigners without tickets is strictly enforced and I'm constantly challenged to show mine at every occasion. On this specific visit though the ticket checkers kept on asking for Juliette's ticket. I told them she was half Khmer (aka Cambodian) but this did not satisfy them. One asked to see her passport, another asked her to speak Khmer. In the end, I couldn't give them an answer that would satisfy them so we just walked passed their protests (with no consequences) even though they were ordering us to stop. That's all from the our Angkor Watt adventures, next stop is Kampong Thom where we are staying in an amazing house, stay tuned.