Temples, Genocides, War.....and a Waterpark!

Well, we are sadly on the last leg of our journey (or race as we like to say). We have survived Cambodia which was not nearly as difficult as we thought. I will be posting pictures from siem reap and angkor wat. But we have also been through Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville (the Cambodian Beaches). We are now in Ho Chi Minh (Saigon), Vietnam (along with the one and only miss angelina jolie...they weren't at the water park though, which we thought was a sure thing to do witha new adopted child, oh well).

This is Angkor Wat...obviously the main attraction at angkor. This was on our first day there, though we made it back for sunset the second day. Armed with our own chauffeur forthe day (which we subsequently lost, but there was no shortge of them willing to drive us), we started at the largest religious building in the world. The pictures will not do this place justice. Nat and I just felt glad that we had the chance to see it.

This picture was a must have. Its really just that the orange and red of the monks robes standout really well on the grey temple background.

Bayon Temple (my personal favourite) had around 216 faces made out of stone, EVERYWHERE.

Angkor Thom was another amazing one. With most of the temples, the jungle had been cleared away to make them easier for the busloads of tourists to walk through, for this one, the trees had been left in place and they literally had roots over the temples. I have no idea how to explain how that works...but it does. This was also a setting where Ms. Jolie taped some of tomb raider...she has been somewhat constant throughout this trip.

After Two days of temples (highlighted above) we took some time off on Bar St. This was one night when we met a couple who were living in Singapore, but originally from canada one of them gave Curly her camera. he took maybe 50 pictures and was very amused with it. As was his sister thsekids actually work the strip of bars. we bought them some food the night before but there's really not much you can do. other than play with them a bit.

After a day off from sightseeing, we traveled to Phnom Penh (Capital of Cambodia). Here we took in some of the History that as it turns out doesnt make all that much sense (as could be imagined duirng genocides). There were the killing fields, which is where people were killed and buried in mass graves (now commemorated by a monument) and the Tong Sleung Genocide museum which was a school before the khmer rouge (i think), turned it into a prison and torture building. So, needless to say, not the best day, but necessary all the same.

From phnom penh we went to Sihanoukville, Cambodia (the beaches in the south) to rest for a few days, and figured St. patty's might be good to spend on the beach. turns out it was successfully the worst St Pattys day ever. I won't get into details, it was just nothing to what we're used to.

From Sihanoukville, we crossed the border into Vietnam. Now in Saigon we have been to a waterpark, which was quitefun and pretty self-explanatory, except you don't have to carry your tubes to the top of the slide. there is a conveyor belt to take them for you....genious. They also had a black hole type slide (wonderland reminiscent) that made scary noises as you went down.

After a night of celebration (of Nat's acceptance to NYU) we visited the war museum and got a dose of ...well war. Tonight we will be leaving for Nha Trang (more beaches!!!) and then Hoi An (tailor made clothes !!!) and then...

Love you,miss you. Love the comments!!! (but keep em comin!)

p.s. Meant to have more pics, they won't load....