Cambodia!

My mom is posting my email messages so that people can read what I"m up to since internet access here is rather slow.

September 4

We had another great (but tiring) day today. internet is really slow tonight, so I can't update my blog, but i will hopefully be able to in Phnom Penh (where we're going tomorrow, by bus).

Our driver picked us up at 5am and we went to sunrise at Angkor Wat. it was... unimpressive. it's really unfortunate... we did sunset there last night, sunrise this morning, and we tried to do sunrise at Machu Picchu, and all were just not what the mind imagined.

We then had coffee and breakfast at a little "restaurant" outside the temples (really more of a covered patio, kind of like the picnic areas at parks, with lots of plastic tables) and then took a 30 minute drive to the "ladies temple," so called because of the more intricate carvings and the slight pinkish tint to the stone.

Then our driver detached the tuk-tuk from the motorcycle and the three of us drove 45 minutes to a place where Joann and I disembarked and hiked 30 minutes up to a small waterfall.

The coolest part was that in the stream the ground/stone was carved into these half-spheres... very strange, we don't quite know what it is--a water temple kind of thing maybe?

We hiked back down, moto-ed back 45 minutes, and then went to 2 other very cool temples, and then arrived back at the hotel just before 4. We were EXHAUSTED, but it had been an awesome day.

One of the most interesting things was that both at the waterfall, and at the market outside one of the temples, we ran into people we had seen at Angkor Wat yesterday afternoon (and reciprocally taken photos of). small world.

Anyway, there was a floating village we could have visited, but we were soooo hot and tired and sweaty and hungry that we decided that will be for next time we come to Cambodia (and I would totally visit again. So far it's high high high on the list of vacation spots I would recommend to anyone).