Sorry I've been so lax in posting, but things have been crazy here lately! And I can't believe a week has gone by already---in an hour or so I head off to the village again.
This past weekend we left the hustle and bustle of Phnom Penh and headed 6 hours north along windy country roads to Siem Reap, Cambodia's former capital. This area is most well known for the temples of Angkor Wat that surround it, but the town has a few sites of its own. When we first arrived, we took boat out on the Great Lake Tonle Sap to see one of the floating fishing villages.
The entire village--homes, schools, markets, etc is suspended on water and only accessible by boat. 
The next morning we were up at 3:30 to see the sunrise over Angkor Wat. Though it as hard to keep my eyes open and pronounce coherent sentences for the first few hours, it was well worth it for the AMAZING view!
Angkor Wat was built in the early 12th century King Suryavarman II and though it was originally a Hindu temple, as religion in this country shifted to Buddhism, the temple was likewise rededicated. It is such a massive structure and with three levels and countless rooms, and yet it is so intricately decorated with thousands of bas-relief carvings and other embellishments.
Ugh, I am having difficulty uploading pictures and we're about to take off for the village (wish me luck on the dreaded "taxi"...) but I wil try to add more when we return tomorrow.
so cool!
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