Mekong & Siem Reap

Since we last wrote...

Saigon
We spent our 3rd day in Saigon partaking in a tour of the Mekong Delta... we woke up early, again, and got a egg-sandwich (street food) and took our 2 hour ride. As with the rest of our bus rides, we made a 25 minute pit stop at a "handicap craft" shop, where the locals painted pictures of everything Vietnam had to offer... Unfortunately, we didn't buy anything and were on our way.

At the Mekong, we took a boat to a local village. The village was known for their coconut/rice candy, and their fish (Which was known as "Elephant Ear" fish, comparable to a Catfish, for $7/kg...needless to say we didn't enjoy the speciality). In addition to the fish, they also had a bee hive, for local honey, and a large python which Elizabeth shouldered for a few pics (will certainly post these upon return).

Afterwards, we took a rowboat through some water palm trees (words don't do these justice) and an occassional house built into the river bank. At this island we watched "Traditional Vietnamese" singing (which was a ploy for tips), and ate fruit (pinapple (with a salt/chili mixture...sick!), mango, papaya, banana and lychees. Afterwards, we knew we had to try the durian (for those of you who don't know, Durian is local to SE Asia, and is supposed to have "the smell of hell, but the taste of heaven." If you haven't tried it, it smells a bit like rotten eggs, and tastes like a sweet version of the aforementioned. Nothing to brag about...

We met some English/Swedish friends on the tour, and had dinner with them at "Pub", and spent the evening partaking in pool, darts and drinking large pitchers of Tiger beer (the thai beer of choice). Unfortunately, the night was cut short due to our 8am flight the next morning...


Siem Reap, Cambodia

Siem Reap is located in North/Central Cambodia, and is home to the renowned Angkor Wat Temples. The complex is about 37 sq mi, and is the largest man made religious temple in the world.

We flew into Siem Reap, from Saigon, on a small prop-plane (no gate at the airport to hop on the plane, it was about 4 steps off the runway...). We landed in Siem Reap at 945, and were greeted by a driver from our hotel. We first drove by Angkor Wat, and then pulled into the hotel (I would call it a resort, but who's asking...). We were served a cold wash cloth, before our ice tea in a martini glass (with a bamboo straw) unlike anything we had experienced previously. We dropped our bags off in our room, and headed to the "Market" for lunch.

We found a restaurant from the Lonely Planet "Tin Fish" and ate curry, beef with onions, a couple beers and a few things which we can't describe. The restaurant was also known for its crocodile pit and its selection of wine (which we somehow missed both!). We spent the rest of the afternoon lounging at the pool (think resort pool). The evening hours were spent at a large temple watching the sunset over Angkor Wat. Unfortunately, the clouds/smog prevented a good viewing, but we sulked over beers/curry at the Red Piano for dinner (this is where Angelina Jolie, and crew, made favorites during their filming of Tomb Raider).


We woke up this morning at about 0430, to meet our tuk tuk driver "D", for a 0515 pickup to see the sunrise. We took some pretty amazing pictures from inside Angkor Wat, and then rode on to Da Thom & Ta Phom (where Tomb Raider was filmed) and ate mangos/pineapples throughout . The temples were amazing (our pictures will put it all into perspective)!!!

We spent the late afternoon at the resort/pool, and made it downtown for dinner at the Khmer Kitchen. Curry, Stir Fried Pumpkin, Angkor/Tiger beer filled the pallet and we're in for an early night!

We've got a long day tomorrow at the pool/on the plane to see Bangkok/Carrie & Janelle. Plus, we'll be pub crawling Bangkok to celebrate St. Patricks day on Saturday - we need to be well rested!!!!!