Ni Hao Flennaugh: Cambodia

Let me start off by saying, I never thought I would go to Cambodia. My list of places to go some day didn't have it, and I still don't know much about the country. However, we planned our spring vacation with our friends the Fendricks, and Mike definitely had it on his list. Well, after talking to some other expat friends who had recently been I was convinced. Someone told me it was there favorite place ever.

We flew into the city Siem Reap which is the most visited area because there are some very famous temples (Angkor Wat)there. Angkor Wat literally means 'city of temples', and it is the biggest religious structure in the world. Billed as the eighth wonder of the world, it was built in the 12th century and is now one of the most enduring architectural achievements in the world.

http://www.pilotguides.com/destination_guide/asia/cambodia/angkor_wat.php

Check out this video if you want to learn more about it:
http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/player/specials/ancient-mysteries/angkor-wat-temples.html

So, we were planning our trip and I knew we had to go to these temples. A little further research made me really interested in seeing a floating village on Tonle Sap. The whole idea of living on a lake is so interesting to me. I learned that even during the low-water season, thousands of people live on the lake on houseboats, without access to electricity or sanitation. Some people have generators they use at night, and we did see some TVs, but in all it is like camping, or some sort of adventure we would only do for a short time. These people live this way for their entire lives. We saw people bathing in the lake, washing dishes and fishing. We even saw a little boy using the lake as a toilet. It was something we will never forget.

This photo is what you typically see, except for the bike. We assume he is taking it to land (maybe 10-15 minute paddle) to run an errand for his family, maybe to buy vegetables or work (one job we saw was collecting recycling near the river bank).

This photo is showing some of the hundreds of houses on stilts that we saw. Every year the village people move to the higher ground for about two months and camp. Then, when they return they are forced to rebuild (mostly out of bamboo) their homes again.

These girls were trying to sell some plates to all the tourists. They thought Trejan was adorable, they even kissed him!

We walked around a bit, and I loved seeing this grandmother rocking the baby in a hammock, just a slice of life.

Famous area to take a photo, Angkor Wat at sunrise. We got up at 5am to catch this view. When we left there was a mob of kids trying to sell us trinkets and souvenirs. It was really hard to say no, and then after we did buy some things, other kids were jealous and one girl started to cry. It was so sad.