Angkor Wat by Bicycle

Cambodians love bikes. Sad as it is to say, it's probably all they can afford, but I like to think they enjoy the flat terrain, bright green rice patties, and slow pace of traveling by bicycle. We sure did. For 3 bucks we rented two bikes for the day and set off to explore the sites of Angkor Archaeoligical Park at our own pace. It's a little scary when you first start and have to get out of the town, as there are tuk-tuks, trucks, and motorbikes everywhere and seemingly no traffic laws (one of their favorite things is to drive on the wrong side of the street, but stay way over to the edge like that makes it okay), but once we made it out of town it was very relaxing and peaceful. It quckly became less about seeing the sites and more about just enjoying the ride. The scenery has a simple beauty to it, and it's really nice to wave and get a big smile from a local as you pass. When you stop at the temples, there's tons of people yelling at you and sometimes running after you to eat at their stall, buy some water, or purchase a souvenir. Many of these are small children, which is heartbreaking, but they can also be the most annoying. So, when you get into the countryside and pass some kids swimming in a river, or an old lady riding her bike, or farmer tending to his fields, and they give you a big smile and a wave, it helps you remember just how friendly these people are and what they have to resort to (yelling at and pestering tourists) just to survive. These people have been through unthinkable horrors in their lives, as we will learn more about in Phnom Pehn, so it's sad that the annoying touts can make you lose compassion for them. There's not much else to say about our bike ride except that we had a really great day and would highly recommend it as a great way to explore the park.

Steph coming through one of the gates of Angkor Thom

Not sure how we missed them the day before, but there were lots of monkeys

Some big lake

Rice patties

Kids playing in a watering hole

Cutest little girls ever. We couldn't help but buy some souvenirs from them.

Our last day in Siem Reap we planned to take a taxi a couple hours away to a temple that has been essentially left to the elements, waiting to be climbed over and explored Indiana Jones-style. This all sounded like good fun, but we were a little "templed-out" and instead opted for a day at the pool of a nearby resort. Kinda lazy, sure, but even on vacation you need a day off every now and then!