Cambodia, A Sneak peek

I have SO much to blog about- but for now let me give you a sneak peek into Day 1 of Siem Reap Cambodia! 

Arrived Saturday night at 10:30 pm and reached hotel by 11, Skyped home to let them know I was OK and to say hello on my bday :)

Had a delightful massage and facial (for $50!) and then went to lunch at the Butterfly Cafe, recommended by friend and college roomie who had been here before. The Cafe has a garden with a net and hundreds of butterflies. Brochure says 1,000s but its in hundreds :) Still cool all the same! Then back to hotel for nap and tummy troubles (maybe restaurant wasn't that great . . . ) and then rallied for a night out in the infamous Night Market and Pub Street. I walked through Pub Street and enjoyed overhearing the music, seeing sights. Had it been a bachelorette party I would have signed up for the boozing/karaoking :)

First of many spirit houses

Stone on garden floor

Had no idea how many of these  I was in store for!

Restaurant, on left is a pool of fish

Name says it all

a couple of souvenirs :)

these were all over- which is gross (ahem, sorry, culturally interesting). . . 

But what is grosser I found were people enjoying meals while having their feet nibbled on!

More upscale stores

And then, the next morning, took off with my hired tour guide and tuk tuk to the Archaeological Park where the Angkor Wat temple is located along with many many more. Will get to the historical blogging later, but for now will let you see just a touch of what I was up to the last 4 days. . . 

6 am sunrise at Angkor Wat Temple

the four faces 

trees growing over decades old temples

A reprieve from the blistering sun- outside of my hotel room. with a book, iced coffee and water :)

modern temples

the countryside by tuk tuk :)

a boat ride on Tonle Sap lake to see the floating village

even with threatening skies, the tourists continued

to see the village on the lake

Later in the week,

the large circus tent a treat on the last night!! it was fantastic!

Phare Cambodia, very cool org: http://www.pharecambodiancircus.org/circus/

And so with many magical, mystical memories, I leave now- but will upload more details later!!

5-Day R&R for turning 29!

Well, the last thing one wants to do at the end of long HOT (the recent summer temps are at the 'feel like' temps of 113-115 F) is stick on computer and book a R&R. This will be my last 5 day R&R as we are now transitioning from 6 day work week to 5 beginning June 1. Also very excited that I am moving into a home June 9th and our Head of Office has approved Self-Drive- which will allow us ex-pats to use vehicles during non-working hours. I can already see myself driving to the track, running my laps under the stars, and then heading home in a vehicle ready to cook up some healthy dishes (so so so ready for my pizza/rice binge to end), watch a show and fall asleep in clean room!

Anyways, people were making suggestions for R&R locales- but there would be caveats to consider: is this affordable? Would I be disappointed to leave after 4 short days? How friendly is it to outsiders and furthermore, is it safe/accessible for a single female. My list included some choice spots in Philippines, the Great Wall China, Bangkok, Bali Indonesia, or Phuket in Thailand as well. Well, given the recent military coup in Thailand, http://www.economist.com/blogs/banyan/2014/05/military-coup-thailand , I took Thailand off map. Then considering David Sedaris' recent essay in "Let's Explore Diabetes With Owls" didn't lead me to think that China would be a peaceful retreat setting for exploration. And so, I went into Cambodia with a fresh outlook. Really, what did it was Holly a colleague here who RAVED about Siem Reap. So I leave on Saturday- fly from Tacloban to Manila, have a long layover (will try to keep all Kardashian reading to a minimum so I can catch up over layover) and then a 3 hour direct flight to Siem Reap. I will return to Manila on a 2AM flight Thursday, and arrive in Tacloban 6AM Friday morning ready for work at 8am. It will be brutal, but hopefully worth it :)

I saw this little blog and it seems to be a nice description of what's in store.

http://www.rustycompass.com/cambodia-travel-guide-37/siem-reap-6#.U4LJjfmSy2Z

http://www.rustycompass.com/gallery/siem-reap-essentials-77#.U4LJn_mSy2Z

 I plan on booking a hotel for the first night and then exploring the place to make sure I have the best spot on the block. There are loads of options. I was also advised to spend the money on a tour guide- as that way I will get all of the information instead of just gazing in awe :)

I hope you all had a wonderful Memorial Day Weekend! I got a massage yesterday and ate at "Uncle Sam's" an American themed restaurant. Not too shabby eh?

Sunday Funday!

Last Sunday went with 15 CRS staff to a little island 3 hours away. It was BEAUTIFUL! Took a 15 minute ferry ride and enjoyed the day. Brought my new snorkel set and saw awesome coral, starfish and other stuff. It was a great and much needed break. Meanwhile in the US, Mitch graduated! Wished I could have been there. Things are going OK here. Still no house, but hopefully one day soon. Love and miss you all like crazy. Can't wait to get internet back working at night!