Siem Reap has a good sized downtown area with shops, hotels, a museum and a main drag called ‘Pub Street’. Pub Street looked like it was holding a backpacker convention. Almost every person on the street was visiting Cambodia as a part of a larger trip among it’s neighboring countries. Just like us, they believed if they had made the time to come all the way from Scotland, Australia, France or any other far off country they were going to see as much of the region as they possibly could. It was nice once again to talk with people who valued travel and long travel in the way that we do. However we still have yet to meet anyone to who is traveling for as long as we are planning to.

Ofer and I took one full day to explore Angkor. Angkor is about 400 square kilometers of temples, the most famous of them being Angkor Wot. The temples were built in the Khmer Empire of the 9th to the 15th centuries. Most of the temples were constructed in the shape of a tall mountain with large towers and most were filled to the brim with statues, carvings, lingas, and some were surrounded by moats.

Angkor was incredible. Some of the temples were in reasonably good shape considering their age and it was clear that there was great interest in protecting and restoring these relics as. Most of the temples consisted of long maze-like hallways that would open into smaller or larger corridors containing religious figures. They also led to open courtyard spaces that led you to different ways to enter the temple.

The sculptures and motifs carved into the temple walls were incredibly intricate, and it was fascinating to imagine how much planning and time it took to create such ornate and unique structures. One of my favorite aspects of the temples were the enormous faces carved into some of the stone pillars. At first I didn’t even notice the faces, they just blended so well into the rock, but once we saw them from the right angle we realized what we were looking at and found it hard to believe we had, at first sight, missed them! We heard that there are over 200 of these faces that cover the Bayon towers. There is a debate as to whose face they are but nevertheless they were peaceful and welcoming and the perfect backdrop for a few religious and philosophical conversations between Ofer and I.

The only thing slowing us down in Angkor was the scorching heat. We always had water bottles and took breaks to sit under trees and in the temples when we needed a break. But we were still incredibly dehydrated and exhausted after walking for very short times. But we continued on and saw the Elephant Temple, the Victory Gate, Preah Khan and many more including Ta Prohm best known for the trees intertwined with the stonework as featured in the Angelina Jolie movie Tomb Raider. The locals actually now call the temple the “Angeline Jolie Temple” since that is the name tourists commonly call it. While walking through some of these temples we finally had a good understanding of why areas like these are called ruins. Some of the sites of temples looked like they had gone through massive earthquakes and no longer resembled a building let alone a temple. Others still had a few doorways standing and sets of steep stairs mixed in among the rubble and huge slabs of stone. Ofer and I had fun exploring on our own through different passageways and across the ruins while still being able to see each other.

We were told by our tour guide that an interesting trip was to take a boat to see the ‘Water Village’. Ofer and I had no idea what he was talking about but we were both game for the experience. As we drove through the city and then into the more rural town we saw some incredible sights.

Of course there were families packed onto a single motorcycle and markets by the side of the road selling tiny bananas and dried fish. But we also saw fields of wild Lotus flowers, something I had been hoping to see in India. Also we saw makeshift gas stations that consisted of small racks holding liter sized bottles of gas. We heard that it was a dangerous place to visit because they commonly catch on fire and have even been confused by some as bottled water and proved fatal.

The further we drove we started to see hut like homes that had been built on sticks. Some were still right next to the road and as you looked out further they went out deeper and deeper into the water. Men and women were in canoes catching fish, kids were playing outside and mothers were inside the hut preparing the meals. It was one of the most humbling sites I had ever seen.

Our driver told us that if we were this elated at this village just wait until we really saw what the Water Village was all about. We boarded a small, covered, jet propelled boat and headed out to the river.

We were in a real like Waterworld. Huts were everywhere along the river right next to each other like little friendly neighborhoods and a few huts kept a good distance away from the others. We learned that the people who lived here depended completely on the water for their livelihoods.

Most of the residents will never live anywhere else in their lives than on the water. The huts are moved up to 10 times a year depending on the level of the river. They residents fish, play, raise pigs, cook, relax and even watch TV in their neighborhoods. We were shocked when we first drifted past the first hut that had a TV. What a crazy concept to think that there is a good chance that these people who are so far removed from the Western World have probably seen the same Friends episodes I have.

Tiny children manned their own paddle boats and waved when they saw us coming, yelling out the English phrases they knew. Women drifted by in their own boats going door to door and boat to boat selling food items and household goods. I had never seen so many people bathing in a river as I did in Cambodia. They did it right on the side or the stairs of their huts. They lathered with soap and used the river water to rinse off. Amazing. It looked incredibly refreshing and I found myself wanting to live in a Water Village hut for a few days.

We docked at a floating restaurant/bar/museum/store further down the river. There we were able to feed a huge tank of catfish, hold a massive python, get 10 feet from 50 or so crocodiles and watched the sunset. After the sunset we had to rush back to the boat and begin the trip home while there was still a little light left.

Over the next few days we spent time seeing more temples and important landmarks. We made it to a Luau type dinner complete with traditional Cambodian dancers (who were so beautiful by the way). We also decided to trek out to see a Water Village that was further away with very few tourists. Even though we had already seen something just like it days before we both felt like it was brand new.

Cambodia was a place that both Ofer and I would love to return to. From our experience it was a country filled with family oriented people who took great pride in their culture. They also seemed to find a beautiful balance between work and enjoyment of their lives. Every hut had a hammock and there were even bars set up right on the water where you can swing in your own hammock with a beer while watching the sunset.

Ofer and I decided that this was something the US is missing and that maybe one day we will create our own water restaurant/bar in a warm beach setting to highlight the lifestyle of the Cambodian Water Village. There was much we

didn’t get to see but we would like to think that someday we will make it back to Cambodia.