Scenic Route

Believe me, I can appreciate a nice pair of shoes; and I really enjoy my heels.   Really.   However, when traveling, here are the friends of my feet:  Tevas!  Yep, I'm a Teva gal.  For the last 6+ years these 3 pair have taken my wherever my wanderlust as led--without a blister or sore ankle.  My all-terrain Trudge Tevas on the left have climbed to tropical waterfalls and done the cobblestones of Prague & Istanbul--and cobblestones are notorius foot/leg killers.  Then my Beach Tevas have walked miles & miles to and from beach and/or pool.  Last, my Dress Tevas--not that I dress to kill when out and about; still, I try to avoid looking like a "soup sandwich" at dinner.  These little black numbers go with skirts, capris, etc. plus do all the waterfront or city walking in total comfort.  After a timeout, I rinse them all in vinegar water and they're good to go for the next trip. I have to throw in a picture of my favori...

Sokhum, my tuktuk driver for 5 days in yellow; Votah my tour guide for 3 days in the hat I found the people in Cambodia wonderful --up until now the people of Viet Nam had stolen my heart.  I found them open, helpful, gentle and smiling.  My dear tuktuk driver, Sokhum, got me "off the base" several times in an effort to help me out; one with a visa issue (I needed my e-visa enlarged and a sheet of visa pics taken and processed--so off to a crowded hole-in-the-wall place we went one evening :) and another time to get an international sim card for my cell phone.  It was a great way to get into back alleys, etc. My tour guide, Votah, was a hoot with his Australian English; but I also found him to be extremely knowledgeable about his country's history.  We had some great talks about our faiths and recent Cambodian history, the Khmer Rouge, and its affect on his own family.  He also got me off the beaten path to a local family (not his) who were in the proc...

These are some of the amazing carvings I saw at the temples. I think they speak for themselves--but how about that dinosaur??? It was rather teeny and tucked away--my guide pointed it out. Remember, these were constructed a little over a thousand years ago. ??? I thought the birth scene was interesting, too. Then, my favorites--the Apsara--the nymphs who acted as cheerleaders in the creation battle. In the carvings each Apsara, and there are a gazillion, has different facial features, different hair do's, skirts, and accessories. I thought they were charming.

My guide, Votah, insisted that we see the Floating Village one afternoon after lunch. I was less than enthusiastic envisioning some "cultural visit setup" where I would be hit upon from all sides to buy Stuff. I am SO glad I got to do this! We went in a rickety old boat down the Seam Reap River to Tonle Sap, one of Asia's largest fresh water lakes. The flow of the lake actually changes direction twice a year and its size changes dramatically several times a year, too. I was there towards the end of the dry season, so the river and lake were small, comparatively. It is home to gobs and gobs of all kinds of fish (how's that for a statistic?) Anyway, there is a huge community of floating Nomads that live on the lake! There was a school and a church and stores...and everything you could think of. At our stop (I was grateful I had grabbed lunch before we headed out, hehe) young children were bobbing in the water in big pans and holding snakes--$1 per p...

Here we go, the biggie: Angkor Wat. I flew into Seam Reap around midnight, so the following day I explored a bit, went to the National Museum (stellar, by the way), and located a licensed tour guide. The hotel had already provided my tuktuk driver for the week, so I was set there. On day 2, the guide met me at 5:15 in the morning (!) so I would be sure and catch Angkor Wat at sunrise. Then, back for breakfast and at 10 am we were off to other temples. We came back to Angkor Wat in a few days during the morning hours before it got too hot and the tourists became too thick. Angkor Wat is MASSIVE. Over 1 million people lived around and in it. The Wat was used just for worship, whereas Angkor Thom is where only the nobility lived. The 4 reservoirs were constructed over 1,000 years ago and are fed by natural springs so they are still in use. Children swim in them and I witnessed a local wedding taking place on the steps of one. That's another thing: the step risers everywhe...