Moving Day!

I moved today! Woo hoo! Well first of all I slept in this morning which was WONDERFUL! I then tried to figure out the best way to move. Like I said I have no wiggle room in my suitcases (yes..plural) so it didn’t really make sense to pack everything up to move a couple of doors down. So I carried everything! It actually took a while seeing as I only have two hands..but I made it work!

I then spent some time relaxing, catching up on blogs (I have fallen SO far behind) and just enjoying a morning and early afternoon doing NOTHING. Sometimes I feel guilty when I take time to stay inside and chill because I think, “Ugh I am in (fill in the blank) and I am inside!” BUT I know that I need a break and a rest and I will appreciate where I am a lot more after having rested up!

I think before I moved into this new room, a city of bugs lived here. Yes, a city! I think I have counted about 7 daddy long legs and I HATE those. I feel as though I spend most of my time killing bugs, especially when they crawl on me in my bed. NOT OK! Ants, spiders, things that crawl and then decide to FLY! I try not to think about it too much but ugh sometimes it just grosses me out!

I took a nice warm shower and it was wonderful! I had forgotten how much I miss hot water! It also made up for all the moving I had to do. I had a nice PB&J sandwich for lunch and then got ready for my afternoon tour. My Temple pass is good for any three days until next Friday. Apparently, they just changed the rule because you use to have to use it three days in a ROW! Talk about being Temple’d out! So I decided I would do a full day tour on Saturday, a half day tour on Sunday and then I would pick a day next week to do some touring. I do want to see all Angkor has to offer, but I also know myself well enough to know three full days is too much!

I found a different guide through trip advisor to use for Sunday afternoon and Wednesday. The plan was to meet at the homestay at 3:00pm but I realize I had a missed call from him at 2:35pm. I figured he was lost..like everyone else when they try to find this place! When I called back (about 5 minutes later) I heard a phone ring outside my room. “No way..” I thought. He said he was here and he thought he was outside my room. I told him I would be right there and scrambled to get ready!

He had a car as well and I can’t decide if I like the car idea. The AC is great and you go a lot faster..but there is something traditional about the tuk-tuk. I think though for me the car is a good idea because I can see a lot more and I do feel safer than hiring a tuk-tuk for the day since I am alone.

Sun Same is 27 and is from Siem Reap. He drove me to the Roluos Group which is a group of Temples about 20 minutes from town. We first saw Bakong, the biggest one and it was pretty. I was so glad we waited until the afternoon because the sun wasn’t as strong. We then went to Preah Ko and finally Lolei (there wasn’t much to see there). I wasn’t overly impressed, but I knew I wanted to do the big temples my first day to make SURE I saw them and then do little ones.

I enjoy having a guide since I have NO idea what I am looking at and I also enjoy having someone to talk to. He told me more about how corrupt Cambodia is (he has to pay a “corruption” fee to get his tour license) and just things about life in Cambodia.

He then took me to Phnom Bakheng for sunset. This is the place KNOWN for sunset so I was ready for the crowds and they were there to greet me! It was actually a hike up to the top. The temple itself wasn’t anything amazing AND the stairs to get up to the top were CRAZY! Each stair must have been about 2 feet tall and the width of the stair was about 6 inches so there was no room to miscalculate your step! I didn’t see anyone fall, nor did I fall which really is a feat in itself!

Unfortunately, the sunset was not impressive. More so because there were clouds so as the sun started to set it was just covered by clouds. I was glad I did sunset last night so I did get to see a true sunset.

Coming down the stairs was a completely CRAZIER time and there was a line of people backed up. Again I did not fall so I was very proud!

I made my way back down the path to find Sun Same to head back to town. We got stuck in the “sunset traffic” but made it back so he could drop me off at the Temple Balcony so I could eat dinner and watch a show.

I had read that you could eat dinner and watch traditional Khmer dancing at this restaurant from 7:30pm-9:30pm. I decided to get there at 7:00pm as I knew a lot of the tour groups would have reserved seating and I might have trouble finding a place to sit. My table was ok, not the best view but I could see (more or less). I got spaghetti and waited for the show to start. I really wasn’t that impressed at all. It might have been because I couldn’t really see well..I am not sure. I am definitely glad I went to see it, but I don’t think I will be running back to see this show again anytime soon. The service was so slow so it took forever for me to get my check and when I did I was ready to hit the road!

I DID upload new videos (pictures are still coming) so make sure to check them out as I will have to delete ones to add NEW ones by the end of this week!

Hugs and kisses from my new room!