Cheers from 'Bodia!

Hi!!!

We are writing you now from Siem Reap, Cambodia! We arrived yesterday at around 2pm and checked into a lovely boutique hotel in the French Quarter called Central Boutique. It is scorching hot here in the jungle so we took a swim in the pool the moment we checked in. The two kiwis that we met playing darts in Phenom Penh recommended that we hit up Angkor Wat for sunset at 6:30 (sun sets very early at the equator). We headed to the ancient temples and walked around the main temple "Angkor Wat". Fascinating!!! The sheer size and extravagance is indescribable. The weather was stormy and the lighting and thunder added to the experience. We only had time to take a couple of picutres before we were kicked out. After the temples, we went to a Cambodian version of the luau, which included dinner and traditional dancing. And yes, the guys had a fun time too! We were pretty exhausted after the show so we went for a midnight swim and to bed early so we could get up and explore Angkor again.

The next morning we got up at 6:30am and got to the temples. First we drove to see the Tomb Raider temple and explored through all the trees and broken ruins. So cool!! Sara and I took a couple of Laura Croft shots :) Next we went to the only temple that wasn't used as a residence, but instead a temple for prayer. The stairs were sooooo high and steep to climb! Especially for tall people like us. Never the less, we all made it to the top. Even Sara who is terrified of heights. We went to Bayon which has 4 faces on each side of all 54 towers. Each face stands for a different Buddist principles: Compassion, Kindness, Community and Sympathy. We spent a majority of the day exploring the various temples. I took almost 200 pictures today alone, so we will have many to share.

After the temples we headed into town to the downtown hot spot called Pub Street. Appropriate, huh?! We went to a few happy hours and even wrote our names on the wall of the local bar for memories. Now we are back at the pool having dinner and then we are headed out for one last night before our flight to Malyasia and then Thailand!

Hope all is well in the states, talk to you soon!

Lauren, Sara, Rick and Jared