Angkor Wat and What

I haven't written in the past few days because I've been too busy crawling up, down, and around ruins and temples, showering, passing out, showering again, eating, drinking, passing out, and then starting all over again.

The day before yesterday was our first full day at Angkor Park. I don't have the guide book handy to give you all the details, but Angkor is a complex made up of 200 temples built about 5,000 years ago. It was lost to civilization and reclaimed by the jungle until some Frenchman, trying to catch butterflies (gay, gay, gay!) stumbled upon it. I'd tell you what year, but I left the guide book in my room. The most famous temple is Angkor Wat. It's enormous and surrounded by a moat. Every surface in the temple is carved and decorated. When you climb the temples, it's at your own risk, and there were more than a few that we climbed, not knowing how we were going to make it down.

Yesterday, Trent and I went back to take more pictures of Angkor Wat, since by that time the day before my batteries were dying in my camera. Then we saw a few others - one gorgeous one seemed to go on for a mile and was beautifully falling apart with moss and trees growing out of it. I think I have over 150 pictures of the temples at Angkor... and we only saw maybe 10 of the 200 total.

Saying goodbye last night and this morning suuuuuuucked. I really can't express just how much I do not want to get on this flight tonight, but rather hire a boat and follow my friends up the river to Battambang and Bangkok. If I thought I could still get paid every two weeks, I probably wouldn't be back for six months. I know it's only been a few weeks, but it's incredible how quickly you assimilate to the culture and the pace here. I've got to get out of the habit of taking my shoes off before I enter stores, of walking in the street, of jaywalking between oncoming motorbikes and tuk-tuks, of saying "no thank you" the minute a stranger walks up to me because I know they want to sell me something, of $4 dinner entrees, of flip flops and no makeup, of leisurely afternoon showers before a long night out, of good company with people who quickly form a second family. There is nothing so stimulating and personally rewarding as traveling. This part of the world has caught my soul, and I will definitely be back next year, hopefully for longer.

I've got a few hours before my transfer picks me up to take me to the airport. They are going to be the longest ever.