Bangkok, Thailand/Siem Reap, Cambodia - Friday-Saturday, March 14-15

Bangkok, Thailand--Well, today didn't go as planned.  Once again, for the last couple of days I have been feeling quite ill.  Experiencing extreme dizziness, no balance and really tired.  I returned to the ship's doctor and she's not quite sure what's going on yet.  Had more IVs and antibiotics.  Sooo, today, once again, my wonderful husband will write the blog.  He left on an exciting overnight trip this morning to Angkor Wat, Cambodia.  It was a very special complimentary trip for full world cruise passengers.  So excited for him.  I wasn't in any condition to go but after much pleading he finally agreed to go without me.  It will be an incredible experience so I'm thrilled he decided to see it for the two of us.  Many people who have made the trip before said it was the highlight of their entire world voyage so I'm excited to hear about it when he returns tomorrow afternoon. Until then I'll settle for drinking water and resting.  Hopefully I'll be better in a couple of days.

Siem Reap, Cambodia--About 100 of the ship's passengers flew from Bangkok Airport to Siem Reap Airport in Cambodia for a tour of the famed Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom, sites of World Heritage ancient temples built in the 12th century.  The spectacle of this magnificent complex of temples and site of the ancient Khmer capital has to be seen to be believed.  Cambodia is located between Thailand, Laos and Vietnam.

Cambodia, long a mysterious designation, remains a visibly third world country, but it's long-suffering population is very friendly and hospitable.  During our one night stay we stayed at the Sofitel which is rated as a five-star hotel in Siem Reap, Cambodia. 

Prior to this journey when I thought about Cambodia I recalled "The Killing Fields"  when over two million people were killed by the Khmer Rouge.  Although the legacy of Pol Pot remains imprinted on the landscape the younger population has moved forward and the country is slowly developing.  When asked, all of our young (30 somethings) tour guides admitted that their parents had been forced by the Khmer Rouge in 1975, at the end of the Vietnam war when America left Cambodia, to abandon their homes and businesses to relocate into the countryside to become rice farmers.  After the Vietnamese invaded in 1978, the Khmer Rouge were ousted and peace came about.   Interestingly, Pol Pot was never brought to international trial, and lived out the rest of his life in a rural village.  Landmines continue to be discovered in the countryside so you must stay on pathways and not venture into the jungle. Attention to this dangerous situation gained international attention by Princess Diana under a foundation bearing her name.

Attractions in Cambodia include the awe-inspiring temples of Angkor, the swirling yellow waters of the Mekong, monks in saffron robes, steamy jungles, and motorbike traffic jams.  During our tours of the Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom temple sites the temperature was constantly in the 90s with high humidity.  The temple sites required walking up and down hundreds of stone steps.  All around each site there are thousands of carvings of figures depicting the history of the empire at the time.  There is an obvious India and Chinese influence in the stone carvings.  At night we watched the sun set over the Angkor Wat temple site.  That evening we relocated to the Angkor Thom walled city (Bayon Temple) site where we were treated to an outdoor dinner under a full moon with the Bayon Temple site lit up with lights and candles for effect.  During the evening, which included Green mango salad, spring rolls, Korko soup with scallop dumpling, Coco Shake, braised Mekong lobster, suckling duck, jasmine rice, and Khmer Sweet coffee, we were entertained with traditional dancers and musicians against the background of the Bayon Temple.  The next day we toured the temple during the early morning hours and again walked up and down hundreds of steep stone steps to view the stone carvings and the large facial images carved into the sandstone.  At the end the morning we re-boarded Bangkok Airways and flew back to Bangkok where we prepared to sail to Singapore.