Our first little family vacation....

So after the new year celebrations, we took a little trip to Siem Reap, the little town that is next to Angkor Wat temple complex. We left on Thursday morning at 8:30, using the bus system to get to our destination which lay 6 hours away. We arrived at the bus station filled with people trying to sell things like news papers and sunglasses. I would like to skip this next story, but I think you would all be missing out if I did not tell it. So there we are, me and Meghan, Gabi and the Sheehys, waiting for the bus, already bought our newspapers, when the sunglass man eyes me. I’m always interested in good deals, so I ask how much for the "Raybans". BIG MISTAKE!!!! He tells me they are $6 dollars a pair, which is very high, seeing as I bought my other pair (since I left my good ones at home, another mistake...) for only $3. I tell him no, but then he asks me what I would pay, And I told him that I would like two pair for 4 dollars, thinking that this was not the deal he was looking for, and that he would just find the next tourist looking person and bother them. Nope. He didn’t. He stayed right there and argued with me that I should pay $6 for two. "Ott thday, Ogune!!" I say, meaning No thank you... and he keeps on. I don’t really want these, I just wanted to see if I could get a bargain. By now the whole team is looking at us laughing, and Im thinking of ways to get this guy to find another dude, no luck. Meghan says "if we go inside the bus station office, he cant follow us." great plan! Dash! So now we are chilling in the A/C waiting for the bus to leave. Not being bothered by the nice man selling sunglasses. O wait, there he is, at the glass door, just waiting for us. Im about ready to pay him $15 dollars to leave me alone. I look at him and hold up four fingers, and he shakes his head. Fine, you talked me into it, Ill buy them for that great bargain. Four for two. I get the sunglasses. Hurray. Come on bus, hurry up and Load before the newspaper guy comes over. Im sure by now the sunglass man has told them that we will buy anything if we are pestered enough! So the bus loads and we are off. It was a great ride, nice to be in the A/C, and me and Meghan realize that its the first time in a month that we have been inside an actual vehicle. This nice bus also has a Bathroom. This nice bus has A/C. This nice bus has TVs. This nice bus also has great brakes. The brakes work great when they slam on to dodge the cow in the road, this also takes place when I am standing up facing the wrong way so my wife can take her seat again. I have a yellow leg. This nice bus also has great armrests that break your rapid approach to the front of the bus. This nice bus has a tour guide that looks at me like I just cheated death. Everyone on the bus gasps because I almost flew, except my wife who is curled over laughing, and I love her. We get to our wonderful hotel, and its amazing swimming pool, and get ready for our early morning adventure. We are being picked up at 4:30 to drive to the famous Angkor Wat temples. I dont remember the drive out there very well, except that it was pitch black and cold. Its funny how your body changes after just one month, pretty much everything but standing in the sun is cold to me, its sooo weird, its not that hot here, its just that there is no relief. Ever. Unless you go to lucky supermarket and stand by the freezer section and "debate" about which frozen fish we are "buying". So we arrive, and pay and get our passes. They take your picture, mostly because they like to have a good laugh at the people who look half dead at 4:45 in the morning, but there is also a rumor about how its so no one can steal your pass. We get somewhere, and the tuk tuk driver says that we walk that way, in the pitch dark. I really feel like im in a movie now, walking in the dark down some ancient pathway. Its dark, except for the nice people that check your passes, and how are they gonna know its you unless they shine the flashlight in your face and look at the photo that makes you look like a serial killer??? Keep walking. Meghan asks me if I know where we are headed, nope, no idea, but we are on a bridge now, and there is water on both sides, I know this only because there is that weird echo that only happens when your around water. I can see the people exiting the bridge, so we follow them to the front of this lake. There are some guys selling chairs, and lots of people lining up. I dont really want a chair, so we find a rock and sit. And wait. There are a ton of Japanese and Chinese tourists, its kinda weird to be with alot of tourist, but really just about the only Americans. Soon the sun starts to come, there has always been something romantic to me about the rising sun, the start of a new day, and to watch the light break over this old place makes it spectacular. The pictures are nothing compared to what it looks like. The sun peaks over the temples and I get some shots, but mostly just enjoy this amazing scene. Wow. So from there we start our self-guided tour. Looking at these amazing things done many years ago, we walk through temples, up temples and around temples. Soo many temples. The stairs are quite strange, almost ladder like. Dangerous, and this is not America, so if you feel inclined to climb them, you go for it. It was a ton of work to get to the top, but what a view. Gabi is with me and Meghan and points out something very profound. We dont have to work to get to our God, there are no stairs that we have to climb, He is with us. Wow. How powerful, all of this was built to be closer to God, when all along God just wanted to be closer to us. Powerful. We walk and look until we have used the batteries on all of the cameras, and head for a lunch and some shade. Shade is very important when your out in the mighty sun all day, its almost better than a glass of my moms iced tea on a hot day, almost. We found a little Cafe inside the Complex, and of course its really expensive, 6 dollars a plate. The group walks out, thinking we can get a better deal somewhere else. But the manager follows us out and tells us that he will make us a deal, 3 dollars a person for whatever we want. Yum! We get back to the hotel somewhere around 3 and realize that when you wake up at 4:30, you can get a heck of alot done by three. Also see really tired at three. Also see taking a nap for too long in the evening. Also see how to ruin your sleep schedule....
Much Love, Chris