Angkor Wat: You buy, you buy from me...

So we arrived in Cambodia Monday night. Had to get Visas to enter for $20 USD pp. Nice business for the Cam govt. Lots of people in line. Got to the hotel and it was awesome. Lots of French colonialism influence. Nice staff. VERY attentive. We hired a driver for Tuesday at Angkor Wat and scheduled a wake up call for 4:30 am so we could get up there for the sunrise. Our tickets to Angkor Wat were stamped at 5:12 am. We made it. Another $20 pp. So far, Cambodia is the most expensive place we have ever been to in South East Asia. The sunrise was under heavy cloud cover but it didn't take away from the awe of watching the light come up on one of the most amazing man-made structures one could ever imagine. It was also really neat to be there with all of the other psychos that got up at 4:30 am. There was a calm silence that we knew would be completely gone in another few hours once the tour buses rolled in. We were offered coffee from a small boy who from the outside appeared shy and meak. He was not however. When we didn't want his coffee, he showed us what it meant to be small but tough: "You buy, you buy from me". This turned out to be the theme of the day.

After sunrise, we went back to the hotel for breakfast and then headed back up to the other temples of Angkor Thom and surrounding area. It was a great day - we learned alot about the history of Cambodia during the times that these temples/cities were built as well as how the economy is currently supported by the tourism this great piece of history brings to the country. We were fascinated with the persistence of the children selling their wares inside of the temples. They would ask you where you were from, we would say "US" and they would say "US? Capital: Washington DC". THen we would say Illinois" and they would say "Capitol: Springfield". It was the same with each kid. Then we stumped them with "Maryland" and crumbled their code. Turns out they only knew 21 states and the capitals and Maryland just didn't make the cut. WE taught them about Annapolis. They sold us $4 cokes. Towards the end of the day, the only way we could get them to leave us along was by offering to re-sell them the things that other children had already sold us. This they were not interested in. However, at one point we did have some interest in a pen Jay found deep in his pocket. "Jay, don't forget me! You buy, you buy from me. You don't, you break my heart! Don't break my heart Jay!" Another kid, about 3, offered us the opportunity to take a picture of him for the bargain price of $1. Anyway, they were great kids - very enterprising and with a good sense of humor.

We made it till about 3:30 pm at which point the early morning wake up call had taken its toll. We headed back the hotel for a swim and shower and some beers. Jay made a friend with one particular bartender and learned lots about the current economy and how significant a role tourism plays (although he told us that 80% of Cambodians are farmers). All of Siem Reap is bascially like Lundy's Lane if you have ever been to Niagara - just nicer hotels but a much more impovrished surrounding area (ie: huts for locals).

We went into the downtown Siem Reap area for an amazing dinner of Khmer Curry. We had the price fixe menu for $4.50 USD pp. And $0.50 drafts. Great deal - really the only one in Cambodia. The next day we had to take a tuk tuk to the airport which was kind of a riot and were then promptly charged $25.00 USD pp to leave the country. So yes, Cambodia is the most expensive SE Asian country we have ever been to. But we loved it!