Tabitha's Non-European Adventures: Bangkok (Part 3)

On our final full day in Bangkok we took a river taxi, visited a market that had even fewer health restrictions than the markets in Spain, and went to the Vimanmek Palace, built in 1900 by King Rama V, and it's grounds. The buildings on the grounds of the Vimanmek Palace were small museums filled with clocks, textiles, crafts, etc., that had been given to, or made by the Thais. However, photography was not allowed in any of the buildings.  We were actually required to place our cameras and other belongings in a locker and take off our shoes before entering any of the buildings.

Boats on the dirty river.

There were many buckets full of live swimming things.

Dried and salted fish.  

I am pretty sure that is a pile of tongues.

Live catfish anyone?

Check out the mounds of spicy peppers!
The Thais like their food hot.

Vimanmek Palace.  It was built with no metal.
(There are no nails holding any of it together)

One of the beautiful buildings
on the grounds.

Check out the hood ornament!

Check out the etchings on the lamp!

Check out the shrubbery!

Tabitha's Non-European Adventures: Cambodia (Part 2)

The Temples of Angkor Wat

Visiting the temples of Angkor Wat was by far the highlight of the entire trip.  The temple compound was built in the 12th century.  There are numerous temples around the site, however Angkor Wat, the largest religious building in the world, is the best preserved and has had the most restoration work.  It was originally Hindu, but was converted to a Buddhist temple over the years.

The day began at 5:00 am when we (Mary and I) left the hotel to see the sunrise over Angkor Wat.  The tour van stopped in front of the long stone walking bridge that leads up to Angkor Wat.  It was dark and I couldn't see anything.  I began to follow the stone bridge with the help of the guide's flashlight.  The smell of incense hung in the air. As I walked through the main entrance to the grounds of the impressive temple I could see the outline, but no more.

I stood at the edge of the moat and as the day began, the details of the temple appeared in front me.

The outline of Angkor Wat early in the morning.

The temple begins to appear.

The moat and stone path leading to Angkor Wat.

More pictures of and from Angkor Wat.

One of the six libraries at the temple.

The tour guide!

There were many other temples around Angkor Wat.  Here are some of my favorite pictures from those temples. *Reminder- Clicking on the images will make them bigger.

These are good gods using a giant snake for a tug-of-war
with the evil gods on the other side of the bridge.

Close up of the good gods.

The evil gods.

Three-headed elephants.

A five-headed horse.

A dinosaur!?!?

Tabitha's Non-European Adventures: Cambodia (Part 1)

A Holiday in Cambodia

The highlight attraction of my trip to Cambodia was seeing Angkor Wat, however getting to the temple is no easy task.  We hired a taxi to take us from our hotel in Bangkok to our hotel in Siem Reap, Cambodia.  The taxi is not allowed to cross the border, and we were required to cross by foot.  Immediately after our taxi stopped on the Thailand side, there were young children with luggage carts trying to take our luggage for tips.  As Americans, we were required to get a tourist visa to cross the borde,r and many people take advantage of the tourists needing a visa. 

After the children appeared to try to take our bags, the scam artists showed up to try to sell visas or to “help you across the border for free.”  Once we figured out which direction to walk, we held our breaths and headed across the ~200 meter border while trying to ignore anyone and everyone that was not in an official uniform.  We actually had one scam artist who tried to “help” us for the entire 200 meters!  We finally found the building for the visas, got our visas, and were officially in Cambodia.

Right after we crossed the border a tour guide was waiting for us.  This was a huge relief, however before we got to the taxi we had to board a bus to the bus and taxi stand.  Our taxi (an old Toyota with no seat belts in the back) took us the rest of the way to our hotel.

The two hour drive from the border to Siem Reap was terrifying and shocking.  The two lane street became four and there was continuous passing by trucks, cars, motorbikes, motorcycles, and cows.  The taxi driver was very aggressive and we almost hit every type of vehicle, not to mention some cows.  In addition to kamikaze driving, I was immediately struck by the poverty in Cambodia. People lived in shacks, the trucks were filled with people in the back, a motorbike would carry an entire family, including infants in their parents arms.  

The sides of the road were filled with garbage, mangy dogs and cats, chickens, and naked children.

We finally reached our hotel and the next day began touring.  The first place we went was to a floating village.  The floating village is a perfect example of what a sad, yet beautiful place Cambodia is.  

The children often try to sell cold drinks to tourists
or wrap snakes around their bodies
for tourists to pay to take pictures.
It doesn't appear that there are child labor laws... 

You often see kids wearing just shirts or nothing at all.

Plastic is used to keep the boat from sinking.

A fruit market on the water.

It is surprising to see such luxuries as TVs

Under the houses there are
crocodile or fish farms.

The floating village

Paddling down the water.

The captain of our boat.

It is the dry season and boats can get stuck in the shallow water.

Paddling.

Fishing.

More fishing.

Biking.

Near the floating village was a beautiful lotus farm.

However, you are always reminded of the poverty.

One of the families that
tends to the lotus farm.