Last Meal and Cambodia

We woke up on our last day in Bangkok with every intention of going to Lumpini Park and exploring, but every time we tried to leave it started raining on us, so we tucked our intentions in our back pockets and instead listened to the tiny fat kid voice inside (you know what I'm talking about!) and went back to the Dim Sum restaurant for round 2.  Yea, I know, how embarrassing!  We obviously have no shame and it's a good thing because it was just as delicious the second time around.

Yes, we're aware we're animals.

Then we went back to the hostel and the boys played PS4 while I napped until we had to leave for the airport.

We had to seperate from Niny pretty early (we were international and he was domestic), but he did make it home about 30 hours later:

Hahaha he looks miserable.  For all those that think travelling is completely fun and glamorous all of the time, I can guarantee you it isn't like that at all.  Budget travel is definitely not for the faint of heart.  Good job, Niny!  Popped your travel cherry!

While waiting at the airport in Bangkok, Aaron and I got some grub:

Yummy!

We flew to Siem Reap, Cambodia and arrived around 9pm:

Man oh man is it humid here!

We had to get visas, which was a very long, disorganized process.  Get it together, Cambodia!

Finally we got some local cash (called Riel):

although we learned soon after that everywhere you go takes U.S. Dollars (in fact they prefer it).  They quote all prices in dollars and most get by without ever having to get their hands on any Riel,  although sometimes they give change in Riel because they have bills that are less than a U.S. penny!  I'm telling you, places like Cambodia make you feel like a star because everything's really cheap (even in the touristy areas).  You can get a meal for $3-$4, you can get a cab for $5, drinks for $2-$5, souvenirs and gifts for under $5, yipee!

Let's quickly get a little history into Cambodia.  They underwent a tumultuous few decades recently forever shaping their culture.  During the reign of The Khmer Rouge (a Communist Party in Cambodia in the 70's, led by a guy named Pol Pot), the genocide of over 2 million Cambodians was orchestrated.  An entire generation was completely scarred, traumatized and murdered.  I would say 100% of families lost someone they loved and the pain still exists to this day.  Unbelievable.
The people of Cambodia do actually refer to themselves as Khmer.  It's their nationality, ethnicity and language.  Cambodian seems to be a term Americans adopted.  Confused?  I sure was when I got here and everyone is identifying as Khmer.  I thought it would be insensitive to mention Khmer, but it's literally who they are and we're just stupid Americans who just CHANGED THE NAME OF THEIR NATIONALITY!  Audacious!  It's like Columbus with the "Indians" all over again.  Okay, history lesson over.

Anyway, we grabbed a taxi to our hostel (it was about $7/person/night, which was pricier than most others I saw online, but worth it):

You have to take your shoes off at the door and walk everywhere barefoot.  Kinda weird, but they're constantly cleaning the floors, so whatev:

Then we got some grub:.  Morning glory, my new favorite Asian veggie:

Chicken skewer and pork ribs:

and some good ol' Angkor beer:

with a cool soda tab-cap thingy:

Incredibly yummy, late-night nosh.

The taxi driver who brought us from the airport told us he would take us on a tour through Angkor Wat in an air conditioned van starting at sunrise and going all day (if we wanted).  We thought it would be worth the extra money for the AC, so we agreed on $35 for the day.  We got very little sleep that night and woke up around 4:30am to meet with the driver at 5am.

I'm going to try to post Angkor Wat today, but the internet at our hostel cuts in and out and there are A LOT of pictures, so we'll see!  Trust me, you don't want to miss it!!