Elephant Tales: No Tuk-Tuks, No Massages...and DON'T call me Lady

Way back in March I had traveled to Cambodia but only made it to Koh Kong, Sihanoukville and Phnom Penh. I was head over heels in love with the people, the food, and the overall attitude of the country. However, due to time constraints, I never made it to Siem Reap and Angkor Wat, but I knew I wasnt leaving SE Asia without going. So with 6 weeks to travel, I decided to dedicate a good chunk of time there, but first I had to get there from Laos, which was quite the trek, so I made a few stops.

As ecstatic as I was to be back in the Land of Smiles for a few days, my stopover towns left me feeling creeped out and anxious to get to Cambodia. For logistical purposes I stopped in Udon Thani and Khorat, both of which were oozing sex tourism. In Bangkok, it's one thing- it's easy to avoid the notorious streets- but there, I was not only THE ONLY female foreigner, I was also the only foreigner under 50 years old. I was very out of place and didn't do much with my time there ( except almost get crushed by an elephant and see this awesome movie).

So when the time came to get on a bus to the border, I hopped on, as ready as ever. (Actually, I was mildly freaking out because Siem Reap has been affected by flooding for the past month and I was dreading doing a hectic border crossing by myself and finding a safe and cheap 2 hour taxi ride to Siem Reap.) Alas, with no travel buddies to be found, I got in a tuk-tuk and braced myself for craziness. And what do you know?- I got dropped off at the scam office, but luckily I didn't fall for it. As I angrily headed towards actual immigration, a girl in a tuk-tuk was waving and grinning at me, but in my state of confusion, I had no idea who it was. But after I heard my name, and I focused a little more, I realized it was a girl, Krissy, I had met very briefly a couple months back in Chiang Mai. And with that, I had a travel buddy (and a dang good one at that!)

I was so excited to be back in Cambodia, and especially to see Angkor Wat. I was a little startled, however, when we neared the town and floodwater filled the streets. I ya. The taxi couldn't quite make it through the water, so Krissy and I hiked up our skirts and waded through knee deep water to get to the hostel. All part of the adventure, right? Within a couple of days, the water had receded and I was soon able to walk, not swim, my way through town.

The first part of my 10 day stay was filled with touristy fun. We found the cutest tuk-tuk driver and spent two days exploring the many temples of Angkor. We even got up bright and early one morning to see the sunrise at Angkor Wat. The temples were gorgeous and it was really amazing to be around such old structures. On one of the days we lucked out because not one other person was around when we toured some of the bigger complexes. I'm guessing it's because we had to trek through floods to see them, but it was totally worth it. For realz.

Besides the temples, it's easy to fill up days in Siem Reap... strolling around, shopping at the markets, lazing at a cafe, drinking an Angkor beer and eating at the variety of restaurants. Lucky for me, Krissy is also a foodie, and we were all about trying new places and making friends with aaallll of the workers. (I've become such a flirt with the locals!) But one of my favorite outings in my time was jumping on the back of a motorbike and going to the Landmine Museum, which tells the amazing story of a once soldier who now defuses the mines scattered across the country. The small museum is about an hour away from the main town, and I absolutely loved the ride to and from, through the villages and past the countryside. My moto picked up on the fact that I love exploring, especially on a motorbike, and drove me around more of these villages. I mastered the side-sit on the motorbike and tried to take as many photos as possible. As you can see from the epic length of this post, I loved everything about Siem Reap (sorry!). Cambodia is definitely something special, and I found that out in Part 2 of my Siem Reap adventures...