Day 10, 11,12 October 5-7 This morning all the excursions were optional ones that we had already done on our own or were not interested in doing them. After a leisurely breakfast and getting our luggage outside, we stayed in our room reading and playing solitaire until we needed to be in the lobby. We needed to check that our luggage went onto the bus, and then it was off to the airport. We each had to check in our own bags as they have strict weight limits, but as soon as that was done, there was a wheelchair waiting for me, and we went rapidly through immigration. However, when we got to security, they began searching my carry-on and finally found my big pair of Fiskars scissors that I had forgotten to put back in the checked baggage. I guess I will be getting a new pair of scissors. The flight was on Vietnam Air and was very pleasant. There were many flight attendants, and they were extremely helpful in getting me settled. It was an hour and a half flight, and they were able to serve everyone banh mi sandwiches. Since we landed out on the tarmac with stairs to go down, they put me in a portable elevator in a wheelchair, got us down, helped find our luggage and get us through customs and immigration, and onto our bus. I am very impressed with both the Vietnamese and the Cambodian air transportation system.

The hotel is about twenty minutes from the Airport. A new airport is scheduled to open at the end of the month and this one will completely close down. We checked into our room and got a chance to relax since we had the evening totally free.

The next day was our first visit to the Angkor Wat complex. Since I am having trouble getting around quickly, Binh and Fin, our guides, arranged for us to go in a tuk-tuk on our own with our own guide Binh also suggested I don’t go tomorrow since it is very uneven and has difficult footing. That sounded like a plan to me. The tuk-tuk took us fairly close to the Angkor Wat temple and the guide Visal helped me to the front of it. It is every bit as amazing as the pictures we have so often seen. Alan went up the stairs to explore and Visal found me a place to sit and have a whole coconut opened to be able to drink the very cold juice. He also had one of the vendor women fan me, so I must have looked very overheated. It is unbelievably hot and humid, like New Orleans in August. Inside the complex there were several sets of stars to climb and galleries to go through into the interior of the temple complex. Alan didn’t go up to the highest level of the temple but still managed some excellent views in the interior courtyard. He then headed out towards our prearranged meeting point, passing extensive wall carvings about battles and daily life. He didn’t find us and wandered around for a half hour or so. Visal went to look for Alan who was still exploring inside. When we were all reunited, Alan bought three t-shirts from the kind woman. I think she wanted to replace my entire wardrobe, but we stuck to the t-shirts.

We then got into the tuk-tuk which was able to pick us up at the vendors’ huts, and we went over to the Bayon Temple in the Angkor Thom section. This temple has amazing carved figures leading up to the entrance and seems to be the in-place for wedding pictures. Again, I waited outside, while Alan and Visal explored the inside. Outside the structure there are several levels of carved friezes depicting battles, daily life, and religious images. On all the towers there are Buddha faces looking in each of the four cardinal directions and representing the four cardinal virtues. Inside the building at Bayon are both Buddhist and some Hindu images. There are 49 towers. Inside it is cool and dark. Still very humid but a bit more comfortable.

Visal and Alan spent about an hour in the building and then retrieved BJ and got in the tuk-tuk and drove to meet everyone else for a group lunch at Street 27. There was yet another banana blossom salad (our fourth in a week) and a nice variety of Cambodian food. Back to the hotel for a short rest, and then out again in a tuk-tuk caravan, around the city ending in an artisan shopping area. Beautiful stone and wood carvings, and silk goods. We didn’t buy anything, came back to the hotel, took showers, and got room service for a late dinner.

This morning was another return to the Angkor Thom complex. I stayed at the hotel at the suggestion of the guides because of the extreme unevenness of the ground. Alan went and spent another several hours there. A return to Bayon for a quicker visit with the whole group, basically focusing on the sandstone friezes and only going a little way into the building before exiting again to get to the buses and then on to Ta Prohm, which was used for scenes in the Lara Croft, Tomb Raider movie. This complex was only partly excavated and restored and still has trees growing out of walls and towers. Also, a great deal more moss, lichen, and ferns as well as mahogany and eucalyptus trees. In all the complexes, the total population was well over a million people, compared to the present population of around 300,000.

Alan made the mistake of buying a silk scarf from one of the vendors and was constantly besieged by others trying to sell me more scarves and other things. It was like buying a new car and promptly having your entire Internet feed consisting of ads to buy exactly the car you just bought.  Then back to the hotel where a shower and lunch was followed by resting and working on the blog before a group dinner tonight. There was a show with tradition Cambodian dancing and costumes after dinner and was really enjoyable to watch.

Tomorrow morning, we are on an optional excursion riding in gondola boats around Angkor Thom. After that we board buses for the 4 ½ hour ride to our ship the Mekong Jewel. More when we get settled.