behold! boulevards of bruised backsides!

Smiling faces. Dusty, bumpy roads. Herds of water buffalo in the road. Bikes. Young children all over the place--trying to sell you anything for "only one dollah, Ladyyyy. please, you buy? Ladyyy!" Motorbikes hauling loads five times their size and weaving around numerous pot-holes. More bikes. Everything is covered in a layer of dust. and... giant temples galore.

Yes, ladies and gents Cailin and Misra are in Cambodia!

Soursdey Chhnam Tmei!

(Happy New Year in Cambodian)

This is our fourth night in the town of Siem Reap where people come in droves to explore the breath-taking temples of Angkor. It being high-season over here, the enormous crowds of tourists are almost a sight in themselves. For the past three days, Misra and I have been spending our time visiting the temples and wondering at the incredibly detailed carvings which cover every wall. The architecture must have been something to behold back when it was first constructed, but now--it may even be more so due to walls barely held up by supports, leaning at odd angles, and the fact that--hey--they're still HERE! Trees that belong in the jungle book and imaginative fairy tales have wriggled their roots in between large stones and grown on top of glorious gateways and towers; their behemouth trunks shooting up up up.

This morning, Misra and I fell out of bed at the painful hour of 3.30 because we were under the impression our tuk-tuk driver was going to pick us up around 4 to go see the sunrise at Angkor Wat. Well, turned out he was arriving around four and that we would leave closer to five. umm. okay? When we woke ourselves up for the second time (dark:thirty a.m.), we set off for the grand temple down chilly morning streets. It has been our experience that roads in Cambodia are, ahem--to say the least: bumpy. We do not recommend attempting to eat or drink anything as a tuk-tuk passenger in Cambodia. Any such attempts my result in choking, an unexpected shower, or complete disaster.

Anyway......sorry. back to the story. Misra and I were surely some of the first to arrive at Angkor Wat this morning in the pitch black. We waited in the dark and watched the sky grow progressively lighter. Behind us, we could hear the crowd of eager tourists assembling. Radiant colors of peach, orange, deep red and yellow announced the arrival of the last sunrise of the year 2007. When the sun peaked above the horizon, clouds........yeah. okay. not quite. As the sky grew lighter, the only color in the sky was...gray. gray gray gray. oh well. The temples following more than made up for the disappointing dawn.

We are both loving Cambodia. People are so friendly.

Misra and I are shocked to think that the first leg of our trip (Thailand and Cambodia) is almost over. We have five days until we fly to Bali, Indonesia from Bangkok. Where did this month go? We are just living it day by day.

Hope you are all well and enjoying your New Year's celebrations. I know we are both looking forward to sleeping late tomorrow morning.

Cailin and Misra

By the way, in our room there is a sign by the door that reads, "Please turn off lights before living." ha!