Back to Work

This morning I am back to work. All in all, it was a good week off and I feel fairly refreshed.  Siem Reap was a great destination and I find myself thinking I will go back again some day.  I like Cambodia in general and there are several towns that I would like to spend more time in, in the future.

The day after arriving in Saigon, Diep and I left early on a Sinh Cafe tour by bus. We spent 12 hours on the bus and two hours waiting in Pnom Penh, leaving us pretty exhausted by the time we got to Siem Reap that evening.  fortunately, it didn't take but about 12 hours total to get back to Saigon.  I think we will look more closely at air fare on our next visit.  The long bus ride aside, the tour itself was not bad.  I find myself wondering, however, if we would have been better off on our own, rather than with a professional guide.  With only one day in Siem Reap, I think the best way to go was with the guide, but if we had three days to explore the area I think we would have been better off on our own. The guide was very knowledgeable and more informative than I expected, though he did seem put out when I gave my opinion that Pol Pot was a physcho.

The beauty of the Angkor Wat and other temples in the area are beyond description for me. I posted some photos on my Google Plus and Facebook pages, but I think they are very much like the photos of everyone else who has traveled there.  I think the awe lies in the fact that all of the temples were built between 800 and 1200 AD and that they were abandoned for some three hundred years before being rediscovered by French explorers.  UNESCO and the Cambodian government deserved much credit in keeping the grounds in good condition for all to enjoy the beauty of this area.

Megan decided not to go with us because she had been before and she didn't much care to go again. This worked to our benefit, Diep and I, because it was one less person to worry about in our democratic way of deciding what to do.  Plus, we were more comfortable in the hotel room.  She ended up going to Long An to see some of her maternal relatives. She enjoyed it because her cousin let her drive the motorbike all the way back. I am not sure how far it is from Diep's house to Long An, but I know it is more than an hour on the bike. 

We got back on Friday, and Megan took her SAT on Saturday. Since the testing center was 15 kilomters from the apartment, I just waited at the test center rather than dropping her off and picking her up later. The five hours just sitting around was a pretty boring, but it wasn't as bad as 12 hours on a bus. 

Now I need to concentrate on our next mission in Vietnam.  After the mission, I plan on taking home leave to the U.S.  Diep is really looking forward to it this year and so am I.