Adventures of Living Abroad

Our final part of the trip was over to Ratanakiri province in the northeast of Cambodia. I was feeling both excited and a bit apprehensive about this final leg of the trip because it is far less developed than the other areas were in, but I was looking forward to seeing the countryside. We rented a motorbike so we could explore on our own. Our hotel was a bit outside of the center of town, but the view was totally worth it. We spent our time exploring waterfall, accidentally driving through a rubber plantation, and swimming in the beautiful clean and clear Lake Yeak Laom which rests in a 4,000 year old volcano crater. On the bus from Siem Reap to Banlung The view at our hotel Climbed on the bike, wrapped our kromas around our faces to try to prevent the red dirt was getting in,  and rode off down the red dirt road ready to explore the countryside! A view of the road - this was one of the main highways in the province!  No that's not tan lin...

From Battambang, we took a bus (about 4 hours I think) to the tourist city of Siem Reap to tour Anchor Wat. Siem Reap was very different than Battambang....much more lively and lots of restaurants and shops filled with westerners!  Angkor Wat is one of the temples in the Angkor complex that showcase the remains of the Khmer Empire from the 9th to 15th centuries. We toured the famous Angkor Wat temple, Bayon temple, Ta Prohm and a few more. We tried to arrive at Angkor Wat for the sunset, but it was very foggy that day. We took our time as we strolled through the temple and grounds marveling at the intricate sculptures and impressive size of the temple. It felt like a truly magical experience to be. From Angkor Wat or tuk-tuk driver spent the rest of the day driving us around the complex to view some of the other temples. We couldn't possibly see all the temples in one and that is why many people get a 3-day pass.    ...

We left the capital of Phnom Penh and headed to a less known city called Battambang. We made the 6 or so hour journey relatively comfortably in a large van. We decided to visit Battambang because it was on the way to Siem Reap and had some interesting things to see. Battambang is the second largest city in Cambodia. We were really glad we went! It was a city with a small town friendly feel to it, much quieter and cleaner than Phnom Penh.  We visited the famous Wat Ek Phnom which is a temple built in the 11th century. It sits behind a newer fully functioning temple. We had the ruins to ourselves and enjoyed wandering around this quiet ancient spot.  We took another day trip outside of Battambang to ride on the bamboo train. It was a unique experience. I believe the bamboo train began operating in the 1980s. We paid our fee and hopped on to the front of the bamboo train sitting on a well worn mat. The woman and her son sat behind us...