The People Of Cambodia

We would not be doing Cambodia justice if we didn't feature the people in one of our posts.
These pictures are all of people going about their business; whether cycling home from school, catching a ride home with some monks, taking your cows for a walk, or fishing in the river for that night's dinner.
Although life is tough, the Cambodian people are some of the warmest we've met on our travels so far.

Banteay Srei and Kbal Spean

The 1st couple of photos are of a temple called Banteay Srei with very intricate stonework, which is said could only have been done by a woman.
Cambodia is also famous for being littered with landmines from the days of The Khmer Rouge. We saw clear evidence of this with the sign you see in the photo; read closely and you'll understand what we mean. We took the advice we were given not to stray far from the well trodden paths of tourists, as there was even now a high risk of stepping on a landmine.
Later we took a 1.5km walk up into the jungle of Siem Reap to trace a very special river and a place known as Kbal Spean. The river itself has sacred carvings in the riverbed and surrounding rocks. Carved hundreds of years ago by pesky monks and can still be seen to this day.

Aaaargh!!! More Temple Photos!!!!

As the title suggests..... More temple photos, including Shivani hanging around with Monks at Angkor Wat.

Tomb Raider

We went for our 3 day temple tour around The Angkor area and took lots and lots of photos. We've decided to only post the photos with us in them.
One of the temples we visited called Tha Phrom, was where the film Tomb Raider was filmed. So Shivani donned her combats and became Shivanjelina Jolie for the day. Andrew, as ever, was Andiana Jones - So, so SAD the pair of us!!

On a more serious note.... Although the photos look like they've come from a film set, these were real life temple ruins dating back from 900AD!

Siem Reap - Cambodia

We caught a flight from Krabi to Kuala Lumpur and stayed in the same hotel as the last time we were here. With only one night in KL, we headed straight out to hunt for cameras, then had dinner in Jalon Alor; a famous hawker food market, which we frequented last time. Had a great meal and then headed back to our hotel for an early night, as we had to be up at 03.30am to catch our flight to Siem Reap - Cambodia.

Now..... Love them or loathe them (we love them!), we have booked ourselves in for 3 days of Temple exploring in Angkor.

These 1st pictures are of a Temple called "Bayon" The Temple Of Smiles, see if you can tell why?!. Over 900 years old, all carved in sandstone, lost and rediscovered in the 20th century.

Words cannot describe, so we'll let the pictures do the talking..........

Krabi - 5 Nights in Paradise

Krabi is a place you could easily call paradise.
We spent 5 days relaxing, swimming and eating. The weather wasn't great while we were there, but it didn't spoil our determination to chill.
We did one day trip out on a speed boat to visit all the islands in the vicinity, including the one where "The Beach" was filmed and the James Bond film "Man With The Golden Gun" was also shot. We also visited Monkey Island, where you guessed it! There are lots of monkeys, including ones that drink coca cola!
Disaster struck though, when Shivani accidentally dipped the camera in the sea, whilst trying to get back to our speed boat. She slipped on a rock under the water; luckily she came to no more harm than small cut on her foot, but the camera did not fair so well. Therefore, these are the last photos you will see of Krabi and we will pick up another new camera once back in Kuala Lumpur. Hopefully, 3rd time lucky and we'll not lose or break this one!

Krabi - Thailand

We boarded a plane and flew south to Krabi, then caught a water taxi to Railay Bay; our next stop for 5 nights. After the smog and hustle bustle of Bangkok it would be nice to relax for a while. Krabi is on the southern tip of Thailand and plays host to a number of beaches as well as numerous islands. We are here off peak, so the skys are not as clear as we'd have liked and there is a bit of rain every now and then, but it is cheaper than at peak and almost as beautiful.
Check out the shot of our 1st sunset in Railay Bay...... Technically we arrived to the beach a little late and missed the sun actually setting. This is the moment after and we have not edited the photo in any way. It really was that cool blue colour!