With a long travel day the day before, I think everyone was happy to have a bit of time to sleep in this morning. I guess sleeping in is all relative. Most so us gathered in the hotel restaurant for breakfast. Luckily we got there early because it took about an hour to get our order taken and food brought out. The language barrier with the waitress was a bit challenging so a few of us were brought different orders but we all got food! The best find on the menu was the All Day Breakfast. For $1.75 you got coffee, two eggs, toast and a loaf of French bread. Or for $2 you could just have a cup of coffee.

Around 9:30 we loaded up our 5 tuk tuks. Josh and I partnered with Vince and took a ride with Mr. Dong. They told us to spread out our weight evenly so we put Josh and Vince on the back seat and then me facing them. We about popped a wheelie pulling out of Two Dragons.

It is only about a 15 minute ride through town to Angkor Wat, the temples and ruins. Apparently it is cheaper and faster to rent minivans, but I can't imagine that. You'd miss so much culture and experience and moments where you see your life flashing before your eyes. We arrived at the front gates and got our passes. We were told several times not to lose these passes or we would have to pay again. Although Americans think they can talk their way out if anything, such is not the case if you lose our temple pass.

We drove past the hords of people walking p to the main part of Angkor Wat. I mean thousands of people. Now we know who is staying in all those hotels. And most of the people I was seeing were Asian. Not Westerners. As out drivers took us back towards our ruins we came across the infamous location for playing with the monkeys. We hopped out and instantly a young girl appeared selling a green fruit I had never seen and bananas. The first bunch of bananas purchased were instantly snatched by a waiting monkey who jumped on top of a truck with them. We were warned to put away sunglasses, earrings and anything else loose. This sounds dangerous.

We must have spent an hour enticing monkeys to sit on our heads and eat food. I think I'm the only one who didn't. I preferred to take photos. A few baby monkeys were clutching to their mamas and nursing. The whole experience was entertaining, when they were full they simply walked off into the woods to take a nap, I presume.

Our next few stops were to look at ruins back in the jungle. Not too many people were at any of th stops we visited. The entire grounds are massive and it appears that 99% of visitors stay in the main temple and that is all. One cool one we stopped at was called Ghost Gate. Apparently way back when there were two gates for the returning army after battle. One gate for if the won, one if they lost. The gate for losing has since been named Ghost Gate by the Cambodians because they believe the spirits of the fallen soldiers pass through the gate every night. It is a very real superstition and because of that we were the only ones there. Our drivers apparently only come with us and a few of them stayed back.

Around lunch time we headed back to the hotel for lunch and a break.we met back up around 3 to head out for our evening session. I couldn't understand the name of the temple but I'm told it is the second most popular. However, everyone leaves to find a different place to watch sunset. We arrived a little early to go in. As soon as our tuk tuks stopped we were swarmed by local children trying to sell us things. It's overwhelming. Most of the group got back in their tuk tuks and headed up the road to play volleyball.

Vince and I stayed to stick it out. I wanted to see how Vince interacted with the children because I've noticed that they open up to him. Sure enough we got a group of sellers round us immediately. Probably 6 girls ranging in age from 7 to 12 and 3 women. We started talking to them. Learning their names, ages, where they live, go to school, how they learn English, quizzing them on their multiplication tables, teaching them knock knock jokes, you name it. They immediately stopped being robot salesman and turned to people. The children's eyes lit up when they got to talk about school and which friend was the best salesman. It was beautiful to get to see what a gentle people they are and unnerving at what they must do day in and day out to feed their families. And if you are wondering, they don't make the bracelets. They buy them wholesale. They told me. :)

Vince and I spent about half an hour with our new friends and then our old friends returned from volleyball. We headed into the temple. The absolute coolest thing about this temple was the enormous, I mean enormous, tree growing out of it. From the front it looks like its behind the center of the temple ruins. From behind you see it has physically grown over the ruins. Pretty darn cool. We spent a while wandering around until the guards hustled us out.

On the back side our drivers were waiting. Giddy as ever with a tuk tuk bar. They through beers at us and a hackie sack emerged from somewhere. A giant circle formed and we played a humongous game as the sunset until the guards again shooed us. I've kept my soccer skills to myself so I think I surprised a few people with my ability to actually participate.

Although we were exhausted, Vince, Josh and I discussed going to the night market on our ride home. We weren't sure how the whole transport thing worked so we got the okay back at the hotel. Honestly, I would have been fine going to bed but I wanted yo be a good sport so I rallied.

We were dropped off under the glowing neon sign saying "Night Market". The last thing our driver said was be safe. Awesome. We headed down the first alley and I stopped at the first booth where they had some beautiful pashminas. I knew I would for sure see more and was hesitant to buy immediately. But I really loved the scarf for my mom. Josh liked a guys one. I negotiated pretty well and we got them. I'm glad I did because we didn't see any others like that the whole time.

Josh then found a vendor selling stuffed hand puppets and decided the kids must each have one of these. He asked the lady what the hole in the elephant was and she showed him how you put your fingers in to work him. She was asking $5 a piece. Josh was ready to buy with no haggling. Vince stepped in and said "$1 each". The lady came down to $4 a piece and we told Josh we should go to another booth. Nope. He bought them. Later in the night another vendor tried to sell him the same elephant as an iPhone holder (actually took his phone and shoved it in the puppet) and offered for $2.50. Dang!

We moved on to our quest for Buddhas. We found the booth with a Mecca of Buddhas. Vince did his usual where he offers them $1 and ends up paying in the middle. As we were leaving her booth he noticed her reach into an ice cooler and start making a drink. Next thing I know, we are having the shop owners make us iced coffees from their secret stash and are talking about which cultures are the easiest to rip off. It was fascinating to talk to them. And of course Vince then pretended to speak Russian the rest of the night.

We also got Vince a hammock and Josh and I some scarves from the place that was weaving in the back. The one place he couldn't negotiate much because I think the were pretty legit. The scarves are gorgeous and somehow Vince became their personal photographer. They had him taking pictures and then emailing them. That's a first.

And we were super lucky to find a high end art gallery across the street. I'm not sure how much we should have paid. You really never know. They had sandstone hand carves sculptures. We found n elephant with his tusk raised that seemed the perfect piece to remember our trip. The entire thing is covered in hand etchings. They had similar ones, without the etchings and nowhere near as heavy, in the market for much less. But I love ours. We also learned in that gallery that the people here love penis art. Vince picked up a sculpture not knowing what it was and almost lost his mind. I think the lady working there was so embarrassed she had to leave.

We avoided about 10 outdoor foot massage salons, where you can also watch a movie, for a dollar and grabbed a tuk tuk back. Thankfully, he knew our hotel. He asked us for $5. The hotel said it should be $1. He accepted $3. Good thing. Bobby says you can be arrested for not paying a driver. That's all we need.

We grabbed a late dinner and called it a night. 5am start tomorrow!

Our time in Thailand was finally over. We all met out front of VN Guesthouse at 5:30 to load our two vans. I must have heard Bobby wrong because I thought the trip to our next hotel would take 4 hrs if it was fast and six hours if it was long.

The van ride felt like a really long field trip. We drove on the outskirts of Bangkok which would be our only view during our trip. That is a huge metropolitan city. I had no idea. The traffic was insane around there. At one point I think I counted 20 lanes of traffic on the highway.

After a lot of gas stops, a whole lot of questionable gas station food (our method was to buy everything and see what was good since everything was about 10 cents), some really good Tim tam cookies and Lotta's Dolly Parton impersonations, we got to the border close to noon.

The vans could only get us to the border. We would have to get out, get our Cambodian Visas and walk the border. We were given some instructions on staying together, safety and how to answer questions.

Step one was getting through immigration. It seems easy enough. We all did it when we arrived in Thailand. As we walked in the room Bobby asked the lady at the back if we needed forms and she said no. We all got to the front of the line and were denied access because we needed forms. To the back of the room! Most of us still had our arrival cards but they had to be filled out. I still got mine wrong and when I got to the front the immigration flicker said "You still do wrong!" Luckily he handed me a pen and I was through.

We were then met by someone Bobby knew and led to the first building. We all filled out two more forms and handed over said form and passport picture to the man on duty. Within minutes we each had a Cambodian Visa. This is a breeze! Just one more stop and we would quickly be back on our vans for the las two hours of driving. We turned the corner and saw the arrival line. Oh my. This was going to take a while. Two hours later we had all arrived and found ourselves waiting in line for a bus. The bus would get us over to the transportation center where our Cambodian vans were waiting.

I honestly don't remember what time we made it onto those vans. We were all a but delirious. I don't remember much about the ride. Just that we got to Siem Reap and saw massive high end hotels everywhere. Then you enter the city which is high poverty. I couldn't fathom it. We pulled up to the Two Dragons hotel right in the heart of the City sometime around 7 or 7:30. Everyone literally through their bags in their rooms and headed next store for dinner. We had eaten from gas stops and what was supposed to be KFC all day.

But I can't forget the first meeting of our tuk tuk drivers. As we pulled up to the hotel, I could tell Hank was getting giddy in our van. I think Bobby may have jumped out of his before it stopped. I wasn't sure at first what I was hearing. These high pitched screeches? Cackles? It was coming fom the drivers. The most infectious laughs you've ever heard. We hire these guys for 5 days. To say the financial impact on their family is great would be an ne'er statement I'm sure. It's obvious the deep connection they have developed with Bobby and this trip. Already I was starting to get a sense of the Cambodian people.

The restaurant next door is a pizza joint that plays American music. I couldn't, and didn't, complain. We all vegged out and hit the sack.

Well, I'd like to know why not. I spent the day doing exactly that. After sleeping in to a very late 7am, we caught our tuk tuks at 10am or so. It was an hour ride out to the park and as usual it was an enjoyable one. The rides are a time to see the countryside, talk with our friends and ponder why there is a police car following us with his lights on.

Bobby was excited when we arrived at the park and saw no large double decker tour buses. Cross or fingers, this may mean less tourists to dodge inside. By the time everyone had grabbed snacks, gone to the bathroom and debriefed it was close to noon. We started a tad late from the hotel. Bobby explained there were seven tiers of falls. Some had good swimming while others had rock slides and jumping. I'm sure to no ones surprise josh and I were determined to reach level seven in our allotted seven hours.

Level two is where most of our group first jumped in. I asked Hank if he had ever done an ice plunge pool at a spa. He said no and I told him this is what it felt like. It took me a while to jump in. I wasn't as afraid of the temperature as I was the foot long fish that had to fear of humans. They would swim right into you which was unnerving. A group of us swam for awhile and Josh scampered around the shore getting stuck with his equipment. I found it amusing to watch.

Level three was a huge waterfall that was the most normal or stereotypical. Anna saw a great opportunity for a photo when the light was shining down on a boulder out in the middle of the water. She convinced Bobby to brave to cold water just as several European men dove in behind him and photo bombed every picture. It was priceless.

Level 4 was definitely my favorite. It was a series of natural rock slides. Josh and I made it there first and waited for a few others to catch up. The folks already at this level seemed highly confused on how to slide. They were climbing up the boulders, then back down. Standing at that top unsure of what to do. It's a slide people. My 2 year old had it mastered.

The funniest part was the local Thai boy who not only loved the slides but loved going down with the tourists. We got a kick out of him. Josh and I stayed there for a who,e and then decided to keep hiking. We knew not everyone was hiking and we could come catch back up.

Level 5 was a series of small mystic pools. The only way I know to describe it. We took a look and then kept walking. We knew everyone was ending up there. After level 5 the hike started getting a bit intense. There was a lot more climbing, not just walking.

Level 6 was a huge shear wall of waterfall. We were told we could physically climb the waterfall from level 6 to 7 even though it didn't look possible. The minerals had turned the rock surface to a full traction surface. Although we were told it was possible we got worried being by ourselves tha we were going the wrong path and would come crashing down. Josh still got halfway up for an amazing view.

Level 7 was the top of the waterfalls where the springs emerge from the mountain. The lead breathtaking of the 7 but we loved the hike. The best part of the level was the monkeys. On the way down Josh stopped to take photos. I was growing impatient and told him people were waiting behind us. He said "ok, just turn around slowly and smile right now" What? Why? Has he been drinking the river water? "So I can get you and the monkey in the same picture!" Monkey? What monkey? I had no clue what he was talking about. Sure enough two monkeys were right behind me. Like 5 feet right behind me on a rock. We stayed and watched them for a bit. The coolest part was when one started drinking from tg waterfall. I mean really. A lot of people have seen monkeys. A lot of people have seen waterfalls. How many people get to see a monkey drink from a waterfall?

After the monkey encounter we headed back down, much quicker. At level 6 we found our group we had left. Some of them were playing in the water. I watched what I'm convinced was a photo shoot for a Thai album cover. Then Bobby tells me he has an idea for a photo and asks me to get Josh in the water with me. I'm not sure what Josh was thinking but he decides to push me into the water, from the rocks. In the midst of doing this he himself slips knocking out my feet and causing me to take him onto the rocks. Somehow I got blamed for this even though I had no clue what was happening. His punishment wa we made him go into the waterfalls and take lovey dovey pictures while fish bit him. I got a kick out of that.

It was almost 4 now and we heard the staff starting to close up the park. Our group started the trek down and out. Another tuk tuk ride back. Josh and I got dropped off at the market down by the big bridge. We had let the other group but found Anna and Lotta. I quickly found a cheap pair of Thai pants like I had wanted. The market wasn't big and they were closing up shop. The four of us walked back to the hotel and checked out some of the street life on our way.

We enjoyed our last dinner in Thailand, settled our bill and called it an early night. We leave for Cambodia at 5:30. I'm so excited!

For those who are wondering, I'm really enjoying traveling with a group. (I won't make any generalizations for Josh since he is sound asleep) I think a couple are reading this so I won't say anything bad :) Our friends know that Josh and I are pretty private people socially. The challenge with the two of us traveling together is not only are we naturally shy, but we are also a couple. That can be a disadvantage. I am finding it fascinating to gradually get to know these new people. We are definitely making some friendships that will last past this trip. I feel very lucky to met such neat people to experience this with.