In Siem Reap

So, we didn't get a chance to see the Muay Thai boxing. We're planning on seeing the boxing once we get to Koh Samui (try to fit it in with the snorkeling, sleeping, and sitting on the beach). We spent the last night in Bangok eating 'real' Thai food, which wasn't that great, and then getting a suit on Sukhimvit. We actually ended up with a pretty good price (according to one of my friends' replies). We'll have a second fitting when we get back to Bangkok on May 19th. I didn't make it to the night market either...once we get back to Bangkok, we'll be hitting the huge market that's full of deals (can't remember the name of the place). I'll definitely let you know about the shopping there. By the way, if you know of any good places to go in Bangkok, let me know. :)

On May 4th, we flew into Siem Reap, which isn't as humid as Bangkok but just as freakishly hot. We got a driver at the airport and we've hired him for our stay here. For our first night, we ended up just crashing after eating. May 5th we spent seeing about 5 temples - Angkor Thom, Angkor Wat, the Elephant Terrace, and this place to see the sunset (whose name I can't remember). We took an elephant ride up to that temple, which was interesting!!! I've never ridden an elephant before and it's quite jerky. Today, we toured around to 3 smaller temples, including the one they filmed Tomb Raider in (completely overgrown with trees). Very cool, but I'm honestly getting tired of seeing all the Buddhas, the demons, the Hindu gods (especially Vishnu, Ganesh and Shiva).

The poverty here is incredible...it's really hard to go walking down the street, with little children and amputees begging for money. Everyone looks very poor. And everytime we go to the temples, there's a little shanty town of stalls there with people all clamouring to sell you trinkets, water, guidebooks...and you know that you're not getting a very good deal. The good thing is that there is a lot of help being given by many different governments, some free hospitals, and so on. I think I'll definitely have to donate some money once I get back. Average government-job income here is 30 USD. Cambodian currency is 4000 Real to 1 USD, so most places quote in USD and give you change (when it's US coins) in Real. Tomorrow we're going shopping at the floating village and the silk factory (supposedly the best silk in Cambodia) and then we're flying outta here to Hanoi!

Not to worry, I'm taking tons of pictures with my Cybershot T7. I'll try and post some of them soon.

Thanks for all your wishes, guys. I appreciate it! ;)