Ankorwat
Yes.
I have seen my 2nd world wonder. (My apologies to those of you have received postcards where I said it was my first, I can't count.)
I do not have photos organized yet but we did spend half a day along or on the Mekong River. There is a small collection of people, mostly Vietamese refugees from back in the day, who have settled in boats literally on the river. There are little children who pilot boats with or without motors who will come up to your boat and leap aboard to beg, some of them pose with snakes or simply with nothing at all--not even clothing. There are a few who come over in little aluminum pans just large enough to seat one child with a paddle, they of course want money if you take a picture of them.
The next 3 days would be spent climbing Ankor wat and the various surrounding temples such as Ta Prohm (where Tomb Raider was filmed). A lot of the statues at the temples were either completely gone (stolen or smashed) and many of them were headless because they had been decapitated for more capitalistic adventures. Our tour guide jokingly said that some of them had simply gone on vacation or had gone off seeking their friend's head and hadn't bothered to return.
It's definitely something to be seen, after all, they didn't name it a world wonder for nothing. But to imagine seeing it in its hey-day. Wow. Sadly, another reason Ankor wat and the surrounding temples are badly damaged is because of all the conflict in the area, the site has been fought over by Cambodia and Thailand. Cambodia's bloody period with the Khmer Rouge did not help.
My friend Jess and I had signed up with a tour group, which was one of the better ones I've ever been on. It also helped that we stayed at 5 star hotels all 4 nights. ^_^ And got nightly massages. *sigh* That's the life and we needed it after climbing all over the place and let me tell you Cambodia is still VERY hot in the winter. There was also a little girl with the tour group, 1/2 Taiwanese and 1/2 Danish.
She. Was. Adorable.
Gitte--the 5yr old--was probably one of the better behaved kids I've met in a long time. She mostly spoke Danish, but some English AND she understood Chinese, although her responses to Chinese was mostly nodding or shaking her head. Jess has most of the pictures of her but I'll get them from her later.
I got a little sick on the last day because it was hot and I kinda overexhausted myself. I didn't really feel it until I laid down to go to sleep and then it was miserably apparent I was sick. Blegh. Then I returned to Taiwan where it's cold or at least chilly and the sick in my head has settled down into my chest as a nasty sounding cough.
But it was fun. I highly recommend it! I will get photos up. Hopefully sooner than later.
I have seen my 2nd world wonder. (My apologies to those of you have received postcards where I said it was my first, I can't count.)
I do not have photos organized yet but we did spend half a day along or on the Mekong River. There is a small collection of people, mostly Vietamese refugees from back in the day, who have settled in boats literally on the river. There are little children who pilot boats with or without motors who will come up to your boat and leap aboard to beg, some of them pose with snakes or simply with nothing at all--not even clothing. There are a few who come over in little aluminum pans just large enough to seat one child with a paddle, they of course want money if you take a picture of them.
The next 3 days would be spent climbing Ankor wat and the various surrounding temples such as Ta Prohm (where Tomb Raider was filmed). A lot of the statues at the temples were either completely gone (stolen or smashed) and many of them were headless because they had been decapitated for more capitalistic adventures. Our tour guide jokingly said that some of them had simply gone on vacation or had gone off seeking their friend's head and hadn't bothered to return.
It's definitely something to be seen, after all, they didn't name it a world wonder for nothing. But to imagine seeing it in its hey-day. Wow. Sadly, another reason Ankor wat and the surrounding temples are badly damaged is because of all the conflict in the area, the site has been fought over by Cambodia and Thailand. Cambodia's bloody period with the Khmer Rouge did not help.
My friend Jess and I had signed up with a tour group, which was one of the better ones I've ever been on. It also helped that we stayed at 5 star hotels all 4 nights. ^_^ And got nightly massages. *sigh* That's the life and we needed it after climbing all over the place and let me tell you Cambodia is still VERY hot in the winter. There was also a little girl with the tour group, 1/2 Taiwanese and 1/2 Danish.
She. Was. Adorable.
Gitte--the 5yr old--was probably one of the better behaved kids I've met in a long time. She mostly spoke Danish, but some English AND she understood Chinese, although her responses to Chinese was mostly nodding or shaking her head. Jess has most of the pictures of her but I'll get them from her later.
I got a little sick on the last day because it was hot and I kinda overexhausted myself. I didn't really feel it until I laid down to go to sleep and then it was miserably apparent I was sick. Blegh. Then I returned to Taiwan where it's cold or at least chilly and the sick in my head has settled down into my chest as a nasty sounding cough.
But it was fun. I highly recommend it! I will get photos up. Hopefully sooner than later.