Siem Reap, literally "Siam Defeated". These days, however, the only rampaging hordes are the tourists heading to Angkor and this once quaint village has become the largest boomtown and construction site in Cambodia. It's quite laid-back and all in all a pleasant place to stay while touring the temples. It's a nice compromise between observing Cambodian life and enjoying the amenities of modern services and entertainment, thanks to the large expatriate community in Siem Reap. I've always wanted to go to Cambodia. As far as I can remember having seen pics of Angkor Wat or Angkor Thom. Those amazing pics of those Smiley Stony Faces... Ahhhh What an amazing trip it was. We spent 4 days in Siem Reap - taking in the temples at the pace we wanted .. It was really a great place to end our lovely trip...

At the Khmer Borane Restaurant enjoying a beer... Another one of the girls in a camera shake world - on a Motodop...

Shubs at FCC ..

At the FCC or the Foreign Correspondents Club at Phnom Penh ... What can I say about the "F" ? It was a really really amazing place. Its as if we've been coming there for years. The FCC is on Sisowath Quay ... The views of the Mekong from there are really amazing. When we reached - a storm was approaching - ended up raining for 3 hours or so while we chilled and drank - I was chatting up this woman from the EU parliament in Brussels and had a really nice time. Something occurred to me.. one should not only get to talk to the locals, but it makes great sense to talk to the other tourists from other countries as well.. they they're relaxed, on vacation and usually have some great travel stories to share as well... It was a lovely place.. After that we went to this store called Happy Painting. What a lovely place.. check out the link to see what I mean...

We went to this Pagoda.. or a Temple I forget.. Wat Phnom it was called.. on a hill at the center of a small park..The temple itself is notable more for its historic importance than what you'll see there today, but the park is a pleasant green space and a popular gathering place for locals. A few monkeys keep quarters there as well and will help themselves to any drinks you leave unattended. If you like, take a ride on the elephant there. Shahana decided to chill below the hill. Not to miss the bats !

The elephant sculpture is amazing.. made of bronze.. it looks so realistic... We went to the National Museum - which was quite a surreal experience.. Almost 90 % of the exhibits - from 10th to 15th Century... ALL INDIAN GODS. ALL.

They look so relaxed and used to posing for tourists :) .... actually they were posing for some white guy who asked them to ;)

More pics of the Palace.

More of the Palace. You can see the entire Ramayan painted on the inner walls.. hundreds of years ago.. It's really amazing to see how much of their history has been influenced directly by Hinduism...

More pics of the Palace. You see that random out of place white coloured building in the middle ?? That's a gift from Napoleon to the King at that time .. I can imagine one Cambodian building looking out of place in Napoleon's Palace ... ( Note to self... Must check ... )

The Royal Palace and the two magnificent pagodas in the Palace Grounds, the Silver Pagoda and the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, are among the few public buildings in Phnom Penh really worth seeing. They were built in the 19th century with French technology and Cambodian designs, and have survived the traumas of the 20th century amazingly intact. We were there just after 4pm or so and the crowd was thinning.. most people get here in the mornings to avoid the heat.. The king still lives here but was at Beijing for the Games at that time. He apparently comes our to his balcony and waves to the tourists once in a while..

Waiting in line to get tickets to get into the King's Palace in Phnom Pehn.. was getting bored.. was quite hot...

The Kingdom of Cambodia (pronounced /kæmˈboʊdɪə/, formerly known as Kampuchea (/kampuˈtɕiːə/), , transliterated: Preăh Réachéanachâkr Kâmpŭchea) is a country in South East Asia with a population of over 14 million people. The kingdom's capital and largest city is Phnom Penh. Cambodia is the successor state of the once powerful Hindu and Buddhist Khmer Empire, which ruled most of the Indochinese Peninsula between the eleventh and fourteenth centuries.

The country borders Thailand to its west and northwest, Laos to its northeast, and Vietnam to its east and southeast. In the south it faces the Gulf of Thailand. The geography of Cambodia is dominated by the Mekong river (colloquial Khmer: Tonle Thom or "the great river") and the Tonlé Sap ("the fresh water lake"), an important source of fish.

Cambodia's main industries are garments, tourism, and construction. In 2007, foreign visitors to Angkor Wat alone almost hit the 4 million mark.

Finally at Phnom Pehn .. on the way to our hotel .. we had to stop for lunch. We were starved. We were inCambodia!! So the food switched to good old Pho to Fish Amok.. and as shown in the pic... my favorite Frog Legs .. This time only Shahana dared to eat some .. which she really liked.. tastes like chicken I say ;)

On our way in the boat to Phnom Pehn.. Damn boat ride lasted a good 6 hours...

Our last meal at Bay Bong in Chau Doc. I insisted that I go to the kitchen and learn some Vietnamese food.. 20 mins later and loads of women giggling .. I asked Hai to translate.. Apparently.. the wanted to know if I was single and Hai had said yes. So they wanted to know if I would get married to one of the girls there.. In the pic you see the aunt of that girl who kept saying ... you'll have a good cook and a lovely wife... 5 mins later they were all teasing me and taking my ass.. Everyone wanted to know why I wanted to cook... Also pls to note the yummy fish in clay bot that I ended up cooking :)