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 :)

On top of the hill.. was a little temple. People went there to pray for just one thing. A good Husband. This is evident in the offerings that the women leave - Cigarettes ..
Also pls do notice the lovely woman in Black and White :)

Our "Travel and Living Parting Shot" Pics. This was our last day in Vietnam. We had an amazing time. I'll always remember Cu Chi, the Mekong and the wonderful company of our friend Hai....


In the background, you can see Cambodia.. where we were going next !!

Walking around the markets in Chau Doc..

We then landed up at Chau Doc - Gateway to Cambodia .. Fishing capital of Vietnam. Not to miss the 2 Happy Buddhas and the French sculpture.. The place is so Franco - Vietnamese .. The Food, The buildings.. etc.. We stayed at the Victoria Chau Doc, another amazingly swank property...

We went to this Crane and Heron site on the way to Chau Doc. It was HUGE . Thousands and thousands of them.. black , white and yellow.. The black don't get along with the white ...surprise surprise .. But it was amazing.. we had to climb up this really old rickety tower and continue wearing our helmets coz of the Heron Poo attack.. but it was so worth it when we got up there.. You could see hundreds of trees with thousands of herons perched on them .. what an amazing site..

More faces of the Mekong..

Walking along the banks we ran across kids back from school - just chilling ... These two kids we passed - full smiles.. 10 mins later we ran into them.. they jumped into the river and started playing and splashing water .. Kids !!!!

We walked into the orchard and Hai greeted the owner. He said we were from India and were walking thru his orchard and wanted to taste some fruit.. The guy was so warm and welcoming.. It was amazing.. He gave us some hazaar fruit to eat. He had 2 sons and a wife. The elder son was very impressed with my size.. I mean really impressed. He called his younger brother to see me.. and he kept holding my arm and laughing.. the younger kid then called his mom to see.. It was crazy.. Hai translating - told me that they had never seen someone so fat.. ... they nicknamed me "Happy Buddha" and wanted pictures with me.. The old man kept smiling thru this.. and I can't tell you how amazing it was to see such happiness and simplicity .. We were so refreshed and had HUGE smileys when we walked away from there.... Click on the guys pic to see his smile in all its entirety .. Its amazing..

We stopped at this tree which no one could figure out where it started and where it ended.. The roots were coming from top, bottom , everywhere. Quite scary. Hai asked a local - this place was supposed to be haunted and we ran across a small temple - apparently people used to come bury they dead nearby or something to do with their ashes scattered there.. ( real story .. Lost in Translation )