I've been informed that certain people are getting bored with the blog content. Bored because as of yet, it has included no drama. Now, the quality of people's entertainment in reading the blog is very important to me, please hear that. I must admit though, I'm not feeling too upset about the lack of "drama" up to date! For those thrill seekers, I would most willingly try my hand at creative writing...you know, come up with an epic, if you'd like but for now, I would prefer not to live it first hand :)

That being said, despite the horror stories, the much dreaded bus trip to Siem Reap was smooth sailing. Free of hang-ups is a more accurate way to explain it!! We experienced no hassles with visas, no bus scams, the tales of being bombarded by people as soon as you cross the border didn't prove true as it was a religious holiday the day we arrived and quite quiet, all the bridges were in working order (which is often not the case), and there had been no rain to flood the roads. Smooth sailing isn't an appropriate descriptor, really, seeing that the 150 km (93 mile) trip from the Cambodia border to Siem Reap took a mere 8 hours due to the condition of the roads! As we boarded the bus the drivers helper was full of wise cracks..."free massage for you for the next 8 hours," "we'll be lucky if all of the bridges are working," "be careful if you are sitting in the back, a guy last week hit his head on the ceiling and was bleeding everywhere," "maybe we should have a disco ball and some music," "drink beers to forget the bumps!", and on and on. It was a joyful ride. I couldn't wipe the grin (or maybe it was a smirk) off of my face for most of the ride. How I got a kick out of what may have seemed like torture to some is beyond me. It's not often, though, that I get to experience a road so dreadful and a bus ride so bumpy...so I best enjoy it. Our fellow travelling companions were good company, filled with good humor. Jij and I were thrilled to have arrived safely at 10:30pm after leaving Bangkok at 7am.

Today proved to be my favorite day of the trip so far. We woke early, found ourselves a lovely little guesthouse to spend the next few days in, rented bikes and headed for the temples. That grin I couldn't wipe off my face during the bus ride re-emerged as I was peddling away on my little bike, ringing my bell! We only managed to navigate around one temple today. The largest of them all, Angkor Wat itself. The stone carvings so intricate, so old, and so abundant. Buddhas and monks and lotus oh my. We bought a book and gave ourselves a self-guided tour. It was interesting to pair the stories/events with the carvings on the wall. Somewhat of a history lesson, you might say. Tomorrow, we will ride our bikes up for sunrise over one of the temples and spend another day exploring, taking far too many photos and really just enjoying whatever comes our way!