CAMBODIA: Suk Sabai Chonam Tomi!!!!

CAMBODIA: 100% pure Cambodian Yo!!

Can we not escape the cobra whiskey?!

-1 border crossing, 2 tuk tuk’s, 1 van, 6 buses, 36 hours of uncomfortable traveling and we finally made it to SiemReap, Cambodia. As we got off the bus we all agreed to never do that again......Pheww, it was dam good to be there and little did we know what Cambodia had in store for us.

One of many ways to cruise around town!

SIEM REAP
-When we arrived at 2:30am we were tuk-tuk'd to a hotel called Siem Reap Temple Villa where we saw a swimming pool and some young faces so we set up camp there for about $5 a night. Our first day was spent wondering around the little city, We ran into some familiar faces and invited them over for a dip in our pool. It was a pretty chill day and got us ready for three days of some serious tempeling.

Frothing over Bananas, Mangosteens and Mangos

-Day 2 (Templing Day 1)… We woke up at 4am and shredded to Angkor Wat for the Sunrise. We somehow managed to beat thousands of asian tourists and were some of the first people there..... It was sick! Kelly and Brain took time laps of the sunrise while Sam and Ben wandered around. Once the sun was up a cool Cambodian man ended striking up a conversation with us.... After determining that he was a cool cat we ended up hiring him for the morning to show us around the main temple and give us a little history of the place.

Good Morning Angkor Wat!

A little closer!

Our radical tour guide!

Just posing for a photo!

Deep in thought

Lone monk getting Templed

-After several hours of exploring the main temple of Angkor Wat, we moved on to some other temples. By the end of the day we had toured 5 temples and our favorite one was Ta Prohm (the one in tomb raider).....It has massive trees growing in and around all the walls which gives a surreal look to the whole place.

UNREAL!!

WTF!

Way to psychedelic!

-Around 8pm we went back to the hotel where we proceeded to chill with our tuk tuk driver and his friends. We ended up going out to eat with them where we drank tons of beer and ordered some of the craziest dishes off the local menu..... We ate fried quail, grilled/fried frogs, spicy eel, baby stingray and loklak (all in all pretty damn good). We then hit up the local discoteca called Hip-hop with the Aussie chicks....We proceed to drink flaming shots and dance our faces off. We all had a dance or two with the local woman making us feel pretty good about ourselves and it just so happened to be that our friend Ben may have just found his future girlfriend there that night.

Close Call....Gotta watch out for those lady boys!

-Day 3 We slept in due to the fact that we were awake for more than 24 hours the day before. Around 2 o’clock we cruised back to the temples for a shorter day. During our lunch with the local ladies, Brian hopped on the back of a scooter of one in search of a rice hat and some moonshine.....About an hour later he rolled back with a few water bottles full of moonshine and his new hat.... Nice work Brain!

Gotta love my Cambo rice hat!

Sweet Pose!
....Often imitated but never duplicated

-We checked out a few more temples and set up camp on one of the temples and watching the sunset....Another awesome day with an epic sunset that you have to see when the photos are put together.

From the inside lookin' out: Angkor Wat

Sunset from Pre Rup

-Day 4 we got up at 4am once again and cruised out for another sunrise at Angkor Wat—which was awesome but not as cool as our first day. After the sun was up it was time to roll out to Angkor Tom and see the faces of Bayon and Elephant Terrace… This is when our day took an expected but awesome turn. As the four of us walked into the massive and awesome temple we some how instantly lost each other. Brian and Ben were at one end of the temple looking at all the faces while Sam and Kelly were on the other side.....We ended up accidentally splitting up for the entire day.

Sunrise #2

Early and ready to Rock!....This day was all smiles!!!

From the pond: Angkor Wat

The last we saw of each other on this day!

-Ben and Brian (aka team 1) walked around Bayon for hours and hours completely blown away at the amazing face columns…. At one point they got really, really dehydrated and Ben though he was going to pass out....he was checking his pulse and looked terrible but some nice guards radio'd them in some water.

SOOOOOO SICK!!!

Way too faced!!

 Up close and personal in the temple of Bayon

-Ben and Brian looked high and low for Sam/Kelly but eventually needed to search for more water..... they somehow ended up hanging out with the policemen/nightgaurds of Angkor Wat and proceeded to drink beers with them for the next couple of hours...... It was a really cool experience and their English is quite good, so they were able to have some pretty cool conversations about their lives and the history of their country.

Outside the temple of Bayon

Over a thousand years old and still chilling!

-In the meantime Sam and Kelly (aka team 2) were off Tempeling their faces off.... We were on a mission to see as many temples as possible because it was our last day of our three-day pass. We went everywhere and were able to break free from the tourist traps and really explore some of the smaller lesser known temples.....Everywhere we went we ran into interesting people from local fishermen, tour guides and police, to fellow travelers of all ages!

Smiles for Miles!

Up high in the Elephant Terrace!

-Even though all of us were split up, the consensus is still the same...This place is one magical place!

More Bayon

Even the little ones are out templing!

-After a huge day for both Team 1 and Team 2 we ended up meeting back up at the hotel where we traded stories and laughed about our ridiculous day. We continued on into the evening with our new local friend Chen, he took us to a cool little restaurant out side of town where we had a few beer towers and eel.....YUM!

-Day 5 Kelly rolled out in the AM to catch his flight to Bali, Indonesia out of Phnom Phen.....PARTY ON KELLY! It’s been nothing but a blast!

Serious foot massages for serious Templers!!

-Today was also the start of Cambodian New Year, It lasts 3 days and it is the number one holiday in Cambodia....“Suk Sadai Chonam Tomi!”

-Later that day we met up with Chen and he took us to his home to meet his family for dinner and beer...He lives about 3km outside of Siem Reap in a sweet little village. His family is awesome and super super nice! We ate fresh fish, Chicken, lots of fried veggies and drank tons of beer....Cambodians know how to drink!

Chillin' at Chen's
.....Getting CHUXX!

-We watched the new years ceremony on T.V. and played lots of games, such as their version of tug/push of war....He then invited us to come back tomorrow to stay with him and his family for the next few days of the New years celebration....We were totally into it!

Almost lost to Chen who is probably 1/2 my size....

It's not looking good for Ben but I think he won this round!

-Day 6 We checked out of our hotel and hit up Chen in the arvo(that one is for you Emma). By the time we made it back to his house/village it was in full party mode, complete with massive speakers blaring loud dance/party music. It was a night full of food, beer, dancing, playing with the little kidos, repeat!! These guys really know how to bring in the New Year......That night we faded on the floor upstairs with Chen. Good times!

Too Much FUN!!!

-The next morning we woke up around 10am and by the time we made it down for breakfast Chen and his friends were mauling food and had beer on ice. After we had eaten Chen took us to a local temple where we were blessed with good luck for the New Year and bathed by a monk!......UNREAL EXPERIENCE!!!!

Paying our respects after getting bathed by an elderly monk

-We then went back to his home and helped bathe the village elders (another new years ritual that was nothing but amazing).....Once they were all washed up we were sat down in the same chairs and everyone proceeded to wash us, the white boys. I don’t know if we have ever felt so clean in our entire lives—not only physically but also mentally.....What an experience! We then faded for a couple hours and woke up to more party time, dancing around in circles, playing with the kids and drinking and eating more than any normal human should!!

Nothin' better than a good ole rub down by yours truly!

-Day 7 Woke up around 9ish and went down to the kitchen for breakfast and to our surprise the women were preparing fried ants and eel for lunch...We had some super salty dried fish for breakfast with rice mush that was not the best food we have had this trip but as they say "When in Cambodia at your friends local village!"

I'm not sure if we want to stay for lunch....

-Before we left back to town Chen insisted we stay for lunch (ants and eel), which we were not too stoked about, but it ended up to be really, really good!...Sam must have eaten at least 100 big fat ants or more....We snapped a family photo and then cruised out!

YUM!!!

Family Photo...Chen's mom dead center

-After dropping our bags off, Chen took us to the Cambodian War Museum which gave us quite the insight to how gnarly and devastating the civil war in Cambodia has been for the country and its people....The people of Cambodia have been through way too much in the last 40+ years and it is amazing how friendly and outgoing everybody is.... It made us fall in love with the people even more knowing their past and living in their present!

-That afternoon we went to a local swimming spot called west Baray and chilled in hammocks and went for a swim with the local crowd.

-Afterword, Chen took us to his friend Kong’s house which was really far out of town where we got way to chuxx on some Duck soup, moonshine whiskey and jammed out with some traditional instruments!.... On the way back home we crashed a local dance party....When we walked in, literally the entire party stopped dancing and looked at us as if to say “what are these guys doing way out here?”...... We busted out our local dance moves and everyone was totally stoked and the party continued!.... We danced around a pole for an hour or so and then took off.....All this dancing and partying was starting to wear and tear on our bodies.

Jamming out!!!

-Day 8 We woke up early and had to say our good byes... Sam and Ben went south to Phnom Penh and Brain suck around in Siem Reap for one more day with Chen and Kong and then was off to Bangkok to catch his flight to Shanghai.

-Brian’s last day- Chen and I took the scenic route and stopped off at another dance party for a couple of hours and all of the ladies loved feeding me shots of rice whiskey and dance with me!(it was Awesome).... We then cruised to Kong’s where I proceeded to drink/eat even more while also raging at another dance party and ending up passing outside on the ground for the night around 11pm.

Too many temples to see!!!

-The next day I woke up outside at Kong’s pretty hung-over and cruised back with Chen to the hotel we had been staying at and said our thanks and good byes.....I lounged poolside for a while and then went back and saw two temples that I really wanted to see.....Banteay Srei and East Mebon Temples. Made it back by sunset and swooped some last minute gifts and got a two hour Khmer massage… Best one yet! Hung out until 2:30am and caught a bus to the border

Carvings made by the women who sculpted Banteay Srei

PHNOM PENH
-Sam and Ben’s last few day- So Ben I caught a bus down to Phnom Penh and for the next few days we were immersed in the history of Cambodia.....it was extremely eye-opening but quite overwhelming at times.....We went to the killing fields where thousands upon thousands of people were brutally murdered; went to S-21, an old school that was turned into a torture facility. It was a really sad/heavy few days but essential to our trip in Cambodia. 

-After a few big days in Phnom Penh it was time to say good bye to Ben and move on....Peace out Ben! I had some of the best times of my life with you the past few weeks. I took a tuk tuk to the airport and said my good byes to this little country which had started to feel like a second home to me.

PEACE BE THE JOURNEY CAMBODIA.....

WE'LL MISS YOU!!! 

Little Monsters......Aren't they just the cutest!!!

THANKS FOR READING AND WE LOVE YOU ALL!!!