We're now in Siem Reap, Cambodia, the home of the temples of Angkor. After our first day here Erin and I already long for the laid-back, don't-give-a-shit-about-a-thing attitude of the Lao. Literally, as soon as you cross the border the scammers, hustlers, cantankerous tuk tuk drivers, and the absolutely-cannot-take-no-for-an-answer tauts descend upon you like Sancho Pancito pouncing on anything resembling food (including your fingers and forearms and sometimes toes).
Today we spent the day visiting some of the further afield temples of Angkor. For those of you unfamilar with the temples (as I was before I arrived here), most of them were built in the 10th century (I think) by the Khmer. They are spread out over some 20 to 30 square kilometers, and collectively they are referred to as the 8th Wonder of the World (I think). We saw 3 temples today. Each was different and all were impressive. Tomorrow we plan to rent bikes and ride to the closer temples.
Erin and I already miss Laos. For me, taking into consideration all the factors one could use to judge the likeability of a country -- natural landscape, people, food, culture, safety, etc. -- Laos ranks high in every category. The landscape, while not all that diverse, is stunning, the people are the friendiest I've come across in all my travels, the food is good (not as good as Thai), the culture is fascinating, and Laos may very well be the safest place I've ever been to (hopefully it stays that way). Erin and I would definitely like to return one day.
We whiled away our last few days in Laos (mostly swaying in hammocks and sweating profusely) on the island of Don Dhet in the Four Thousand Islands, where I think experiments are being actively conducted to breed a colony of catatonics. The Islands are near the Cambodian border, where the Mekong swells several kilometers wide like the bloated belly of a sated snake. In the languid muddy waters surrounding the islands resides a small pod of the extremely rare Irrawaddy River Dolphin. One day we hired a longboat to take us where the dolphins are most often viewed -- from a sweltering rock in the middle of a wide bay, with Laos on one side and Cambodia on the other -- hoping to catch a glimpse of one. We were lucky to see a few. Though they never got any closer to us than maybe 300 yards or so (wierdly, they seemed to have had an affinity for the Cambodian side of the bay, which can't be held against them), it was exciting nevertheless.
Final few notes on Laos:
1) Like the Chinese, the Lao will eat anything. Barbecued rats on a stick, fried grasshopers, flying ants, full-bodied frog stew, etc.
2) You rarely see old people but the country is teeming with small children (who are the cutest kids on the planet, bar none).
3) Riding a moped is family affair. We've spotted a mother, father, and their 3 kids piled onto a single moped.
Hope all is well.
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