Saturday 8 March 2014

Cambodia

Hello friends and family,

I'm sorry it has taken me so long to post this.  I've no good excuse, so we'll leave it at that.  :)  Over Christmas, I went to Cambodia.  I went to Siem Reap and stayed at a yoga retreat just outside the city.

Cambodia was very beautiful, but not as warm as I was expecting.  It felt like nice, early summer, Saskatchewan days.  So, I'm not complaining about that, it was kind of nice and reminded me of home, but I brought clothing for plus thirty, so I was freezing.  Cambodia had an earthy feel.  The people seem to still work closely with the land, yet they had technology.  The roads were covered with a few cars/trucks, a lot of motorcycles, a lot of bicycles and pedestrians.  There would often be two to four people on a motorbike.  The passengers were so comfortable that they looked like they may as well have been lounging on a porch.  I saw one woman feeding a baby some baby food on the back of a bike.  I kind of liked that they were that comfortable.



The yoga retreat was good.  It was a little over scheduled for me, and we were supposed to attend all the classes.  However, between the classes we could lay in a hammock, go for a walk, ride a bike, or whatever else struck our fancy, but there was usually only an hour or so between the classes.  There was also only one, maybe two yoga classes a day.  There were three or four meditation classes a day.  I wasn't expecting that much meditation, but I was open to it.  They were quite strict about it though and that made it difficult for me to relax enough to stay focused.  After, I'd seen the temples though, during the last day of my trip, I was finally relaxed enough to enjoy the yoga and meditation more.  I thoroughly enjoyed laying in the hammocks and reading.




My second last day, I went into Siem Reap to check out the temples.  I decided to get up early and see the sun rise there.   However, it was a cloudy day, so I didn't see the sun rise.  It just got lighter.  I started with Angkor Wat.  The buildings were beautiful and I got some amazing pictures.








I went to Angkor Thom next.  Angkor Thom Bayon was my favourite temple.  It was breathtaking.  It may be the most beautiful ruins I've seen.  Not that I've seen many.











Shopping was also really good in Cambodia.  They had a lot of different things and the prices were really good.  They had a bunch of flowy clothes that I love, so I stocked up.  They had some beautiful paintings and wood carvings.  There were hammocks, and blankets, and all sorts of things.  The prices were sooo good.   I want to go back again before I head back home so I can stock up on some more things.

I loved Cambodia and I would love to go back, and not just for the shopping.

Take care, everyone!

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