Bangkok to Siem Reap to Phnom Penh

Starting to lose track of particular dates at this point, and so I've begun to exclude them from the headers. This could possibly be due to the fact that times and dates really dont mean much when you're going day to day on the road, but also perhaps because I'd like not to know how close to Christmas the calendar is approaching.

So from Khao San road in Bangkok, Justin and I set off for Poipet, a border hugging, rag-tag village between Thailand and Cambodia. Didnt spend much time here except to arrange further transportation to Siem Reap - launch pad to the Temples of Angkor Wat. The border is where we met our new companion, Won-il, a seriously expressive traveler from South Korea. The three of us spent 4 nights in Siem Reap and this morning left for Cambodia's capital city, Phnom Penh. The road from Poipet to Siem Reap (which means "victory over Siam"...awesome) was possibly the worst I've ever been on. For a 5 hour drive. Lakes were beginning to full the pot holes and I believe the lumps were actually more a result of mountain-forming geological uplift. K2s in the making. I've read that air line companies have bribed the government to slow any repairs/any actual high way construction to help convince more people to simply fly in. If buses (or myself) werent so cheap, I might consider it for next time.

Angkor Wat is magnificent. Its actually only one temple complex among many in the area, though it in particular is the largest temple ever built. The Khmer Kings built many structures as homes to their Gods, between roughly 900AD and 1200. After that point, wars and jungle have sought to conspire against the architecture. Rediscovered by the French in the 1800's, repairs and restorations ahve been underway since. Watched the sun drop and the sun rise over the stonework and spent 2 afternoons wandering the ruins. Can't help but to get the feeling of some great cosmic finger pointing at me and asking, "what will you build with your time?" The term "legacy building" seems often left to departing politicians but I do wonder about its meaning for the rest of us from time to time.

Its hour 4 in the capital now, and even with my limited exposure, I'd risk to say I expect a pretty cool time in the city. Perhaps "cool" should not be the word to use in describing the enormity and grotesqueness of the killing fields or detention/torture centers emplyed by Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge in the late 70's, but I might just have something to say about those places tomorrow evening.