One Hot Winter

On December 25th we were here:


While our house probably looked something like this:


But I must admit it was a little strange to not be in a place where it was snowy or at least below 40 degrees around Christmas. Throughout this trip we have had to remind ourselves just what time of year it really is so we don't go home expecting Boston in July.

Because we already have about a billion photos of the trip, this will be more of a photo log than an actual post. I figure it will help keep it a little shorter (yes, it could have been much longer), so just pay attention to the captions, they'll tell the story.

Trip Day 1: Tokyo/Narita, Japan

After a very brief stop in Chicago, we arrived in Japan around 5ish, so we had some time before we wanted to go to bed. We wandered through the local town, Narita, down a winding street that led to a Buddhist temple complex.

Pagoda-type building in Narita temple complex.

Stone wall with carved inscriptions within Narita temple complex.

Trip Day 2: Tokyo/Narita, Japan

"Lightopia" paper lanterns in the plaza across from the Imperial Palace in Tokyo.

The next day we took the train into Tokyo (it was as crowded as they show on TV) to see the Imperial Palace. Unfortunately we were there on a Friday when the Palace is closed to visitors. So instead we walked all the way around the palace hoping for a glimpse. We didn't get one. This is a view of one of the entrance bridges, and no, that building is not the Palace.

View of Tokyo with intimidating Palace moat and embankment in foreground.

Wandering around the Palace complex, wishing and hoping and thinking and praying for a way in.

Apparently they even have Kents in Japan. The obligatory photo-op in downtown Tokyo.

After Tokyo turned out to be a bust, we returned to Narita and checked out the local shops. We found some pretty cool souvenirs, but you'll have to visit us to see them. I also bought my Mom a genuine Japanese Kimono for Christmas. This is the main street that leads you to the Buddhist temple we visited the night before.

Trip Days 3-5: Bangkok, Thailand

We arrived in Bangkok around midnight local time. Bangkok is a surprisingly large city with tons of people. It's also amazingly hot for the "cool" season. We spent the next 3 days hanging out and doing a whole lot of nothing, except visiting a local tailor to get Kent a custom-made suit. I'm sure there will be pictures of that at a later date. This is one view of Bangkok from my parent's balcony.

A good amount of time was spent at the pool in my parent's building. Kent and my brother, Colin, had a good time experimenting with the underwater setting on our camera.

Trip Day 6: Angkor Thom & Angkor Wat, Siem Reap, Cambodia

First, before we get caught up in the scenery, I would like to thank the Cambodian airport officials for really welcoming us to their country. I mean, really, charging us the extra $10 on top of the $40 we paid for visas just so you could plaster the visa over a page in Kent's very full passport was above and beyond the regular fanfare. Oh, and every official that looked at his passport after that and took a good 15 minutes beyond what was necessary, I mean really, you shouldn't have. You made us feel so special. Thank you for going the extra mile. Although a cavity search would have really kicked it up a notch, something to consider.

After our tour guide (Kim) and driver (VanNa) picked us up from the airport, the first stop on our Cambodian sight-seeing tour was the complex of Angkor Thom. This is a view of the South Gate entrance. It has four entrances that all look the same.

On both sides of the entrance there are rows of statues, demons on the right, gods on the left. Naturally Kent had to imitate the demons...

This is a close up of the demon, with the South Gate in the background.

Atop each entrance and tower of the temple (shown below) there are carvings of the face of the Khmer king who built this complex. I know I won't spell his name right, but it was something like Jayavarnaman VII.

This is the Bayon Temple within the Angkor Thom complex. It had a lot of bas relief on the walls, telling the story of this king.

These are the faces of the king on the towers of the temple. This particular king liked to mix a little Hinduism with Buddhism (much to his son's chagrin) which is why on each tower or gate entrance there are four faces, one facing each direction.

Nose to nose with the great Khmer ruler.

After lunch and a little rest at our hotel, we stopped by Angkor Wat. This is probably one of the better known Cambodian sites. This one is older than Angkor Thom and built by a different king.

In the middle of Angkor Wat are the higher towers of the temple. There was one central tower with 4 corner towers.

On each side of the towers there are 3 steep staircases. The center one was for the king's use, apparently he doesn't like to walk where commoners walk. His staircase was also less steep than the other two, although I don't think I'd be volunteering to hike up any of them on a daily basis. There is one staircase they call the "Lady's Stair" which is one where a foreign woman fell down the stairs and died, so her husband forced the Cambodians to put up a hand rail on one side in her memory and to prevent future accidents, although I'm not sure why they didn't just put up handrails on every staircase...

The "marketplace" outside of Angkor Wat. Outside of any tourist attraction, no matter how small or large, there were always plenty of vendors trying to get you to buy whatever they had to sell. Usually they would have the kids follow you around constantly asking you to buy something. I must give it to the Cambodians, they are persistent. Unfortunately, they usually didn't have anything we wanted to buy. This is how my mom got suckered into buying wooden flutes for my nieces and nephews when my parents were in Cambodia. NOTE: Have your children work the next garage sale, I bet you'll get rid of a lot more stuff.

This picture is mostly being posted for Kent Awesomeness Points. We were driving back to our hotel from Angkor Wat and we passed this huge field where a bunch of the locals were playing their "end of the work day" soccer game. We didn't really stay to watch most of the game, but the sunset is nice. Most of the players were in bare feet, which I say earned them extra points because that can be painful.

Trip Day 7: Preah Khan and Ta Prohm, Cambodia

Our first stop the next day was a temple called Preah Khan, which means "Sacred Sword." This was the temple where the Khmer king would house is sword and would come to get it before battle. Talk about trying to get God(s) to pick a side. This temple was more off on it's own, in the depths of the jungle and much more overgrown than Angkor Wat or Angkor Thom. It gave it a cool, kind of creepy, feeling.

Another view of Preah Khan. This shows more of the jungle growing into, on, and around the structure. Pictures can't really capture the atmosphere, but if you ever find yourself in Cambodia, I strongly recommend a visit to Preah Khan. And yes, even more than Angkor Wat.

This is the structure at Preah Khan that actually housed the king's sword. And I was starting to think our house was a pretty good size, only to be beat out by a sword...In the foreground is the head of the Nagara(sp?). This is a multi-headed serpent that is commonly found running along the entrances to most temples representing the king. And I always thought serpents were the bad guys...

This is a view of the inside of Preah Khan. This gives you a good idea of just how the jungle decided to move in. It's amazing how the trees end up growing in and around the building without knocking it down. There were quite a few spots where they had to cut down some of the trees because they were becoming a safety hazard to the visitors, but I think that just kills the mood.

Our next site that day was Ta Prohm, better known as the Tree Temple. Apparently this site was made famous for it's role in the Tomb Raider movie. Once you walk around a little it makes sense to use a site like this. Like Preah Khan it was so overgrown and mysterious. This was probably our favorite site on our trip to Cambodia. You just walk around and you can't really believe it all.

Please, please, please take a close look at Kent's t-shirt and comment on it (good or bad). This was his first Thailand purchase and he is very proud of it. This picture also helps give an idea of these trees which are called Spung trees, and along with Teak trees are one of the more common trees you will find in this area. They supposedly have a very soft inside, so aren't very useful for much (except growing over temples) where teak and mahogany wood is widely used.

This is a view of Ta Prohm looking from the "courtyard" type area of the temple. I'm sure there were a lot more covered galleries and corridors when it was originally built, but now it has a large open space in the center. In this area there is a small room they call the "Echo Room" which is used to bring good luck. Our tour guide told us this is where people come before school exams or business presentations to get good luck. You stand along the inside walls of what basically looks like a stone shed. If you talk, there is no echo, bang on the walls, no echo. But if you stand there and thump your chest it echoes throughout your body and the entire space. It's really hard to describe and unfortunately you can't replicate it anywhere else. Just one more reason the Tree Temple is oh SO cool.

This is the back view of Ta Prohm, showing a little bit more of it's general structure and just how enclosed by the jungle it is. Again, pictures don't do it justice...

As we exited Ta Prohm we had to cross this wooden bridge over this scuzzy looking pond which only enhanced the overall atmosphere. You can really see why they would want to film on location for Tomb Raider. Hollywood can't even make this stuff up, although for some reason it looks a little brighter and less creepy than it does when y0u are standing there.

Trip Day 8: Banteay Srei, Cambodia

On Christmas Day we decided to take the morning off from sight-seeing and just enjoy the holiday. The night before our hotel hosted a Christmas Dinner and for a nation that doesn't celebrate Christmas or really understand what it's for, they were pretty excited. In fact, I could easily say the staff were more excited than any of their Christian guests. Anyway, we decided to visit a small temple about an hour outside of Siem Reap called Banteay Srei, or Citadel of the Women.

This site was definitely one of the smallest and because of the drive we weren't sure if we even wanted to go (Cambodian roads are not well-paved) but in the end I'm glad we did. A lot of the temples have decorative carvings on the walls but the ones at Banteay Srei are particularly impressive. They are really small and intricate which is part of the reason for it's name, Citadel of Women. It is believed that a woman must have helped build this temple because the carvings are too intricate to have been done by a male hand.

On our way back from Banteay Srei, we stopped by a small roadside temple that honestly, I can't even remember the name of. I think it's safe to say at this point we were pretty templed-out. But this site allowed you to climb all the way to the top tower, which gave you a nice view of the countryside.

Trip Day 9: Floating Village, Cambodia

On our final day in Cambodia we decided we wanted to see a bit more of Cambodia and less of temples. So before our flight we visited the floating village which is exactly what it sounds like. I was expecting huts on stilts, but for the most part this entire community lives on some form of a boat. They even have basketball courts/gyms with each school, which is pictured here.

Obviously to visit the floating village you must travel by boat. We had this huge boat completely to ourselves. This is the one and only picture we have of our faithful tour guide, Kim. Mostly because on our boat ride back from the village the camera died. Look how much fun we're having riding on the roof.

This is one of the homes. There is a large lake (so large we couldn't see any of its banks) which the village moves to during the dry season (right about now). During the rainy season they are along the river that leads to the lake. It was really impressive to see how they managed to create their homes on water, including gardens like this one has. Some people had two boats tied together to create their house. They all get points for creativity.

Once we reached the "main strip" of the village we stopped off at one of their floating community centers where they had a souvenir shop, a restaurant, a small fish museum, and a crocodile farm. Apparently they raise these crocodiles to a certain age (or maybe size) and then ship them off to Singapore where the skins are used for ladies purses and shoes.

Across from the crocodile farm there was a Vietnamese Community Center where they all congregate on their little boats to get together and chat. Kim told us that you could tell who was Vietnamese because they were the ones wearing the cone-shaped hats.

And to conclude our trip to Cambodia, here is Kent's National Geographic entry of the week. This was taken on our ride back to shore from the floating village.

I really did try to get this post done sooner, but unfortunately a week on the beach prevented it from happening. Yeah, really sorry about that...But stay tuned and maybe within the next two months I'll post about the rest of our trip...