Happy New Year....Cambodia

We pulled off the surprise of the century with a meet up with the Hendos in Siem Reap, Cambodia.  Wish we could post the video we have of the kids seeing each other unepectedly in the lobby of the Victoria Hotel.  It was magic and we are so incredibly grateful to the Hendos for the big effort they made to loop in with us during their vacation.

Ahhhh...pedicures Cambodian style....tickly and wierd, but no pirahnas so that's good.

As if seeing the Hendos was not enough, we had also made plans to meet up with the awesome Robbins family in Siem Reap...spent two days sightseeing together and having a blast.

Angkor Wat is the most famous temple complex at Angkor, Cambodia built for the king Suryavarman II in the early 12th century as his state temple and capital city.  It is the world's largest religious building. One of the amazing things about the temples in the complex is that you can still wander freely around, climbing up on rocks and walls, exploring. A really fun place for kids. We wondered a lot about how this place will look in another 10 years and if it will be more difficult for visitors to touch and feel the ruins as they become more protected. When the temples were first discovered by a french explorer in 1860, they were hidden in the jungle and totally covered by vines and trees, having long ago been abandoned.

I took this picture upside down through my legs.  The image on the top is the reflection:

A big part of the experience of being at the temples are the bas-relief friezes that adorn every wall, telling the story of daily life or famous stories of the gods.

Here are some shots from the famous Ta Prohm temple.  The trees which grew up for centuries around the temples have been left intact and the roots literally sprout up and through the structures.

We also visited a Floating Village outside Siem Reap, one of the poorest places we've ever been.  I felt very mixed about this outing...it felt a little like "poverty tourism" and we were very skeptical that the local residents were benefitting from our donations or the money we paid to be toured around in a boat, even though we were told they did. Here a mother pulls up alongside our boat showing us her baby with a huge snake around his neck and begging for dollar.

Children in their home along the water...

A local orphanage

All in all, Cambodia definitely exceeded my expectations.  Not sure if that was due to the surprise we pulled off, the fantastic time we had with friends, the beauty of the temples, the rides in the tuk tuks, the incredibly delicious food, our awesome hotel, the over the top New Year's celebration...or maybe a combination of everything.  A highlight memory will always be the kids jumping in the hotel pool at midnight fully clothed, fireworks blasting in the background and Cambodian acrobats jumping through fire-hoops for the countdown. Thank you, Thank you to Ted, Bonnie, Mel Chris and Judie for the incredible chance to be together.  It made going home to Shanghai hard for all of us, but we now see light at the end of the tunnel...5 months and counting.  This year has been the opportunity of a lifetime, but there is no place like home.

Heading back to Shanghai..stuck in the Bangkok airport for 9 hours waiting a flight at 2:55am....what a way to wrap things up!  Happy New Year!