Part 2 of Day 1 in Cambodia
What a fantastic day this was! Everyone needed a little R&R. Mexican food and the appropriate alcoholic beverages made for a nice break. We sent the dads and the smaller tikes home for a nap/rest and the moms and the older girls (Ella and Aleah) went for a bit of shopping and a 30 minute Khmer massage. Now this was hilarious, and after living in Asia, not too surprising. They took us to a room with 5 thin mattresses on the floor (covered with a sheet, nothing gross or anything). Each of us layed on one, only to be instructed that we needed to remove our outermost clothing....hmmm. Interesting with 2 adults and 2 children in the room and no separation...When in Rome (or Cambodia)! 
So we had a nice massage and then wandered around a few blocks of the city. There was a street performer attempting to impress us as he did a headstand over knives and jumped through a firey hoop. I think the locals had more fun watching than the tourists. We soon grabbed a tuk tuk (motorcycle pulling a cart) back to the hotel and gathered the rest of the family to head out to see two more temples. The first was Banteay Srey. Banteay Srey was commissioned in 967. Seriously, this thing was built in the 10th century. I was in awe of such a masterpiece. 
It was red sandstone with tons of detailed carvings. It was very small in comparison to Angkor Wat, but probably much prettier in my mind. It is delicate and "girly" if a structure could ever be deemed so. We really enjoyed this temple and the beauty of the red sandstone in the afternoon light. It was really was gorgeous.
So we had a nice massage and then wandered around a few blocks of the city. There was a street performer attempting to impress us as he did a headstand over knives and jumped through a firey hoop. I think the locals had more fun watching than the tourists. We soon grabbed a tuk tuk (motorcycle pulling a cart) back to the hotel and gathered the rest of the family to head out to see two more temples. The first was Banteay Srey. Banteay Srey was commissioned in 967. Seriously, this thing was built in the 10th century. I was in awe of such a masterpiece. 
It was red sandstone with tons of detailed carvings. It was very small in comparison to Angkor Wat, but probably much prettier in my mind. It is delicate and "girly" if a structure could ever be deemed so. We really enjoyed this temple and the beauty of the red sandstone in the afternoon light. It was really was gorgeous.
In an effort to see a beautiful sunset, we traveled to Pre Rup, a smaller temple on the way back. When I say small here, I mean by how much land mass it covers. The plot of land it is on is fairly small, but the number and steepness of stairs led you up to almost it's full height. We weren't the only ones with this idea as we watched the sun set with 100 of our new best friends. As the other kids were beginning to tire, I headed back to the van with them. Liz, Bill, Curt and Aleah stayed up on the temple taking lots of photos.
Knowing we pushed the kids as far as we could, we decided to order pizza on the way home to be delivered to our hotel. Pizza and showers later and the kids were tucked in and the adults were melting into their chairs with beers on hand. Whew! One day down!
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