In February of 2020, just as Covid was starting to impact everyone’s travels, we came to Seam Reap, Cambodia, and spent 2 days at Angkor Wat, the largest religious monument in the world. We had been on the road for less than 12 months, so everything was new, but this place totally blew our minds. In the years to come it was consistently in the top 10 most memorable places we visited. We have been back in Cambodia, this time for almost 2 months, so we bought a 7-day pass, and have been out to the monument three times already. Did it still blow our minds? Has anything changed?

Since that time we have seen dozens more monuments all over the world; some were better, some were worse, and many that blew our minds frequently. Angkor Wat truly IS spectacular, spread out over dozens of different monuments and thousands of acres. There is no way to really see or appreciate it in one day, but many are only able to hit the highlights, especially with the heat. But the difference in price between one day and seven days’ pass is not substantial, so it’s nice to have options. One of the saddest aspects of the ruins is the condition they are in. Due to the building material, they have not weathered as well as those made out of granite or marble that we have seen in other parts of the world. If you have any plans to visit, you should do it sooner rather than later…

Overall, as we finish our last few weeks in town, it’s been a pleasant surprise. Aside from the ruins we did other things as well , including a cool acrobatic circus, a lovely botanical garden, a terrific national museum, and a nonprofit that taught us how rats are trained to locate land mines which can be removed, saving lives. So sad to think that this country has between 4-6 MILLION unexploded landmines, and even today, decades after any war or conflict, many are still killed and injured.

Due to the heat there are many things that we did NOT do since it’s been so brutal. Truth is, we removed the pressure to do everything at each stop a long time ago, and since we will return, we can catch them on the next round. In cooler weather.

We just started our last big adventure here: a four day ride down the Mekong River to the capital city of Phnom Penh, where we’ll spend two days, then return by bus. A week after that it’s off to Athens via Bangkok, and start our five months in Europe