Siem Reap Cambodia

After using some slight evasion tactics I successfully entered Cambodia with my bike. I then spent the next two days making my way to Siem Reap, home to the magnificent Angkor ruins.

I decided to use my freedom of having my own transportation and take a bit more of a off the beaten path route. It turned out to be an entertaining drive with sights like this....

and this.


A great sunset, but at the wrong time. My off track detour took about 2 hours longer than I planned which meant driving in the dark and getting pelted by large bugs in the face.


Choking on dust for a few hours.

My lunch spot.

In the small villages you become somewhat of a spectacle and people come and watch you eat.

One of the many weddings I passed. The weddings in Cambodia start at 6 am and go on for two straight days. The music is blasted so loud it actually hurts my ears as I pass by on my bike with my helmet on.

My guest house in Siem Reap.

I get the feeling the owners are madly in love with each other.

Zoolander would be very proud.

Look at the intimacy...they are touching hands.

I woke up at 4:30 am to catch sunrise at Angkor Wat.

Due to the darkness I didn't realize what I was posing in front of until I looked at the picture. "Look at the butt on that.....He must work out"

Well worth the early rise.

Angkor Wat.

Built for the king Suryavarman II in the early 12th century.

One of the 4 sacred pools in the Wat. Some of the stones in the Wat weigh upwards of 10 tons.

Looking from the east side of the Wat.

Even after a thousand + years you can still find a lot of detailed carvings.

On my way inside.

Inside the temple looking north.

Restoration in progress.

Makes me wonder how they put the roof together the first time.

More decorative carvings.

Leaving the Wat and heading to the rest of the ruins.

Some entertaining monkeys inside the temple walls.

This little local girl seems to fit right in with all the other adolescents.

It's a boy!

Her parents thought it was hilarious. I thought about rabies.

Bayon is a temple located in the center of the largest walled complex.

One of the many faces of Bayon.

The perfect babysitter.

More of a slide than stairs.

Ta Prahm: My favorite temple.

East side of Ta Prahm

The trees add to the ancient feeling, but they are also slowly destroying the ruins.

I wonder if anyone has been crushed by a falling stone?

Can you find me?

All in all, the pictures simply don't do it justice.

A long but rewarding day.

On my way to Battambang I stopped off in one of the stone carving villages.

4000 Islands Laos

4000 Islands is located at the southern tip of Laos where the Mekong is split by quite literally 4000 little islands.

Taking the boat out to the island of Don Dhet.

I think the relaxing ora of the islands was starting to sink in.


After landing on Don Dhet I was waiting to meet up with Hunter and this poor little fella came up looking for company. It broke my heart to see he had scratched nearly all his hair off from an itch that clearly wouldn't go away. No such thing as ASPCA out here.


I feel like they are wild animals, but they seem to be as docile as the cows.


My paradise for next three days.


On the hunt for a bungalow.

Doing my laundry.....When in Laos.

A canoe catamaran for transporting motor bikes.

Where I spent most of my time during the mid day heat.

I think this was a Lemur. It kept turning around to bite the little girl playing with its tail. Clearly the bite didn't hurt because the girl just laughed when it bit her.

We swam out to this little deserted island for the sunset and I officially made it part of Colorado.

The kids out here are much further advanced in the real world than in the states. This 10 yr old was driving the boat with one hand while playing the harmonica with the other.

Three little girls taking a sunset boat ride.

He looks harmless, but he snatched my water bottle from my hands and also peeled all the stickers off my rental bike......cheeky monkey.

We rented bikes and rode across a bridge to the island of Don Khon and got a good look at Somphamit Falls. I would love to see this during the wet season with high water.

Look, Laos has a bridge to nowhere also! I wonder how much it cost the taxpayers?

A bit further down river we found a nice swim hole. The temp of the water is like bath water.

On the bridge back to Don Dhet.

I told him we already paid the bill and the food was great, but he still felt it was necessary to unload rubber pellets on me.

After three very relaxing days at 4000 islands I said my goodbyes to Hunter as he headed back to Bangkok. I headed to the Cambodian border with some uncertainty about getting my bike through.