Another Visitor

With the end of November brought my third and final visitor here. This time it was my friend Aletheia who I have worked with and lived with before moving here. It was so fun to see her and spend a week together. Though we did many similar things as my other visitors, each person brings their own flair to the experience...which is half the fun :)

We spent the first few days in the city such as shopping for Christmas, eating really good cupcakes, doing our nails, and eating really good food! On Thanksgiving we went to the Raffles, which was very fancy! Part of the reason for going was the giant Chocolate Fountain they had. The food was also amazing! They had pumpkin soup, pumpkin au gratin, turkey, cranberry apple cider, au gratin potatoes, and much more. So much good food and only one size tummy! This is not mentioning the spread of deserts they had besides the Chocolate Fountain!

On Friday we spent some time up at Wat Phnom, walking along the riverfront and met up with Mary and Hubert for lunch. They were the couple I stayed with in Koh Kong earlier this year. It was lovely to see them again before leaving and we had a nice time together. We left Saturday morning for Seim Reap for a couple days of exploring the temples. Once we arrived and had some lunch we went to the same workshop that Michelle and I went were they make baskets, candles, and other fun things.

Palm branches drying after being dyed

making a box

Pineapple Plant!

Our next stop was also to the Silk Worm farm as well. It was fun seeing everything a second time. I even learned more things. After this we wanted to ride the elephant to watch the sunset but when we got there learned they had no more rides to the top, just coming down. Having walked up this hill before I suggested we take the ride up and try the next night. So after eating some fabulous food for dinner ($2 for my meal) we met up with my friend Ines before going back to our hostel. In the morning we went back to the little lake to watch the sunrise. We also had a guy with us named Kyle. Kyle is the brother to a girl who got married to a Cambodian who is friends with Aletheia's Co-worker(not the Cambodian but Kyle's sister)...do you follow :) He was in Cambodia for his sister's wedding and Aletheia was suppose to take back something for her co-worker. As we were heading up to Seim Reap we found out he was as well and invited him to join us for a tour of the temples. It was very random and had fun hanging out.

Sunrise

Road through Angkor Wat

Ants...they were all over the place

Boys getting ready to sing for us...they wanted money

We had fun seeing the different temples and watching all these crazy ants marching in a single line. After seeing everything we wanted we had some lunch in town before going to see the floating villages. I had been out there before but it was near the end of the dry season which meant all the houses were out on the lake. Now that rainy season had just ended they were all further inland as what will be the road with trees is under water.

After seeing the villages we went back to see the sunset which also meant the elephant ride up. All three of us climbed aboard and had fun as we rode. At the top the sunset was very nice and we saw a whole group of monks that people were getting their picture taken with. We then headed back into town for some dinner.

Leth's favorite Tuk Tuk

In the morning we came back to the city with Kyle who was flying out that night. We ate some lunch and then went to Toul Slang and the Killing Fields. As I have done these multiple times I sat in the Tuk Tuk and waited for them. It started to rain and by the time we arrived at our dinner location they had both bought poncho's. After dinner Kyle went to the airport and Leth and I went home. On her final day here we spent the morning doing laundry and watched a movie before meeting one of my friends for lunch. In the afternoon we stopped at another market and went to the cupcake place for a second round :) For dinner we ate at a North African place and sat on their roof lounging on pillows drinking the best Mint tea ever!

It was such a blessing to have Aletheia here and to watch her fall in love with this place. I was happy to share my world with her, and as we won't be living together again when I get back (she got a job out of the state) it was fun to have a chance to spend so much time together.