I think I have fallen in love, no, not with another man but with another country, Cambodia.Bill, Derek and I were fortunate enough to be able to go to Siem Reap for a long weekend and the country and its people touched my soul. I now have a better understanding of why Angelina Jolie adopted her first son and though it may have seemed impulsive to those of us on the outside looking in – I believe without a doubt, it was not. 
Siem Reap is a large “city” in central Cambodia. It has the ruins of Angkor Wat as its biggest draw for tourist. These are the ruins that have made Cambodia known to Derek’s generation as it was used as a backdrop for the Laura Croft: Tomb Raider movie. South of Siem Reap is a large, think huge, lake that becomes a gigantic lake during the rainy season.
Our trip was mid march which is at the end of dry season; our guide told us that they have not had recordable rainfall since November. During the four days that we were there, we saw no but there were puddles at one of the ruins. The weather was significantly warmer than it was in Nanjing. Even though it was only mid-march the daily average was high 80’s. There seems to be a gentle breeze most days due to the land itself being so flat. I was a bit surprised by the lack of hills and vegetation. The trees were all tropical with the most beautiful array of orchids and lotus’s. They were everywhere. Lotus root is the stem of the lotus flower, the “petals” are cleaned out and the “stem” is sliced up for various recipes. Both are yummy, especially the fried lotus root. I practically liked the blue sky; it is rarely seen here in Nanjing due to all the ozone abuse. We try not to talk about it since we are breathing it in. 
Our first evening we went to Tone Slap Lake to tour the floating village by boat. It was amazing, several hundred families that live and work from their floating homes. The homes don’t amount to much more than floating shacks; but none the less, it was beautiful. You can see the poverty that is a given but you also could see the joy of life that comes through in their eyes.
On the way to lake we passed several homes that were on stilts about 15 feet above the ground. This is due to rainy season, at that time the lake that we were going to overflows and the whole area becomes a part of the lake.
We cruised around the floating village and made a small stop at a tourist market with crocodiles and a large snake that this little girl was responsible for; I didn’t think much of the whole snake thing. It is a slight phobia of mine, if you call peeing my pants and stop breathing - SLIGHT. We then went to the Tara which is a boat/restaurant for a sunset dinner. Food was wonderful and the hostesses were so kind. I was on high alert the whole time since Bill is deathly allergic to shellfish. Traveling Asia is a very stressful for people with this allergy as most ethnic groups use shellfish as a primary source of protein.
The following few days were filled with touring the ruins and visiting the town proper. More of these adventures to come……
