Angkor Wat

The group of volunteers I traveled with was diverse and so much fun.  Peace Corps Volunteers have a wonderful spirit of adventure and it was fun to share this experience with these people.

There are a number of wats at Angkor Wat.  It is a 31 square mile area that once held 1 million people.  Cambodia has a rich history of Hinduism and Buddhism with kings and conquerors.  They all build new wats as they became the ruler and the ruins are a wonderful history of the area.  Coming into each wat, there are a number of adorable children selling flutes, books, scarves, bracelets, and origami.  Their English is very good and they are relentless in their salesmanship.  It was a bit heartbreaking after a while because I don’t know that they go to school, they are trained to learn enough to sell things.  The Cambodian people are as kind, generous and giving as the Thais, but the country seems to be poorer.  However, they seem to be very ambitious and eager to attract tourists and provide a wonderful experience of their country.  

3 volunteers from group 123, one year ahead of mine

 we rode tuk tuks the whole time

 long wait at the boarder to enter Cambodia

 Entry to the country

 many stairs to this one!

 carvings on the wall

 window in one of the wats

 I think this was a king

 Hindu deity

 sunrise

 sunset

Faith and Lauren from my group (124)

 Susan from group 124