Cambodia Part 2: Angkor Wat: The SUPERPIX

After the novel-length entry I posted about my first day in Cambodia, I promised that I would keep this one light on the text and heavy on the pix. I aims to please ya’ll, and pictures are my preferred technique of encouraging reading; it’s positive reinforcement! It worked when I was a kid, and I still prefer books with pictures…

Welcome to Angkor Wat

Bigger than it looks, if you believe that

A small portion of the innumerable elaborate stone carvings littered about these temples

Continue on after the jump for a little more background and a lot more of my favorite pictures.

Cambodia Part I: Siem Reap: The Good, the Bad, and the Flooded

Some of you may know that I recently took a trip to Cambodia for various reasons, primarily pertaining to matters of visa renewal, sightseeing, and relaxation. I accomplished all of my objectives as planned. This is the first of what will likely be another 2 or even 3 part tale of my travels, so you better read it so you’re not behind when the next one comes out! That is how I grow my readership: unintimidating threats, lightheartedly delivered! Let’s do this thing:

October brings with it a month long semester break for schools, similar to that which we call Winter Break at home. So, as a teacher, I also get some time off, and decided to take a trip to Cambodia, a bordering country which is very much on the South East Asia Backpacker Trail, and boasts some beautiful scenery, fascinating culture, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Angkor Wat. I decided to go check it all out, and while I was at it, I could fly back in to Bangkok on the return trip, renewing my visa for 30 days rather than the 15 you get by land (my visa situation is a very long, boring story, so just trust me that the trip was beneficial and let’s move on to excitement).

I left Chiang Mai on the over-night bus to Bangkok at 9pm on Monday, and after a series of buses and taxis, I was in Siem Reap by 4pm the next day.When I arrived in Siem Reap, I couldn’t get dropped off directly at my hostel because of flood water. Lots of it..

What Atlantis looked like, before things got bad...

(Find out if I eventually found my way or not after the jump)

Ooo a Food Blog?? Fun!

I thought it would be refreshing to once again take a break from the adventure/excitement posts for a moment and try something a little more domestic: Food Blogging. This is my latest in a long line of efforts to convince you to come to Thailand/make you hungry.

Yes, I feel it's time to try my hand at the food blogging thing. Not because of any sort of hobby/career aspirations, but just because I ate some really good food, and I happen to have a blog. And as the saying goes: if the shoe fits, write a cliché blog about it.

Just so you have some background into how this came about: I ate a hamburger.

When I ate the first burger, I knew it was special. When I ate the second one, it inspired me to write about it. When I went to write about it, I realized I needed to eat it 2 more times: once to notice the details of how everything is done and what the place is like, and once to write about it as I eat it or shortly afterward. Point is: I’ve eaten this burger a bunch of times, so you can trust that my research process has been thorough. I try to keep things professional around here.

Fits in the palm of your hand. Ergonomics are the hallmark of the Sandwich industry.

It all started when Will suggested we walk in the opposite direction from the restaurants we usually go to for dinner. There was the mention of some “Curry Place,” which is a perfectly normal and legitimate possibility in Thailand, but we never actually found it. Instead we happened across a little shop whose sign advertised a 25 Baht burger. Could be a tourist trap, or more of that bad imitation western food that plagues parts of the city… but it’s not in an area that sees many/any tourists… and the sign and banner is written completely in Thai… better check it out…

We walk over and ask what the best burger to get is, and the woman behind the counter says beef, which ended up being 27 Baht, and a short 5 minutes later Will and I were sharing the best burger I’ve eaten in Thailand. Allow me to elaborate.