Our First Full Day on Vacaton

 Our first stop on our Asian vacation was Cambodia. Despite being there for only three days, we got to experience so much. Mostly in part to our wonderful Tuk-Tuk drivers. They were waiting at our hotel first thing in the morning and drove us around until late into the evening. By the time we left they truly felt like family. 

Our Tuk-tuk driver

first day's stop was Angkor Wat temples. The ride to the temple did not take that long, but we did see some fun things along the way. One being a group of kids sliding down a huge rock pile on plywood.

These guys were so cute. They tried their best to talk to us, but they couldn't quite keep up. 
 
Now that guy has some strong legs!! That cart is attached to his bicycle. 

That was a really short ride.

The temples are spread out for miles. This was the first one we went to.

When we walked under the head in the first picture, this is what greeted us.

Tyson loved all the bats, but I was a bit nervous that they would start to fly, so we didn't stay to watch them for too long.

It was very surreal walking around seeing things that I dreamed about. I honestly thought that things like this would only exist to me in the pages of a book.

 My Mom was standing right under him and never knew he was there. Lucky for her I captured the moment.

 
Tyson has some big feet to fill.

The view as we were talking back to find our Tuk-tuk drivers.

When we got to the next temple, this was the sign at the entrance.

How true it is though. If you don't choose to walk through, the possibility is lost.
Thankfully we decided to make the possibility our reality. 


Mom and Dad on our way to the temple. 

Tyson and I were not allowed to go into this one with everyone else, him because he was too young and me because I was pregnant.  After hearing how hard the climb was, I was happy we didn't go. Instead Tyson and I decided to walk around and take some photos.

 I love how the trees grow all around the rocks. Life always finds a way!

 It was a bit strange seeing so many Monks on vacation with their fancy cameras.

 Jeff and Mom at the top

Tyson was going to stand inside the tree, until he saw the HUGE spiders.

 Jeff had the right idea going down backwards.

 The back side of the temple

I wish we knew just how old some of these trees were

 When you try to leave, you have to walk past a mile of vendors. Normally I love looking around and shopping a bit, but here they had little kids coming up begging for money and for you to buy something for them. Some as young as 2 years old! Being pregnant and emotional, I wanted to start handing out money left and right. Jeffrey thought it would be wise to just keep walking.

How could you resist a face like this? I couldn't. Tyson loves his little elephant he bought from him, but I just wish I could have given him even more.

 After trying to make our way through the dozens of cute kids, we decided to go get some lunch.











 Tyson' waiting patiently for his food.

Our sweat and sour chicken turned out to be more sweat and fire, but it was still really good.
After our delicious meal, we headed off the next temple. This one was under reconstruction so we didn't get to see much of it. What we did see though was absolutely unforgettable.

 I could have stood there all day looking at the ways this tree had wrapped it's way around the temple. It hardly looked real until you got up close enough to see each root digging it's way into the earth.

 The last stop of the day was by far the largest. This was more like a palace rather then a temple. We walked around for hours and still never say half of it.

 

 Every room or area of this place was so unique. I wish we had someone who could have told us what places like this may have been used for. 

I wish I had a better picture that would show just how steep those steps were. I couldn't imagine climbing them over and over. Hopefully that was not where the bathrooms use to be.

 The artists who cared the walls, doorways, floors and ceilings of this place could stand proudly next to Picasso or Monet.

There so cute!! 
After walking around Angkor Wat all day, it was time to head back to the  hotel for a quick clean up before heading back out for a dinner theater suggested by our Tuk-tuk drivers. 
Before we got back to the hotel though, I had to snap a quick photo of the ways families get around.

The most we saw on one scooter was a family of 7! Two adults, Three older children and two little babies standing up. 






 When we got to the restaurant, there was so much food to choose from. Cambodian, Thailand, American, Korean. The list goes on and on. 
Everyone found plenty of things they liked, and we all chose at least 2 things we had never tried before.

Here is my My Mom trying what I guessed was some sort of rice cake. 


She said it tasted alright, but she couldn't handle the texture.

Unfortunately we didn't get to stay too long because Tyson was tired.

He ended up falling asleep right on the table.

So that was our very first day in Cambodia and on our vacation. Hopefully I will be able to share all of our exciting adventures in shorter posts. Hope you enjoyed it though. ;)