Angkor Contrast

We stayed in Siam Reap, a town lower to the ground than any I've seen. Outside our hotel door, we could see water buffalo grazing, farmers feeding pigs, and construction workers playing with a dead rat. Everyone rose early (I mean 4:30am) and didn't mind making a ruckus at that hour.

The chaos we've described about South-East Asia was heightened in Cambodia, but so was the kindness, simplicity, beauty and coarseness of the people.

Angkor Wat was devoid of this chaos, which made a sharp contrast with everything we experienced in Cambodia. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, so it's maintained in a much different way than the world in which it exists. It was clean, vast, quiet and empty--covering nearly 50 miles of jungle and farmland. Roads were paved and at every stop there were clean toilets and snacks.

So, we got to wander around at our own will, as if we were at a national park at home. We had a lovely time there and enjoyed the respite from noise, chaotic traffic, and the like.