by Bradley

          Our first experience with a Tuk Tuk was when we arrived at the airport in Siem Reap. We booked through our hotel a transfer from the airport to our hotel. We mentioned that we were booking it for 2 rooms but somehow they only sent one Tuk Tuk...so there were 4 of us and all of our luggage in one. Now to understand the significance of this, a Tuk Tuk is a little open air vehicle that's kind of like a golf cart being pulled by a moped. Needless to say it was a bit cramped on our first ride.

          Even the cramped ride was fun though, since they are open air and Cambodia is really hot, it's a great way to cool down. We rode in a real car later in the trip and the tuk tuk was actually better than a cars A/C because it started cooling you off as soon as you started moving. These things are great for taking you around the temples and are reallly cheap. It's such a fun mode of transportation, I wish we had them in the States!

by Katherine

          After doing a bunch of research, the town I was looking forward to most was Siem Reap. I don't usually get too excited about cities - I'm more of a scenic kinda gal - but Siem Reap seemed like a place filled with cheap massages, delicious food, and lots of fun. I would have loved to have spent more time here, so that we could take more time to enjoy downtown, but Cambodia is uncomfortably frickin hot, so I only allotted the minimum number of days here.

          We started out with foot massages after a long morning of templing on our first stint in town. It was only $4 (I think) for 30 minutes and it felt amazing. I opted for more massages in Cambodia on subsequent days at our hotel. Did I mention Cambodia is cheap? Like really cheap?!!?! 

by Katherine

          Day 2 of templing went a little differently. I really wanted to hire a car so that we could go out to a couple of farther away temples, which are pretty unique. A car cost about $70, much more than a tuk tuk, but the temples were 1-2 hours away, and the car was for the whole day, so actually a pretty darn good deal. Laura and Rosie decided to skip the far away temples, but they did join us at the first one close by.

by Bradley

          One of my favorite food experiences of the trip was the Cambodian BBQ where we got try 14 different kinds of meat! Not only did we get to try 14 meats but it was a fun interactive experience because we got to cook everything too.

          All of the meat came out raw with little flags with pictures to indicate what kind of meat it was. We also got noodles and vegetables that were boiled in a broth at the bottom of the grill and as the meat cooked and fat rendered it dripped into the broth making it even more flavorful! Below is a picture and description of all the meats we tried!        

by Bradley

          If you're ever in a place offering a fish foot massage, do it! This was so much fun, for 3$ each we got a beer and 15 minutes with our feet in the fish tank. Katherine didn't want her beer so I got 2 and basically chugged them, this got me a bit tipsy and made this experience even more fun! The fish chewing on your feet was ticklish at first and I got so giggly, yea giggly, it was attracting everyone around. We ended up bringing so much business to the fish massage place by all the commotion we were making that they let us stay there longer than the 15 minutes. We probably could've stayed indefinitely, but after about 30 min, the fish got bored of our feet and went for other customers and we decided to leave. Bottom line is you have to try it and it does work, after you get over the ticklishness it feels nice, and when you get out your feet are smooth.

by Bradley

          The first lunch we had in Cambodia was in the center of town near the market. We had just finished templing (and getting up really early to try and see the sunrise) and it was midday when it was the hottest. I think one of the main reasons we picked this place was because we noticed ceiling fans above the tables (and also because it was one of the many restaurants Katherine found from her research). We sat down, asked for the fans to be turned on, and ordered our first Cambodian meal.