Following a combined 10 hour bus ride from Ho Chi Minh City (and an overnight stay in Cambodia’s capital, Phnom Penh), we arrived in Siem Riep, Cambodia (or Kampuchea, as its called by its residents and much of the world). With the exception of the nightlife and Night Market located at busy Pub Street, Siem Reap is a pretty low key city (just our speed). Siem Reap, however, is also home to the amazing temples of Angkor. Prior to the Industrial Revolution, Angkor was the capital of the Khmer Kingdom and the largest city in the world! It had canals and roadways that stretched more than a 1,000 kilometers from the city center (the second largest city at the time only spanned about 100 kilometers).  At its peak around 1100 AD, the population of Angkor was estimated to be around one million (while London, in comparison, was only 50,000).  At the center of Angkor were over a thousand temples, including Angkor Wat (its iconic five peaks are on the Cambodian national flag today) and Angkor Thom (with dozens of faces etched into its many walls).  We spent a day riding bicycles between these amazing temples, followed by a a dip in our hotel pool (the temp that day was about 103 and very humid) and finally a much needed couples massage. Thank you Renata, and the ancient city of Angkor (and the outgoing Angkor monkeys), for making my 43rd birthday quite possibly the most memorable ever!

Next stop Laos.