In early 2008,
We took two trips to Cambodia, 

On the first, We hit Angkor Wat.

And on our
second trip,
we rode 250cc dirtbikes through the south.

Angkor Wat


We toured the main Angkor Wat temple on our first day.

Here's us.
Nate and Suanna Bruinooge, plus Matt and Sarah.

Here's our feet.


Actually, this shot and a lot of the others in this series, are from Suanna's camera.  And Nate's, to boot.

The grounds of Angkor Wat were surrounded by a big moat.  In fact, Angkor Wat was part of an elaborate water control system.  The Khmer empire was built on rice, and therefore irrigation. 

You might notice that the boobs of the Apsara dancers are shiny.

Why?  Because the rubbing of Apsara boobs is considered to be good luck.

Here is Nate.

He looks like a guy who appreciates some good luck, doesn't he?

Yep.

Nate spent a lot of time taking notes.

Here, I think his journal entry simply stated...
"good boobs."

Wherever we go, Suanna is always taking pictures of flowers.  You can't stop her.

Hot chixx.

Nate and Suanna.

Eventually, Sarah gets tired of me taking her picture.

The grounds are still active places of worship for Buddhists.  Buddhism rebounded strongly once the Pol Pot regime was put down.

Even partial statues get dressed in saffron and set up as small shrines.

Clearly, the Angkor statuary is more hindu than buddhist.  But heck, all those gods are just aspects of the divine buddha nature.

Around the outer walls are long bas-relief murals, depicting... well, mostly depicting huge battle scenes.  Usually, some god is killing like a thousand enemies, including lots of demons.

Here is a stop-motion photograph of a god flapping his arms really hard, in order to fly.  And he also has three faces, so he must be shaking his head too.

Back in town.

Siem Reap has exploded since we were here a year ago.  Most of the roads are now paved.  New restaurants and guest houses are popping up like toadstools.

Suanna likes taking pictures of children.  You can't stop her.

Department
of Cults and Religions.

Closed on Tuesdays.

Barber Shop.

Monks are people too.  They need Facebook, just like everybody else.

In theory, there are three big parties in Cambodian politics.  In reality, the Cambodian Peoples Party is the only one you need to know.

All our pus and sputum needs were met by this shop in town.

Who knew that IQ meant Intestinal Quality?

Yikes.

Back in Vietnam, Suanna burned her leg on a motorbike muffler.  This is a kind of ritual scarring that lets stoner-hippie backpackers recognize each other.