Day 5 Siem Reap

Our first day in Cambodia involved touring Angkor Wat, the most famous temple of the Khmer temple complex of Angkor. It was absolutely breathtaking. It is so different from many of the temples I saw in China, but still beautiful. Since it is still an active religious site, girls were required to wear pants. First it was a Hindu temple dedicated to Vishnu, but now it is a Buddhist temple.

Visiting ancient sites always makes me marvel at how people were able to create such amazing structures without the use of modern equipment. I often wonder if anything we've created in modern times will withstand the test of time like the Angkor temples.

After Angkor Wat, we visited another temple, but I never caught the name. To me, it will be the elephant temple because it's where I had an opportunity to ride an elephant. The temple sits atop a small mountain. We hiked up the mountain, then climbed up a steep stair case to the top of the temple. It was at the base of the temple where I got up close and personal with an elephant. They are truly majestic creatures. Katie and I decided to ride the elephant down the mountain, and the experience was priceless. We encountered an elephant traffic jam, and I was a little nervous wondering how four elephants would navigate the narrow path. But we made it down safely.

I tried to ask our driver how they trained the elephants, but he did not speak enough English to be able to tell me. He did tell me our elephant's name, and I was anxious to ask our tour guide what it meant. He laughed and informed me the elephant's name did not have any significance. It was like Fido in English.

The day concluded with dinner and a traditional Khmer cultural dance performance. I really enjoyed the costumes.