I can't believe it - I found a MS office program that I could resize these pictures with - so, finally: some Canon shots!
Seafood! The cheapest food at the street stalls is often the best. So good!!
Stairs to an old Angkor temple (9th century)
young dogs (and cats) are everywhere
backstreet at Phnom Penh's lakeside
sunset on Phnom Bakheng, Angkor
Another shot from Bokor Hill Station near Kampot
Pepper!
service station in Phnom Penh
Preah Khan, Angkor
The smiling faces of Bayon temple are a great highlight in the dozens of amazing temples and temple complexes that is Angkor, the capital of the Khmer empire in the 12the and 13th century. Angkor Wat is the main temple of that old capital, and in the best condition of all those old stones, but also of course - the most crowded by thousands of tourists. We found a good time to visit though: lunchtime. When all the tour buses go back to Siem Reap. Can't upload pics now - but for me the main highlight were those "jungle temples" anyway.
Schrecklich, was gestern abend in Phnom Penh passiert ist - scheinbar sind mindestens 340 Menschen beim Wasserfest auf einer Bruecke bei einer Massenpanik umgekommen! Ueber 2 Millionen Menschen waren zusaetzlich in der Hauptstadt zu den Feierlichkeiten und Bootsrennen - ein Grund, weswegen wir uns entschieden hatten, das Fest in der Provinzstadt Sieam Reap zu verbringen. Uns geht es also gut, macht euch keine Sorgen. Wir bleiben hier auch noch 5 oder 6 Tage.
My first time to a beauty salon!! Never had more gorgeous toe nails before!! Together with a haircut for about 1,70 US-Dollars.
The spooky abandoned hotel at Bokor Hill Station near Kampot.
November is a popular month for weddings and all sorts of parties.
Our guesthouse at Phnom Penh's lakeside
Riding the Bamboo Train at Battambang!
Everyone off - everyone back on! There is only one track...
Never wander of the well trodden paths...
View from Phnom Sampeau near Battambang.
Taking the boat from Battambang to Siem Reap!
Through woods of waterplants that are trying to poke your eyes out if you don't keep the red curtains firmly closed...
Toilet at the floating villages
Restaurant and supermarket at the floating villages
floating villages
Siem Reap
First sunset from Phnom Bakheng - a hill near Angkor Wat... well what should I say.. as you can see, we weren't exactly the only ones.
From now on we'll go by bicycle and try to do an anti-cyclic tour to the masses of tourists. Holger is a bit too tall for the average Cambodian bike... so he took off the saddle.
Afternoon at Preah Khan, one of the "jungle temples", that Jayavarman VII (the Lonely Planet calls him the Donald Trump of the Angkorian era..) built for his father (Ta Prohm or "Tomb Raider temple" he built for his mother).
Right now going on at my back!! I just missed the fireworks... but finally - some pictures. The ones from the Canon still aren't to come, and the ones from the iPod - although so easy! - are still a bit... hard to handle... but we'll keep on trying!!! :-) Are having a fabulous time. Two more days of the Bon Om Tuk (Water festival) and then: temples again!!
Jaa,jetzt hats uns auch mal erwischt, bei aller Vorsicht - der iPod ist weg. Wir haben keine Ahnung, aber augenscheinlich ein Taschendieb! Aber als Optimisten sehen wir das Glück im Unglück, und es war nicht die Kamera. *seufz* Weil es das optimale Reisetool ist, haben wir uns hier den neuen geholt - fuer etwas günstiger als daheim. :-| Vorteil: Der neue hat ne integrierte Kamera mit der wir die Blog-Bilder direkt schießen und später per Free WiFi direkt vom Pod aus hochladen können. ;) [@Hartmut: Jau, wir können jetzt auch vom Strand aus Video-Skypen!] Ab morgen dann ofenfrische Bilder von Angkor Wat! :* Posted from Blogium for iPhone
Battambang was great, too, had a nice day tour around the countryside in a Tuktuk again and rode the fun Bamboo Train. Then we took the boat along the river and over the Tonle Sap Lake here to Sieam Reap. Great here, nice atmosphere and fantastic nightlife, lively markets and of course great food again. Unfortunately (although Internet is mostly free in the Guesthouses and free wifi in the bars) the connection is just too slow to upload pictures. I'll try to find a better one soon.... But tonight we're finally starting our one-week-pass for the one and only ANGKOR WAT! Tonight sunset, then tommorow cycling around Angor Thom, Bayon, Ta Prom and more! So excited! On the weekend there is the Bon Um Tuk Waterfestival with boat races along the river, which is just out of the door of our nice family run guesthouse, so there should be something to see as well. We want to stay here for abount 9 days, so hopefully I'll find a better Internetcafe soon!
Amok, our favourite food. Soooo good. :-D Have got a second favorite now: steamed dumplings from the street kitchens (filled with a lovely mix of vegetables and egg, sometimes meat, herzhafte Germknoedel!). Yummy!!!
Kampot was very nice, especially the surrounding landscape and more laughing children & so friendly people. Are now back in Phnom Penh at the lakeside and are going to Battambang tomorrow morning. This inet cafe though is just tooo slow. Could upload ONE picture in 45 minutes. Give up now.
Can't upload the pics from the new camera yet, so these must do for now.
KL - what a great city!! After laid back Adelaide we were stunned of this modern, wealthy, international, clean, impressing and nightlife-loving city!! Had a great night out in bar streets crowded with young people dressed up for Halloween, of all nationalities, but all united in a great mood & atmosphere!!
Phnom Penh - I can't exactly say what we expected, some sort of transit city with a lot of poverty probably - was even a bigger and what a positive surprise!! Beautiful temples, a very nice and welcoming riverside with lots of great bars and restaurant and old French colonial buildings, cheap drinks and FANTASTIC Khmer food!! The national dish (foto) - "AMOK"! :-) Wonderful fish steamed in a banana leaf in coconut milk with chili, lemongras and a tiny bit of anis, absolutely delicious. Costs: about 3 Dollars. We also found colourful markets, the most wonderful smells of street kitchens, an atmospheric and alternative life at the lake side, interesting museums (and of course heavy information about Cambodia's history and the Khmer Rouge's regime), peace at the beautiful King's Palace, free Wifi (WLAN) in our guesthouse room and the most wonderful, friendly people with the most beautiful smile ever. Phnom Pehn, the "Pearl of Asia", it truly is.
Kein Spanferkel ;-)
Typical Street in Phnom Penh.
Oh and Hilary Clinton drove past us on her visit to Phnom Penh on Monday, the whole street got closed for her. :-)
More fotos will possibly follow, if I can get that 8GB-Chip connected...
Holger gets a haircut!
Huge colourful Gecko in our Guesthouse in Sihanoukville.
The beach at Sihanoukville - quite fun and definitely very beautiful, but a bit of Ballermann or Koh Pa Ngan...
You can get your nails done while someone opens fresh lobster for you and somebody else gives you a neck massage - all together for less than 10 US-Dollars. Which by the way is the normal currency here, although you will get the change in Cambodian Riel.
Snorkeling tour to Bamboo Island!
Leave your shoes and just - stay.
But we are heading on to Kampot tomorrow and possibly to Vietnam after that! YAY!
Ein paar Tage bleiben wir, wo der Pfeffer waechst. ;-)
I can't believe it - I found a MS office program that I could resize these pictures with - so, finally: some Canon shots!
Seafood! The cheapest food at the street stalls is often the best. So good!!
Stairs to an old Angkor temple (9th century)
young dogs (and cats) are everywhere
backstreet at Phnom Penh's lakeside
sunset on Phnom Bakheng, Angkor
Another shot from Bokor Hill Station near Kampot
Pepper!
service station in Phnom Penh
Preah Khan, Angkor
The smiling faces of Bayon temple are a great highlight in the dozens of amazing temples and temple complexes that is Angkor, the capital of the Khmer empire in the 12the and 13th century. Angkor Wat is the main temple of that old capital, and in the best condition of all those old stones, but also of course - the most crowded by thousands of tourists. We found a good time to visit though: lunchtime. When all the tour buses go back to Siem Reap. Can't upload pics now - but for me the main highlight were those "jungle temples" anyway.
The famous Pub Street in Siem Reap
Apsara Dance Show
Riverview in Kampot
King's Palace in Phnom Penh
