the end of Cambodia.

I am really missing cambodia right now :)  

One of my very favorite things about Cambodia was the fruit shakes.  EVERYwhere you go you can get a fresh fruit shake for 1$.  they take the fresh fruit right off the cart in front of you and blend it up right there.  They were SO good.  Mango and pineapple were my favorite.  I go places like this and realize that even though I hate to admit it- maybe I do love tropical places and warm weather because it means fresh cheap delicious fruit ALL YEAR LONG!!

oh- and cheap massages.  this fish massage was ridiculous.  it also cost 1$.  creepy is the only word to describe it!!  it took every ounce of will power to keep my feet in this tank.  as you can see from the look on my face!!!  metta would not even try.  and zeb and ike dropped their toes in once or twice.

I think it was so hard for me because the fish LOVED my feet.  they swam away from everybody else and directly to me once my feet entered.  Those gnawing little mouths felt SO STRANGE!!!

here's a pic of the boys when they first tried it!!!  zeb and ike's soccer outfits came from the market, too.  They cost 8$ for the whole outfit.  Their friends have them and they were so excited to get their own.  Ike got Germany and a Messi set and Zeb stuck with Brazil like his dad.

we also got leg/foot massages at the market in downtown Siem Reap.  They were also 1$. can I move to cambodia?!

I don't even know what this stuff was.  

it's got to be a sea creature, right? I just have no idea.  Our kiddos couldn't stand the smell long enough to find out.

It was so hard for me to see all the cheap fruits and veggies and know we were going to have to go back to japan where everything was so expensive :(

there is an area of Siem Reap full of tourist shops, restaurant, and even a few street shows :)  This father/son duo was pretty cool.

Several people stopped and took pictures of this tuk-tuk full of crazy kiddos!!

I love markets and shopping.  There is something so exciting and fun (and sometimes stressful) about searching and bargaining for the perfect souvenir!!!  we got a cool wooden carving of a head from the Bayon ruins here at the night market.

I think miss metta looks like such a ragamuffin here! and I love it.  we were so dirty and tired from all of the excitement.

Our last night we visited a small 'made in camboodia' market that guarantees their goods are handmade by locals (not just chinese imports). It was here we found one of our favorite purchases on the trip! This is a local artist who draws scenes from the temples. He used a simple cheap mechanical pencil to draw this!!! The Bayon temple was my favorite and I was so happy to find the picture.

the next few pictures are from "angkor wat".  I have to admit- this temple was the least impressive to me and was kind of a let down after the hype!  It was definitely amazing the morning of the race- and it is astounding- but it was crowded and over hyped :)  I much preferred the less crowded and less roped off temples!!

Plus- it was REALLY hot this day. and we were out in the direct sunlight.   But- it was really amazing to say we were there- at angkor wat!!!

and I loved the monkeys all over the grounds.  I'll never tire of monkeys.

I'm thinking metta got a little too close to this one!!!

the baby monkeys are my very favorite.

the very tallest portion of angkor wat is restricted to children under 12. so we took turns going up.  and the kids played games down bottom.  They were such a spectacle and people loved them.

The views up top were so so.  still too hot and bright :)

There's a temple a ways outside (I think it was called Bantey Srei) of Siem Reap that we also visited.  This place had the most intricate and astounding small carvings.  Mack wasn't impressed.  He just wanted to play in the red dirt.

but- honestly.  these temples just got more amazing.  each one had something that made it unique.

we tried to find every spot of shade that we could.  This was mid day and it was scorching!!

when I was taking pictures at this corner of the temple- Zeb overheard a German tourist nearby.  Zeb stopped and asked him if he'd ever heard of the story about JFK eating a 'berliner' for breakfast.  The tourist thought it was so funny and impressive that Zeb knew that little tid bit of history.  I didn't even know it!!  I had to ask Zeb what he was talking about!!

metta bought her favorite souvenir here.  A stuffed elephant mom and baby.  she has to buy things in families.  She's so weird.  Also, I love this picture of mack and his buddha belly.  I'm sorry that you look weird here, kent :)

I should have taken more pictures of all the craziness we saw on the roads here!!  we saw entire families on one motorcycle!!  there were toddlers standing up on motorcycle seats between parents all over the place!!

On our last day in Cambodia- we took a boat ride out to Tonle Sap.  It's a fishing village that is located on the water.  the houses, schools, and stores float.

The giant Lake is full of snakes- and these people wanted us to pay them to take a picture of theirs.

Once aboard the floating store- we did take some pics with this guy.  I'm quite certain these types of snakes are NOT living here in in the wild- but they made for a good picture :)

The city was pretty cool.  I don't know if the people enjoy having tourists came and 'stare' at their way of life- but the ones we met were pretty friendly.

this little girl was the daughter of our boat driver and she was so much fun.

Cambodians are some of the friendliest and happiest people I've come across.  I loved their country, their food, and their hospitality!!

The very last thing we did- before heading to the airport- was take a giant stationary air balloon up into the sky to give a farewell to Siem Reap!

Our days in cambodia were unreal!!  I would LOVE to go back one day and see other parts of this country.