Twice as Nice, Double your Pleasure

Just like most American kids, I grew up with the standard couple of destinations my family would religiously visit every year. Even though I LOVED Pismo Beach and Tahoe, and looked forward to them with a keen anticipation, there was still something in me that longed for a change. Those changes certainly came when I moved out of the house and finally saved enough money to travel abroad - Not until I was 24. Since then, I've visited 23 other countries and have savored (almost) each + every one of them. Without fail though, during the last few days of my stay in each I've felt an aching sadness and question whether or not I'll ever be back, and WHEN?! (Photo: Isolated, but impressive Banteay Samre)

One thing that has surprised me on THIS trip is that it's been so much more rewarding than I even could have guessed to retrace some of my steps around the globe. I can now count Spain a second time, and Paris - Both of which I'd return to AGAIN in a heartbeat, except that I still haven't visited Morocco, or Egypt, or large parts of Mexico, or Brazil... ; Thailand got it's visit numbers two + three; Vietnam x2 - Wish I was STILL there I dug it so much; and now we're giving Cambodia another whirl. Which leads me to where we are now - Angkor, via the Tonle Sap delta from Battambang. Two of our favorites of the country. And though you can never recapture that FIRST time, always unique because of the element of surprise, I'm certainly not loving it any less. (Photo: Before the Storm)

Angkor offered up several firsts for me this time around, surprisingly, though it's my third visit. The first day I FINALLY did what I've been meaning to at each past visit to Bayon - Slowly make a full circuit of each level leading up to those smiling faces. On our second day we actually spent almost the entire day checking out outlying sites we'd missed last time. And we managed to cap THAT off with another first - Seeing someone get struck by lightening! It's the tail end of monsoon season now and sudden, but brief daily showers are not uncommon. This day, we were capping off with a visit to a large reservoir in the complex. A breeze had picked up and we could see the line of the storm moving in. And then, rain, hard and fast. We ran for cover at a nearby food stall. It was POURING and kids were out playing in it - Swimming, running, soccer. The latter was a group of boys not far off from us. The first HUGE crack of lightening struck with thunder following IMMEDIATELY. It made us jump and literally shook our bodies. We both looked at each other and simultaneously said "Holy Shit!" A few seconds after this there was a bright flash before my eyes RIGHT where the boys were playing soccer and another deafening, earth-shaking thunder. It took us a few seconds to recover from that second shock, but as we did we saw a group gathering around a figure lying on the ground... One of the soccer boys had been STRUCK! Darin ran out in the rain to investigate. The boy was coherent, but badly shaken + crying, and with a large welting burn on his thigh. The other boys carried him home. CRAZY! (Photo: Broken window spindles)

You'd think the rest of our visit would've been anticlimactic after that, but on our last day (primarily spent at Angkor Wat) we were treated to a late day shower and a RAINBOW, arcing right over the temple + causeway. Now, I don't know if these were signs from God that we're doing something right, or a warning, but we're feeling "Touched" right now. And what a powerful touch he has - WOW! (Photo: Somewhere over the Rainbow)

Now it's back to P.P. to try our hand at working again.

Check the links for more photos of the Tonle Sap delta and Angkor