Adventures in Cambodia: Tonle Sap Floating Village and Angkor Balloon

Our last day in Cambodia was probably my least favorite day . . . Still really cool and we saw some amazing things, but I wouldn't have been heartbroken had we not done these two things.  

First up, we went out to Tonle Sap Lake to see the floating fishing village.  The reviews for going to see Tonle Sap Lake were pretty mixed, with a lot of negative reviews, and overall I think I'd probably agree with them.  Going out on the boat felt very touristy, and the people running the operation were the only rude people that we'd come across the entire time we'd been in Cambodia.  Then, out on the lake, there wasn't much to see, and the locals didn't seem to love the intrusion of the tourists, which is understandable.  We were taken to a large floating dock that had some alligators in a cage in the water (they called it an alligator farm), some fish, and a large boa that Peter held for a few pictures (and a few dollars).  And . . . that was pretty much it!  We enjoyed the boat ride, but it was not an activity that I'd recommend friends to do when visiting Cambodia.

After the lake and eating lunch, we went to go up for a ride in the Angkor Balloon.  The Angkor Balloon is like hot air balloon, but it is tethered to the ground, so you just go straight up and then back down.  We'd driven by the property a several times throughout our trip, and since we had time our last day, we decided to give it a go.  We knew that it would be short (and quite expensive), but we wanted to see the amazing views of Angkor Wat.  It was indeed beautiful, but again, I wouldn't have been too upset had we skipped the balloon ride . . . That being said, I think Peter really enjoyed it--or at least being able to get some great photos of Angkor Wat and the Cambodian countryside, and our kids loved it as well.

Adventures in Cambodia: Angkor Wat Half Marathon

As I previously mentioned, our trip to Cambodia was put into motion as a result of our friends, Peter, and I signing up to run the Angkor Wat Half Marathon.  Never having been a strong runner, this was a huge challenge for me--before this race, I had never run more than 3.5 miles before!  I began training the end of the summer and ran very consistently up through the beginning of December until we left for Cambodia.  And, after months and hundreds of miles, I have to say . . . I still do not love running!  Ha!!!  But, it was a great goal, and really helped me to stay fit over the last several months.  I felt myself getting stronger, both mentally and physically with each training run (especially the long ones), which was worth all the effort in itself.  

The race was awesome.  It was in one of the most beautiful and incredible settings in the world . . . but it was HOT.  The race was supposed to start at 6:00am, but we didn't end up actually taking off until about 6:40!  With every passing minute, I just kept getting more and more stressed about having to run that much longer in the heat of the day!  Almost all of my training runs to prepare for the race had been at 5:00 or 6:00 in the morning in Japan throughout the fall, meaning that I was used to running in temperatures in the 40s or 50s and in a much, much dryer climate.  Combine that with then spending the two days before the race walking, hiking, and sightseeing in 90+ degree heat and very high humidity, and I pretty much set myself up for a rude awakening on race day!  And that's pretty much what happened!  I was hot and hurting!!!  But, I eventually made it to the finish line, and even though my time wasn't as good as it had been in my training, I did it!  I ran a half marathon, something that I never thought in a million years I'd be able to do!

Peter was awesome.  He felt great and was entirely supportive and in great spirits.  He took tons of pictures throughout the race; I especially love the ones of the local kids that came and lined up along the race route to watch.

Adventures in Cambodia: The Temples of the Angkor Archaeological Park

Did I ever mention the reason we planned this trip to Cambodia and Vietnam???  We (my friends, Leisy and Melissa, and I) got it into our head to run the Angkor Wat half marathon, and we decided that that was a great reason to go and make a trip out of it!  Peter and Leisy's husband, Kent, got on board to running with us and Melissa's husband, Brady offered to watch the kids, so, with the race planned, we decided to go for it, and to add Vietnam to our itinerary as well!

Anyway, we arrived in Cambodia a couple of days before the race, which gave us time to sight-see and get thoroughly dehydrated before the race!  But, really, I ended up being pretty dehydrated during the race, but we'll get to that in another post :)  We spent a full (and very, very hot and sweaty) day exploring the temples in the Angkor Archaeological Park.  We arranged for some drivers to take us around for the day in their tuk tuks, which was really fun and a very authentic way to travel through the area.

Okay, be prepared for a lot of pictures!!!

Bantay Cray:

Ta Prohm:

Popsicles and lunch break!  I think that this meal, served at a make-shift restaurant in the park, was the best food we had the whole time we were in Cambodia, which is saying a lot since it was all delicious!  I had no idea how tasty Cambodian food is!

Bayon (Angkor Thom):

 Preah Khan:

Angkor Wat: