Hello 5 am. Well, I've at least moved on from 4am. Also, hubby sick of eating alone as i haven't been able to stand the look or smell of food for several days. Doug hates hotel food and likes to try more interesting local places that are highly ranked. I think a glass of lime juice with ice at one the first day did me in and I am now subscribing to the Ngaire hotel food rule. Armed with my Cipro, easily available OTC from a pharmacy in Bangkok last night, I am a less nauseated girl.

We did the Siem Reap bit for 4 days on our own, and our hotel came with a car and driver and a guide. Thank goodness for the AC and cool towels that awaited us after each stop! To beat the heat, we started at 5, but our guide wanted to keep on going from temple to temple. We started out stupid at first, so the first day, realizing at 2 we had toured 9 hours already...we said STOP..HOTEL and never woke up again til dinner. From then on, we took the heat of the day off. The extreme heat made the temples and the Ali baba tourist pants a blur, so it wasn't much of a loss. The Cambodian people are wonderful...so earnest. We were taken to someone's home for a picnic lunch. They have no electricity outside the city except between 6 and 10 pm. While there were tubs and flushing toilets, they had no sinks. Our favorite parts of the trip were driving in the countryside or at night and watching the way of life. Families bathing together by their wells or in their lakes. Thank goodness we had...even with the extreme heat... No body odor issues. Thought it was funny that these short people love to play basketball-it is the favorite sport. Courts are everywhere..even in the middle of lakes. New, modern hotels..chains are popping up all over. ...Sofitel, Meridien, Hyatt...huge resorts, so I am sure the infrastructure will change. But now it is like stepping back 100 years. There are all sorts of junk markets in town for tourists and horrid, unsanitary looking fish pedicures with dead fish floating in them throughout the marketplace. Known as a spa capital, we eschewed culture our last day for our included spa package and Doug had his first facial ever (a man's facial) and experienced a Khmer massage while I opted for a kinder, gentler version to make me look younger and feel at peace with the universe. Doug decided he never wanted to get in a fight with his masseuse.