One of the best things about living abroad…actually THE best thing about living abroad, is the opportunity we have to travel. Since the move to China , we’ve been fortunate to travel to all kinds of places — from dream destinations like Bali, Indonesia to places we loved but had no idea existed, like Yangshou, China.
Every October, the kids and Rob get a week off to celebrate the China’s Mid-Autumn festival, a perfect opportunity for another getaway. This year, we chose to travel Siem Reap, Cambodia. Well, to be honest, I chose Cambodia, and everyone else just went along with it. Really, none of us knew what to expect, but we’re all so happy that we tried something new.
Cambodia is a small country, only 16 million people…but there is much to see. It’s relatively poor … but has made tremendous strides economically in the past few years. Cambodia has been riddled by years of political corruption…but we felt astoundingly safe. For Americans, it is often associated with the Vietnam War…but it has history that reaches well before US intervention.
Here is a little of what we experienced in Cambodia.
Amazing Historical Ruins
Cambodia is home to Angkor Wat – one of the largest religious complexes in the world. This Hindu turned Buddhist temple complex is huge – and it’s amazing to think how it could have been built in the 12th century. While Angkor Wat is the most famous, Siem Reap is filled with temple ruins all around the city, including the temple featured in the original Tomb Raider movie. Some tourists come and spend 5 days just touring the temples – we spent one full day – which was enough for us!
Exciting Adventures
Whenever we travel, we try to insert a little adventure – it’s tough to find the right balance – we need to find an adventure so that I won’t be scared to death but one that also has enough excitement for everyone else. This time, we opted for a zip-lining adventure in the rainforest. This adventure did NOT accomplish the balance I was looking for – I was absolutely SCARED to death — but everyone else had a great time so it was a memory well worth it.
Superb Hotel
One of the benefits of traveling to a place like Cambodia is that many things are cheap – hotel stays, restaurants and hotel amenities were all incredibly affordable. In our case, our hotel, the Sofitel, had the some of the best service we’ve experienced anywhere in the world. The grounds were lovely, staff friendly and attentive to our children, room spacious – we literally never wanted to leave. T
Cambodia ended being just the trip we needed in our busier than expected lives; it was definitely our rest in an unexpected place!
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