Visited three of the more interesting outer temples before having a goodbye celebration on Pub Street.....

.....one in particular involved about a 45 minute countryside ride in a tuk-tuk--the small motorcycle taxis.  It is referred to as the "Women's Temple" since it is the only one in the complex that was designed by women.  It has amazing ornamental detail:













Anther temple is probably the most famous outside of the Angkor Wat temple itself.  The backdrop for many movies, it has been taken over by giant trees that are slowly destroying the buildings--giving it a surreal look.











This is probably the most photographed spot in the Angkor Wat complex.  This is where Angelina Jolie jumped through the door and down a shaft in Laura Croft Tomb Raider:



In reality, it's only about six inches deep on the inside but no problem for Hollywood.....

We had a late-night flight so in the evening we went into Siem Reap to look at the market and visit Pub Street--the famous and infamous bar area of the city.

And there, of all places, we found a Tex-Mex restaurant that couldn't be passed up.



The general consensus was that it was surprisingly authentic and pretty good.  The basic staples like tortillas, burritos and empanadas were all actually really good.

Even the ambiance was good, however I have to say she wore it better than Devin did:



The flight back was a grueling 21-hour trip that was pretty uneventful.  Good to be back home.  The SE Asia Temple Run and Beer Tasting Tour has been classified a success.

This was the 20th annual running of the Angkor Wat Half Marathon.....

.....and I elected to run the 10K run after the Bagan Temple Marathon a week earlier.

Because of the Cambodian heat and humidity, the race started early in the morning before sunrise which supplied some spectacular views as we waited for the start.  It was a crescent moon and the bright star near the tree limbs is Venus.

After the "Killing Fields" wars of the 1980s, there are thousands of land mine victims and the race was dedicated to raising funds to help them.  As a result there was a particularly large field of wheelchair participants:

As the race started, I felt really good and had no lingering back effects from Bagan.  The race course was amazing.









The temple monkeys didn't seem particularly impressed with us:



And the some of the famous Cambodian elephants made an appearance:



I finished strong with a hard sprint for the last 100 meters.  I do and feel so much better doing the 10K rather than the half marathons (21K).



Mission accomplished:





Spent the afternoon getting a massage, swimming and lounging around the pool area.  A couple of beers were consumed.

Tomorrow is our last day with three more temples planed to visit.

Siem Reap is the site of the ancient Khmer temple complex at Angkor Wat.....

....I was here for an two-day overnight visit nine years ago and it has become a major world tourist attraction during that period.  Jon and I had both visited the complex before so instead of hiring a guide, we just picked and visited selected temples.

The first day, we visited Angkor Wat itself--a huge moated complex as well as two outer temples.















We stayed at the race headquarters hotel which had a fantastic pool area for relaxing.



Cambodia was hot and humid as usual--think Houston weather in July and August.  We were into the trip for 14 days now and I think everybody was beginning to experience some element of fatigue.

The race expo was located at the hotel and we picked up our packets which included bags, scarves, tee-shirts, bib numbers and timing chips.

 Race Day is tomorrow.

With the Inle Lake extension over, we said good by the the Marathon Tours group and headed to Thailand and Cambodia.....

.....Bangkok was whirlwind--24 hours in and out---but brought back good memories from when I worked there.  We got in late at night and took a one-hour taxi ride to a quirky but really neat hotel that Alida had found us online.  It was located right on the Chao Prya River and in the heart of the historic district.  This was the view at breakfast.



The next morning we could literally walk to the major tourist attractions and visited the famous "Reclining Buddha."  I'd been there before but it's always amazing.  Over 160 feet in length, it would cover more than half a football field.



The Royal Palace was next door and we spent quite a bit of time there wandering the grounds.














Devin even had a contemplative moment:



After lunch, we headed back to the airport and a short flight to Siem Reap, Cambodia for the Angkor Wat Half Marathon.

Wrapped up our final day and night at Bagan before 22 of us split and continued on to Inle Lake for four days....

The last day in Bagan was a free day and everybody kind of split up and did their own thing. Devin and Alida rented small motorcycles, Jon did a balloon ride and I just lounged around the pool area before joining a tour to one of the local villages.

The tour was kind of interesting but there was a “staged” aspect to it.  In many ways I found it almost identical to rural villages I’ve seen in Peru—electricity has only been installed recently so you have these crudely built huts some of which have TV antennas.

I always find the craft aspect of the villages interesting and this one had a community wood shop, community kitchen, a weaving area and a blacksmith shop.  They still use the old blacksmithing ways but in the back were a couple of small welding machines for when the electricity is on.

And yes, that’s an Internet router sitting on one of the welding machines.  It is, in fact a small world.

The company that sponsored the trip also put on the race.  It’s a new thing here and we found out it was limited to only 220 runners this year and that included several Myanmar runners who did the 10K race.

Our last evening, they took us out on a river cruise to a large sand island where they had set up generators and created an outdoor dining area illuminated by tiki torches and candles.  While a local Myanmar band performed, we watched slide shows and videos of the race which was really nice.  Supper was buffet style and it was a really nice way to wrap up the experience here.


















Next morning, we all said goodbye and headed home.  Twenty-two of us flew to Heho for the Inle Lake three-day extension.

Inle Lake is interesting in that the people here are not ethnic Burmese.  It’s the second largest lake in Myanmar and is located up in the mountainous area.   The fishermen here are known for the unique way they stand and wrap one leg around an oar and row their boat with both hands free to throw cast nets in the water.

The flight was only thirty minutes and then we took a slow, leisurely bus ride to the lake before a one-hour boat trip in the typical long dugout boats they use here.  Our boats weren’t actually dugouts but designed similarly---long and narrow.  The boat trip was fun but the sun was brutal while we were on the water. 

Just before arriving at the hotel, we stopped at a restaurant on stilts and had a pretty good fish dinner.

The hotel is approached via a long water route and dock.

The hotel is really nice but somewhat limited for activities due to the remote location.  On the second day, we did a tour of the lake.  The many villages here built over the water each have a specialized craft.  The families in these areas train their children in that particular craft and then the villages support each other.  My favorite today was the woodworking and boat building village.

They were building these with no electrical woodworking equipment—hand saws, brace and bit drills and the old wooden block planes.

We also visited another weaving shop, a place that makes the cheroot cigars which are really popular over here, and a floating garden as well as an island on their market day.

Returning to the hotel, I got a one-hour massage and we just relaxed the rest of the evening.  We have more island hopping tomorrow.

These marathon groups tend to be pretty straight-laced up to the race then really let loose afterwards.