After several days in Kravanh, I have just arrived in Siem Reap....

So much has happened in the last week!  So, I decided to break the blog posts into sections.  First, I will begin with my arrival in Siem Reap.  After spending several amazing days at the Kravanh Bright Future Center, I took a bus from Pursat to Siem Reap to spend the weekend.  A friend will be joining me here and then we'll explore the city and visit Angkor Wat. Upon my arrival in Siem Reap, I was greeted by a monsoon downpour!  I'm actually getting used to these, as they occur at least once each day-- the wind and heavy rain really cools things off!  A staff person from the Golden Villa Temple Guesthouse, where I had booked a reservation, was at the bus station to welcome me and take me to my accommodations --  it was nice to have a smiling and helpful person immediately available in this new city! 

The guesthouse is awesome--  very lush and beautiful!  I have a few pictures posted in the album, "Golden Villa Temple Guesthouse", so check it out--  and there will be more pics later for sure!  Anyway, as soon as I checked-in at the front desk, I was led to the restaurant for a complimentary tea and was offered a choice of breakfast or lunch. The tea was actually some sort of fresh fruit drink and I ordered breakfast because I hadn't eaten anything all day.  Breakfast was delicious...  eggs with a french baguette and fresh fruit with yogurt.  It was exceptionally good!

There was a nice couple dining next to me and we started up a conversation. They are from Canada and had spent the last 1 1/2 years in Korea teaching English.  They are taking a quick two week tour through parts of Southeast Asia before returning home.  They were great to talk to and it was a nice way to bring in a new city-- meeting new people and having good conversation!  At 2:30 pm, the restaurant was pretty busy with guests either having lunch, sharing a bottle of cognac, drinking beers, or having a good cup of coffee reading a book.....

I am currently updating this blog from my beautiful room and at 7pm I'll return to the restaurant for dinner.  Tonight is "movie night" where they show films on Cambodian History and Angkor Wat.....

...much, much more to come.....!