Kuala Lumpur and Seim Reap

So the last time I wrote, I spoke of my successful landing in KL, and the non-culture shock. Now any one who knows me from LA, knows one of my most favorite things about LA is the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf. The ONLY other place I have seen Coffee Bean is..... KUALA LUMPUR. what??? How can it be, that this amazing chain in ALL the way in Malaysia, yet hasn't made it to NYC yet.

Anyhow- Yesterday in KL, I went to the Petronas towers, formerly the tallest buildings in the world (until I think 1996). They only let visitors up the 42 floor where there is a sky bridge but regardless the view was great. It gave a great perspective of the city. I did hit up China Town and Little India, however both were still just opening for the day so it wasn't too crazy. There was also a bike race going on, like the tour down under, but not. aka: same same, but different.
I watched the race, only about 150 people in it, and it was pretty cool. It is a 5 day race, and I dont know how these guys did it, because it was HOT and HUMID!

Last night, I made my way to the hotel where I met Leoni, the girl from Holland who is Heidi's friend, and Heidi there. We got very little sleep as our wake up call was at 4:30 am this morning, KL time. 3:30 am Siem Reap time.

We made our way dreary eyed to the airport and 2 hours later landed in Cambodia. The airport was tiny, and very clean. I bought my $20 USD visa, and took money out of the bank, and to my surprise they ATM's give you USD, NOT Cambodia dollars. We had made a hostel booking in advance, and outside the airport was a man holding a "Sarah Janowitz" sign in front of a tuk tuk. He brought us to the hostel(which is REALLY nice) and we ended up hiring him for the day for $15 USD. He brought us to all the temples around the area, I think we made it to 6-7 different temples as well as an old court, and bath. The most famous of these was Angkor Wat.

The temples are obviously no longer in use, and many were under construction. It is absolutely amazing to see how intricately made these structures were. The carvings on the outside, the hallways, the roof, etc are done so precisely it blows my mind. The temples were really cool to see, and are one of the 100 wonders of the world, so I am certainly glad to have seen it.

The culture shock here is a bit more, but still completely manageable. The biggest difference here is the children to beg and try to sell you items. They pester you, and follow you, and don't leave you alone. It is really hard to see these kids, and know that they have zero money, and also know that if you give them money it just supports the cause.

I am exhausted and off to see the night markets this evening. One more night after tonight in Siem Reap, and then down south to Phnom Penh.