Today we are visiting a special little place. We got up super early at five in the morningand check it out this is where we are - Angkor Wat, Cambodia!We are inside Angkor Wat and this is the largest religious structure in the whole world. This is my very first time visiting Angkor Wat but Sam over here has been to this placea whopping four times. World traveler much?How is your forth time here different from you the first, second and third? Tell us!Well the temples are certainly still as impressive as ever but there are so many more touristshere than when I first came. I would say it has tripled or quadrupled or maybe even morethan that. It is just unbelievable how people are sharing the experience. This is actually a Hindu temple that was dedicated to the Hindu God Vishnu and the temple wasbuilt by a Cambodian King who helped unify the country and to also spread the Khmer influenceacross Southeast Asia. One of the most impressive things about this temple here is actually the massive moat thatsurrounds it. It is one of the first things you notice as you're coming up to the temple. There are several options for booking tickets to visit the temples of Angkor. We went withthe three day option and that was $40 USD dollars but you can also go with the one dayoption, two day option or if you really love temples the seven days. I would image thatis quite pricey. A good time to come to Angkor Wat is actually right at lunchtime because a lot of the tours,buses and tourists are out having lunch or at that point in the day temple-d out, whichmeans they are really hot, tired and sort of seen enough temples for the day. If youwant and alternative time to come definitely consider coming around between 12 and 1:30. Coming back for the forth time was amazing. I never get tired of this place but one funnyobservation I have is that I noticed that any family's dragging along their childrenreally didn't seem to be enjoy this as much. They were just dragging their feet. I thinkit has a lot to do with the heat and humidity outside right now. It is really really hardto be walking around and not sweating profusely. I really enjoyed getting up early and coming to watch the sunrise at Angkor Wat. I thoughtthat maybe the experience wouldn't feel special because there are literally hundreds of peoplealso here at that time of day but it felt like we were sharing the moment together,so I really enjoyed it. Today we're going to be having a special experience. We are taking a bamboo train along these oldtracks that used to run from Phnom Penh all the way to Battambang. This train is really just a bamboo platform with a few mats laid over top. It has a sixhorsepower engine and we're going to be speeding through and see what we find. We're on the bamboo train in Battambang! Having fun? Yes. It's going really really fast. Oh yeah!This morning we've got a special activity planned. We are taking a cooking class - aKhmer cooking class. I'm all thumbs in the kitchen but I'm going to give it my best shot. Right now we're at the local market and we are going to pickup some ingredients for thecooking class and it is raining. It's a red curry paste and this is a chili paste. They are fresh vegetables. And then they say ginger. It is not ginger. It is galangal. Coconut and then she grates it to get a coconut milk. So we've got our aprons on and we're ready to cook. Siem Reap, Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville they converse and they change how to make fishAmok. They make shortcuts for three or four minutes. I'm trying to slice lemongrass. These are our ingredients so far. They smell really good. What might you be doing? I'm just crushing the ingredients. You're making the curry pastehere. It looks so good. We're really earning our meal here. We're making our curry paste. We've been poundingaway for almost ten minutes now. Now we're slicing up the snake fish. I still haven't cut my finger. Here is our Amok. We made a little curry type thing and put it into the banana bowl thatwe've prepared and now it is going to be steamed. Here is the meal we prepared today. We have spring rolls with a nice dipping sauce, loklak (a kind of beef meat) and over here Amok, which is fish in a coconut cream sauce. I'm going to try my Lok Lak. Let's see how this turned out. It is really nice. I cookedit myself. I'm going to try one of the spring rolls we made. I still can't believe I didn't burndown the kitchen and it is delicious by the way. We just finished our cooking class. I didn't cause an International Incident. I didn'tburn down the kitchen, so overall it was a success. If anyone wants to come the Kitchenis called Nary's Kitchen and they have a morning and an evening class. It costs ten dollarsa person. This restaurant and cooking school is run by Nary and her husband Toot. They will takeyou to the market and you will spend an hour there just looking at different vegetables,picking up ingredients and then afterwards you come back to the school you cook for twohours and then you get to enjoy your meal. We highly recommend it. Excellent food. Today we are having a feast of a dinner. We are at a Cambodian restaurant and we havejust ordered ourselves an eight course meal. This restaurant is called Angkor Palms and it is highly recommended, so we have highexpectations for this meal. Right now I am trying the fresh spring rolls and I think they have rice noodles inside,so let's see. Woah, that is a mega bite!That was a really good spring roll. It had some very fresh and zesty flavors and a littlebit of seafood as well; so far so good. Next up, we have the spare ribs and these do look good. It just melts in your mouth. Next up we are trying the Amok, which is one of the most popular dishes in Cambodia. Amokis fish that has been coated in a coconut cream and then baked in a banana leaf. Didit hit the spot? Um-hmmmm. And she takes a second bite before I get any. This is the one thing that I'm probably the most excited about - the homemade green currywith chicken. I've got a slice chicken. Wow, I can really taste the curry. Once again,just like the spare ribs, it just melts in your mouth and I barely even have to chew. Is it coconut based? I don't think it is that strongly based, no. Up next is our shaved mango salad, which has some peanuts and mint leaves on top. Sweet?It is sweet? It is also nice and crunchy because of the peanuts. It has some nice spices andis really flavorful. You just took a second bite. And last but certainly not least isthe fried water spinach. That is tasty. It has kind of a butter-y garlic flavor. Time for dessert. Tell us what you are having? To finish off we've got a sweet little treat- a tapioca based pudding with banana. Oh, take a big bite. Oh yeah, it is so sweet andso good. We have finished our feast of a dinner. I must admit, when I first saw the platter beingbrought over I thought 'hmmm, is this for two people? I think I could probably eat myown but in the end we still have food leftover. That was just so much to eat. It was so tastybut it was really filling at the same time. " So, it was good stuff - it was a good dinner. The 8 course platter is $14 for two people. For those who want to come here this restaurantis located right in the heart of Siem Reap nearby the Central Market. You can't missit. Today we are visiting Choeung Ek also known as the Killing Fields here in Cambodia. This is one of the many sites scattered about the country where the Khmer Rouge executedits own people. To put it into perspective one out of four people of the Cambodian population were executedduring this regime. The peaceful orchard setting it is just hard to believe the atrocities that took place. Not all of the graves have been excavated here under this lake there are still manygraves where bodies were thrown. This is the kind of place where you come out feeling heavy emotions and even though itis not necessarily a pleasant visit, I think it is important to visit sites like thesein order to learn a bit about the history of the countries you travel through. Visiting this site just gives me extra respect for the Khmer people how resilient they areand how they've been able to overcome these atrocities. Hopefully this memorial here willserve to educate others and future generations so that this never happens again. Today we are at an Apsara performance which includes traditional music and dance. We'vealso just finished feasting on a wonderful meal and we are going to enjoy the show. Normally, this evening performance show and dinner is $12 USD but we got a special dealfrom our guest house for only $8. I would say just the food alone is well worth that. Now we get the performance to check out. There are several parts to this performance. It includes folk music, dance and mime. Background music playing. Today we are taking you to a very happy placein Siem Reap. And where is your happy smile? HahahaWith all of these happy pizza joints to choose from I don't even know where to go. And thereis ever one that is ecstatic. Wow! Background music playing. Hahahaha. Woah, what is that?Background music playing. Eating sounds. Wow! Eating sounds. Actually this is just delicious normal pizza that we're feasting on right now. So once upon a time Happy Pizza meant a completely different thing. They had a special toppingthat was grown in the mountains. Mmm. But recently, there has been a police crackdownon these happy pizzas so they are no longer available. Nothing like ice cold beer and one of the nice features of all of these happy restaurantsaround here is that draft beer is only fifty cents. Background music playing. There are never any pizza slices left whenI'm around. We are here at Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum formerly known as S-21. This area used to be a former primary school and high school before being turned into adetention, interrogation and torture center. There was an estimated 20,000 people killed here between 1975 and 1978. These atrocities were committed by the Khmer Rouge which was lead by Pol Pot's regime. Today we are outside Siem Reap and we are exploring the Temples of Angkor starting withAngkor Thom. The most fascinating thing about Bayon are the cold faces that have a hint of a smile. This massive complex has 54 towers with 216 faces on them. Over here we have the Terrace of the Elephants. It is 350 meters long. This was once usedas a viewing platform from where you could watch the ceremonies that took place for theKing. Well, we're traveling right now in Cambodia in April and it is the hottest time of theyear here. It is always hot in Cambodia but this is literally the worst month. I'm justsweating buckets. As a tip for people coming here - if you want to come at bit of a coolertime from December to January or even February it is a great time to come. It is also peakseason here so you will be sharing it with more tourists but you won't be sweating asmuch. Tonight we're at the local circus in Battambang. It is run by an organization that helps outdisadvantaged children. We're excited and looking forward to the show. This circus is for a good cause. It runs twice a week and our tickets were only ten dollars. Let's go check out the show. Today we're in Sihanoukville to check out the beach. Let me tell you what the Lonely Planet says about this place. Surrounded by white sandbeaches and as yet undeveloped tropical islands Sihanoukville is Cambodia's premier seasideresort. Let me show you that:Let us tell you about a few of the things we've found on the beach: flip flops, a brokenbottle of absolute vodka, a pregnancy test, a bottle of hot sauce, some fishing lines,construction materials, plastic and just lots of garbage in general. It is not just in a few select areas this is all over the beach. Totally littered. I first came here back in 2008 and when I arrived at the time this was actually quitea nice little spot. It was what you would consider an alternative to the beaches inThailand but what has happened here over these last several years, I mean it is disgusting. This is officially in my opinion paradise ruined. I think it is a shame that people aren't taking better care of the beach because it reallyis a beautiful setting. You have the lush tropical vegetation and you have boats andthe water is a perfect temperature but there is just so much garbage that I'm afraid ofgoing into the water because my leg could get caught up with a glass bottle. I'm disappointed. To try and salvage this situation we're actually going to be checking in to quite a nice hotel. It is our one year anniversary. We came here with the plan of relaxing on the beach andreally enjoying swimming and other activities in and around the beach area. But since itis ruined more or less we're going to have to make up for it in other ways and we'renot going to be staying here nearly as long as we had planned either. This is just disgusting from both the perspective of tourists, the backpackers and the locals. I mean how could this have happened. I'm not impressed. In this case, I think both parties are to blame. Backpackers for being dirty and not taking care of theircrap and throwing it in the garbage but also locals for not taking the initiative to cleanup their own beach and encourage tourism. I think both parties need to step it up alittle bit. Walking up early in the morning certainly has its advantages. We are the first peopleto arrive at this temple Banteay Srei. This is one of the temples we've been most excited to visit and we are officially thefirst ones here. Here we are inside the temple. This happens to be a Hindu temple and it is dedicated tothe God Shiva. Most of the temples of Angkor were commissioned by powerful Kings but this temple in particularwas not. It was commissioned by a Brahman, which makes it quite unique. Because we came here early we got a VIP tour. Normally these areas are gated off as youcan see by the white perimeter here and the rope. Look at where we are - Yeah!The advantages of being the first on site can't be underestimated. I mean, anythingto avoid those package tourists is a good idea. There are many temples to choose from but this one in particular Banteay Srei is consideredto be the crown jewel of Angkorian art because it has some of the most exquisite and intricatecarvings. This temple is located very far away from Siem Reap. We had to travel over an hour ina tuk-tuk and I slept most of the way but I hear it was a very scenic journey. Yes?Along the way we passed a lot of rural villages. We saw locals out doing various kinds of activitiesearly in the morning - some farming related and some business. We saw bikes packed tothe total brim full of stuff. We saw a lot of different things and it was just a reallycool trip to get out here. We're going to go check out some traditional Khmer music. Cambodian music here. It's goingto be awesome. Khmer music playing. That was a great performance. Hello! Hello!We are now visiting Ta Prohm, which is a Buddhist temple where the jungle just dominates thearchitecture. Here the buildings are wrapped in trees and some of the entrances are blocked. Indiana Jones would feel right at home here at this temple. In fact, it was used for theset of Tomb Raider staring Angelina Joli. It is decaying and it is crumbling but it is a great place to explore. This is an example of nature taking over the temple. Here you have this massive tree thatis just straddling the wall really. Some parts of the temple have been completely destroyed over the centuries, which actuallycreates quite a fascinating atmosphere. I first visited Ta Prohm back in 2008 and 'wow' was it an entirely different experience. There was hardly anyone. I was able to walk around without encountering mass crowds. Itis completely different this time and instead of sort of lamenting about it and just gettingreally negative about it - what I've actually been doing is just taking a lot of time-lapseshots. I'm using the crowds and the people as sort of a backdrop for filming. That iswhat I'm going to do throughout this entire time that I'm here exploring the Temples ofAngkor. A much quieter alternative, once you've explored the temple, is to actually just walk aroundthe perimeter. It is quite peaceful here. We're taking our final bus trip in Cambodia from Battambang to Phnom Penh. It's a sixhour journey and we've got ourselves a little local snack here. It is something we've eatenbefore - Bamboo rice. Let's take a big bite. This time around we're in the front of the bus. Front seats! Sam has been filming someof the action. We were almost in an accident. It was so close. This car just pulled outtotally without looking and we were less than a meter away from running into it. Luckilynothing happened. We're heading to Phnom Penh for just a quick stopover. We're basically just looking toget our Vietnamese Visas and then we're off to Saigon. Yeah, Vietnam it's Saigon. Owe, no be nice. You're cute. So we're taking a rural countryside tour today of Battambang. We're going to be buying somesticky rice wrapped up in a bamboo wrapper. Once it has been cooked you just kind of crack the bamboo and peel it down and there youhave the rice that has been mixed with coconut cream and some black beans. It looks good. It smells great. Take a bite. How do you like it? It's delicious. It's like you can totally tell it has beenmade with coconut but there hasn't been a lot of extra sugar, so it is definitely alittle bit sweet but it is not too sweet. I really like it. So this lovely snack is only sixty US cents. Not bad. Alright brave man going to eat a little cricket there. Time to have a cricket and this ismy first time eating one. Cheers. Okay, big bite. Stick it in your mouth. You try oneas well? Oh, no no no. It's actually really good. Wow! It's salty and a little bit sweettoo. Oh yeah, that's good stuff. One more. Here we go. We're here at the fish market now and we can certainly smell all the fish all around here. It is just overwhelming and we're going to just check out to see what is here. So hereis a form of preserve of fermented fish that our guide just told us tasted a little bitlike cheese. So what is this here? Fish eggs that they're fermented here. It has a lot of salt. Thatis ready to eat? Yes, you take the salt out and the fish is inside. If you wrap a plastic bag around the insect can not bite it. Oh, so there is plastic wrappedaround these guava fruits to prevent insects from eating them. These fill up inside the pillows and mattress. It looks very soft. Yeah, you can touch. Theseare the seeds for new plants? Yes, when you plant. It comes from the tree right there?It's the big one over there. Okay.
