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Singapores Sentosa Island Singapore is a modern andbeautiful city. When we arrived , it stood

out how everything looked new and

clean; the airport, the roads, the cars,the beaches, the parks, the buldings.

This city is known to be the cleanest in

the World. The coast on the way into thecity was lined with countless ships;

tankers, car carriers and freighters were

lined up in the harbor. The containers

in the port seemed to go on forever.

Singapore is an important stop on Asian

trade routes and has been for centuries. We drove through the city pastrows and rows of contemporaryapartment buildings then arriving in the

city center distinctive skyscrapers shot

up everywhere you looked. After crossing over the harborwe arrived at Sentosa Island. Resorts

World at Sentosa is known as Asias

playground; it has water parks, theme

parks and is the ultimate getaway for

pure entertainment. Sentosa has not

only tourists sights but a unique an

beautiful Asian flair. It is home

Universal Studios Singapore. It is

place where people come from all ovAsia to see and experience.

Everywhere you look in Singapo

there is a strong Asian influence of a

when walking the pedestrian streets

Sentosa, fountains rich with colo

mosaics and sculptures were not at

hard to find.

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View of Singapores industrial

port; it is one of the largest ports

in the world

Land of Egypt Universal Studios The giant Merlion Statue in

the beautiful outdoor mall

Sentosa Island; you could g

up inside his mouth

Water World: A stunt show at Universal StudThe Lake of Dreams Fountain and a Golden Dragon Sculpture

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While in Cambodia we spent our time in

d around a city called Siem Reap. This is a

y like none I have been to before, with no

gh rises and few paved roads. Stop lights are

arce. Cars, scooters, bikes, pedestrians and

uk Tuks, which are small carts carryingurists pulled by a scooter bustle around the

eets. It was a thrilling adventure; like a James

ond car chase, sound and sights whirling

ound in a great commotion! Markets stretch

ong every street in the town center. It

possible to walk through without somebody

nstantly approaching you to buy something.

he sellers have everything from cheap

uvenirs to beautiful Cambodian garments,

k and artwork.

The Cambodians have a traditional dance

lled Aspara, it is a beautiful slow dance. You

can see in the photos that their costumes are

very beautiful and brightly colored, the way

they moves to the music is magical.

There is a difficult and tragic side that goes

along with the beauty of Cambodia, most

people that live here are very, very poor andseem to have nothing but the basics. Hygiene

is not something they practice and their villages

are scattered with garbage and waste. Very few

families can afford to have a car, so many

people carry 3,4 and sometimes 5 people

including babies on a scooter. If someone does

have a car it is not large and is sometimes

stuffed with 8-12 people.

We went by boat to a floating village and it

took me by great surprise. It really made me

feel so lucky and so fortunate. The lake they

lived on was dirty and filled with alligators,

catfish and other species of fish. The wa

murky, grey and smelled horrible. The

houses they lived in were beautifully

with blue and yellow, and very small, m

had one room. The orphanage had abo

students between the ages of 4 and were able to buy them a 50kg bag of r

would provide them 7 days of food th

cost us $65. I felt so good that we were

help them even in a small way.

At the village there were also la

small wooden boats with 2-4 small c

begging: Dollar, Dollar. It was a tragic

Cambodian was full of surprises, s

joy fu l. Beaut i ful and ug ly. I t

unpredictable place that was scar

wonderful. It made me open my eyes to

and I am very appreciative for that expe

Cambodia People

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The temples of Cambodia are centuries

old. They are intricately carved and their

expanse is astonishing. The largest temple is

Angkor Wat, we took a tour of this temple

from a local guide. He was very knowledgeable

and taught us a lot. Angkor Wat took over 30

years to build, 385,000 workers, and 40,000

elephants. The stone they used was coming

from a quarry 35 miles away. The temple was

built for the current King but he sadly diedbefore it was finished. When the temples were

in use everyone from the surrounding villages

would come to pray. Depending on your class

you would enter through different parts of the

temple. We were woken up at 5:00 while still in

the dark and taken to sunrise at the temple by

our Tuk Tuk driver Kim. Watching the orange

glow rise over the ancient stone and the water

lilies in the pond was truly magical.The Bayon temple is the temple of the

faces. Hundreds of faces are carved on pillars

and walls. We took a tour of the Bayon temple

by elephant, it was a great way to

incredible temple.

The La Prohm temple had gia

growing on, in and around it. It is a

art, there are countless passages thro

maze of stone. Stories and thous

Apsara dancers are carved into th

Lions that are one of the sym

Cambodia protect each entrance, the

the wonders the temples hold.The temples were left to erode

overgrown for many, many years. A

civil war with the Khmer Rouge the

started restoring the temples, there

tourism until 1998 when the Temples

Park was opened to the public. There

marks from bullets in the temple w

they warn you not to step off the path

of remaining land mines.

The temples are ancient wond

when you see all of difficulties the

faces, I admire that the people have be

endless restoration and are giving suchto this treasure they hold.

CambodiaTemples

Mira

doing

Temple

Run .....

or Wat , the largest temple

Prohm Temple, overgrown, but beautiful

faces of Bayon temple

ns , one of Cambodias symbols of strength

ara dancers