Mid December it was time for my next visitor!
"True friendship multiplies the good in life and divides its evils. Strive to have friends, for life without friends is like life on a desert island... to find one real friend in a lifetime is good fortune; to keep him is a blessing." - Baltasar Gracian
The next couple of weeks were spent planning our trip to Vietnam and sight seeing around Siem Reap, alongside some work for us both, general catching up and some fun nights out.
Our first major trip was to Kulen mountain, back on all the winding and bumpy roads up to the stunning waterfall. Four of us headed up there and had an awesome day in the falls, swimming around and trying to avoid the nibbling fish!
"I never drink water because of the disgusting things that fish do in it." - W. C. Fields
On the way back we headed for a look around Beng Mealeas temple too. I don't have any pics as I had only been a few weeks before.
I had a few more days of work to do and a latino party to attend...
...so stayed back in Siem Reap whilst bestie headed off for Phnom Penh to see S21 and the Killing Fields.
With a couple more parties under our belt and Christmas eve spent at friends it was soon time for Christmas Day - an amazing buffet with free-flow sparkling wine at a lovely local hotel.
Most of those celebrating Christmas in Siem Reap were there! The food was lovely, not so much Christmas fayre, but BBQ, Tepanyaki, sushi, western food and some turkey! We did a secret santa - with a twist - all the gifts go into the bag and you get to either chose a gift nor steal someone elses, this was great fun, but people did get quite competitive!
"The excellence of a gift lies in its appropriateness rather than in its value."- Charles Dudley Warner
[or how much you had to fight to keep it/ win it back!]
The buffet started about 11am and finished at about 3pm, at 5pm the bar started serving half price drinks and canapes, so there was no need to move on until about 8pm.
We would have stayed longer, but as we were a large group and getting into the festivities, shall we say, we were forced to move on early.
It is always hard to be away from UK home- family and friends- at Christmas, but sharing it with such a great group of people makes everything really special.
"When I eat with my friends, it is a moment of real pleasure, when I really enjoy my life." - Monica Bellucci
We didn't get up too early on Boxing Day thankfully, and the plan was to head to the temples on the moto...
...we did some of the smaller ones and over the week visited Angkor Wat at dawn, Ta Prohm and Bayon again. This time I tried some black and white / sepia shots...
"Without poetry, stories would be told in sepia." - Ellen Hopkins
Angkor Wat
Bayon
Bayon
Bayon
Neak Poan
Ta Prohm
The last few days of December were pretty hectic work wise as I was wrapping up an annual campaign and helping to finalise the NGOs localization process, plus we had a huge ten year anniversary party between Christmas and New Year to organise and attend.
Finally everything was done and on the day before my birthday we flew to Vietnam...
"I need a six month holiday, twice a year" - anon
