Cambodian Wedding

The temples at Angkor can be brutal. They are so extensive and numerous, chances are you'll run out of time well before you run out of temples. And at all the temples around Siem Reap you'll find busses full of slow tourists and stalls full of aggressive hawkers. All of this can wear you down faster than the tropical sun.

So I'm glad that we took an excursion for a day. We visited Banteay Srei, Kbal Spean, and Beng Mealea. But the most charming stop was one not on the day's itinerary. As we were driving through a village, we saw a tent, a large banner, and gold-painted bunches of bananas (yes!). We stopped just in time to see the bride walking down the aisle. She looked just like the centuries-old apsara figures we had seen on the temples. When traveling, it is sometimes difficult to see the daily life outside of the tourist areas. But if you make the effort, you can sometimes stumble upon something really special.