Rediscovering myself!

The last few days had been just amazing. The intense tropical heat, the dust, waking up at 4am every day and exploring the ruins of Angkor region till sunset, firing a machine gun in full auto mode, shopping till every inch of the space in my bag is filled and sipping Cognac by the Mekong while watching a live Apsara dance. That is Cambodia for you. A country that has been made famous by the spectacular Khmer architecture reaching its apogee at the Angkor Wat (the largest religious monument in the world) and the grisly genocide of the Khmer Rouge under Pol Pot.
I'm writing this from an internet cafe in Phnom Penh. So far we have covered the temples of Angkor, the floating village on the Tonle Sap lake, the killing fields just outside Phnom Penh and the shooting range. Tomorrow we are going to Sihanoukville - a beach on the south.
A more detailed account of the trip with pictures and possibly a movie (me firing a machine gun) will be uploaded later but I can't just wait to write about what come to pass in the last few days.
Though Angkor Wat is the largest and the most famous of temples in this region, the crowd of tourist seems to take away the charm of this awe-inspiring structure. So we decided to explore the more remote temples and go there during noon, when the scorching sun forces all except for the most intrepid and the insane to stay out. And we enjoyed this privacy in some of the temples which made the experience a memorable one. We were the first tourist for the day at Banteay Srei - the temple with the best and the most detailed carvings. The first ones to reach the waterfall at the river of the thousand lingams. We also explored the wild ruins of Beng Melea - often described as the Indiana Jones temples for the ''extreme nature'' of the ruins. Adding of wooden scaffolding have made exploring it somewhat easier but has robbed it of a lot of fun and adventure. But still it was one of the most memorable experiences. And then there was Angkor Wat - the holiest of holies ... and the sunrise over the louts bud shaped towers was truly magical. But of all the temples, nothing captured my attention as the faces at Bayon in the early morning light and the monumental confusion of Preah Khan.
We also watched the sun go down over the Tonle Sap lake, the prison of the Khmer Rouge and Killing fields of Pol Pot, where it is estimated over 2 million people were slaughtered between 1975 and 1979.
Today afternoon, we went to the shooting range. First I tried a German sub-machine gun MP5. But the 9mm bullets and the rather mellow sound was not great fun. So I decided to go 'all-out' with a high-calibre machine gun in an enclosed space (for safety reasons). Ivan captured the incident on camera. It is great fun looking back at the video but it doesn't even come close to the thrill and the adrenaline rush of the 'moment'. It was a truly memorable experience!
I hope I can stay alive for a few more days, to go back to Seoul and write a complete account of this amazing trip!