The poor Internet at our current location caused some problems for me yesterday. When they finally got the wifi working, my post was somehow deleted. Argh!
Yesterday we visited a few of the temples here at Angkor Wat, including the massive structure which is depicted on the Cambodian flag. It was seriously impressive. We saw another temple complex that I actually liked more. Apparently it was featured as the setting of the Tomb Raider. The Cambodians decided to leave this one as it was found, practically in ruins and heavily overgrown with massive trees. It was as if God was claiming his power as vastly superior to the building ability of man.
The final part we visited was the ruins of the ancient city. Back when it was inhabited, the city had over a million residents (conversely, London had about 30,000 citizens at the sametime).
Last night we had dinner in downtown Seim Reap. It was very cool and felt very much like the French Quarter in New Orleans.
Today we went to the floating town on the Tole Sap, which is the largest lake in Asia. During the dry season it is about 1,500 square miles. At the end of the rainy season it swells to over 5,000 square miles.
Over the years, people have adapted to life on the water. They live on floating houses, spend their nights fishing and their days selling their catch at market (which also floats). The people who live here are exceptionally poor. They make the people who I blogged about the other day seem wealthy.
When our boat neared the villiage, people on makeshift rowboats powered with repurposed lawnmower engines sailed up alongside us and boarded our boat. Very young children have been trained to beg visitors for a dollar for a picture. Many of these children have pythons wrapped around them (as if that’s supposed to make them look cute?). I was seriously out of my comfort zone.
The most overwhelming moment was the woman who paddled her canoe over to us begging for a dollar. She had a snake wrapped around her infant. It was horrifying. I’m not sure if I’ll ever be able to shake that image.
We made it back to our hotel where I’ve taken a little time to relax. Tomorrow morning we start our incredibly long trip home. Then, over the span of about 40 hours, I’ll finally be home with my wife.
My hope is to process the hundreds (or thousands) of pictures i’ve taken and post them over the next few weeks so that you can see some of what I have seen over the last few weeks. Thank you for keeping me and my team in prayer. Please lift us up over the next few days as we journey home!
Pastor Jeremy Stephens 
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