CAMBODIA

PHNOM PENH

The journey into Cambodia was beautiful. We decided to cross the boarder from Vietnam by boat - up the Mekong River, in total we were on the water for about 7 hours! Along the way we saw everything from women doing the washing up at the water edge to farmers bathing their cows to children playing in the river and making use of the steep banks as mud slides!!!

(Caitlin taking in the river views on the boarder crossing)

It felt like we had been on the move for a long time so we spent our day in the city at our own pace...SLOW. We enjoyed most of our day reading in hammocks over looking the Boeng Kak Lake, but we did make an effort to check out the Psar Themei Central Market and the impressive Silver Pagoda. That night we met up with a couple that we had met whilst in Vietnam, Orla & Chris, to go out for a traditional Cambodian Khmer meal.

BATTAMBANG
Caitlin and I opted to get the bus to Battambang, which was fine until we drove into the monsoon and the bus started leaking above mine and Caitlins seats! When we got off the bus we thought it would be a good idea to go for a coffee, but ended up getting in a riff with the waiter who tried to short change us (80p!).

The next day Caitlin and i got carried away and took a ride out of town on a TukTuk. We were taken to Phnom Sampeau, set upon a high limestone outcrop. We were dropped off at the bottom and walked up to the top with one of the kids from the village to point us in the right direction. Halfway up we stopped at the Killing Caves. It was an eerie place with a gruesome tale to tell of the power struggle between the "Khmer Rouge" and the people of Cambodia.

Making our way to the top we wondered through the complex of temples (and monkeys) and took in the spectacular view from the top that seemed to stretch out for miles. On our way back to town we stopped at Phnom Banan - exactly 358 steps to reach the 5 towers. Locals claim it was the inspiration for Ankor Wat!Battambang was an elegant river side town that was able to charm both Caitlin and I but also chill to the bone.


SIEM REAP
Getting of the bus at Siem Reap we were harassed my too many sweaty, male TukTuk drivers, we eventually were able to make an escape and track down a nice hostel - Garden Village with a $0.50 beer roof top bar. We went into town for the rest of the afternoon and had a great lunch in the middle of the market, Cambodian pancakes filled with bean sprouts and shrimps and lots of salad :)We couldn't resist not looking around the market and ended up spending much more money that intended! Feeling tired we got chatted up by a friendly (and younger) TukTuk driver and managed to score a free lift home! That night we we needed to be in bed early for the following days adventure...

ANGKOR WAT
It was 4.00am and our alarm went off! Today was the day of Angkor Wat. We got up early so that we could cycle (YES CYCLE) to the temples in time to see the sun rise. The ride took us about an hour to get there and it seemed strange cycling through the city in the pitch black as most parts has no street lights, but it wasn't much of a struggle as the land was so flat. It was well worth the early start as the sight when we got there was great!

After a banana breakfast we carried on cycling around the rest of the archilogical sight to see some of the surrounding temples, including Bayon and Ta Prohm- the set for Lara Croft: Tomb Raider! The sights were extreemly impressive and it was a fantastic day out... I definitly slept well that night.