Siem Reap

Interesting day of travel - 2 buses and they both broke down. The first one (bringing me and Gaz back to Phnom Penh) was just a short delay thankfully but we did pick up a couple of Aussie lads whose bus had also broke down and they had had a longer wait. Noticing a pattern?

We got back into the capital early evening and Gaz had to dash off to work. I also had a quick turnaround to quickly book a bus to Siem Reap for that same evening. Thought I might as well just block out a whole day with travelling and then be raring to go again the following morning. Met a really nice Aussie couple (Kenny & Chloe), who were both VERY enthusiastic in giving me some advice for my time in Oz. Then we broke down after going over a pot-hole, meaning we had to wait an hour on the side of the road for another bus to come (joy). Ours was seriously broken. Think that's 4 bus break-downs for me now so it doesn't really come as a surprise. Kenny suggested I might be a jinx - he might be right.

We finally arrived in Siem Reap at about 2am (about 3 hours later than we were supposed to arrive - again, something I'm used to now) and I was shattered, didn't have a room reserved anywhere and everywhere looked pretty shut - Great. There were a line of Tuk-Tuks waiting to pick us up so I got one to take me round the guesthouses to see if they had any spaces. After a couple of unsuccessful attempts, I managed to find somewhere and checked in at about 2.30am. The owner was actually asleep by the front door but thankfully, my driver didn't mind waking him up. I felt a bit bad, but only for a second. Straight to bed for me.

Day 1: I switched to a different guesthouse in the morning because I wanted somewhere a bit livelier, with more backpackers around. After a bit of a search, I found a pretty good hostel and checked in.

That afternoon, I went for my customary walk around town and also paid a visit to the Angkor National Museum so I could get more of an idea of Ancient Cambodian history before I start visiting the temples. The museum was pretty interesting and had a decent audio guide to take me round and explain things. Lots of information about the ancient Angkor empire, the temples and how they differ in design and influence from generation to generation. Some useful preparation for my days of temple touring.

After the museum, I headed back to my hostel and bumped into Jay, the American guy I had met in Hanoi. He was staying at the same guesthouse and so was Mitja, as they had been travelling together for the past couple of weeks. Really good to see Jay and catch up.

I then got a Tuk-Tuk up to Angkor Wat and bought my entry ticket for the next 3 days. There's LOTS of temples to see and I've been told it's not to be rushed so thought it best to go for the 3-day pass. Buying the ticket in the evening allowed me to watch the sunset over the temples for free so I hung around for an hour or so. Not the best sunset I've ever seen but it gave me a little taster of the site and the temples to come.

That evening, I had another wander into town and tried out some of the street food. Pretty nice. Didn't fancy the frogs though!

Day 2 (Angkor Wat - Day 1). The Tuk-Tuk drivers have a different approach here. Instead of just hassling you for any ride, anywhere, these guys want to have a full blown conversation with you regarding how you plan to visit the temples and whether they can be your driver for the tour. I soon figured out this was the procedure and managed to negotiate myself a good deal with a cool driver called Bean (don't laugh). $45 for all 3 days. This meant I would have use of Bean any time from sunrise to sunset for those days and it included travel to every temple worth seeing (and some that weren't).

Decided to do the ''small circuit'' today, which includes the main temples. Angkor Wat was first on the circuit and it's brilliant. A massive building (the largest religious structure in the world) and the attention to detail inside and outside is quite staggering. Unfortunately, there were quite a few pieces of repair work being carried out, meaning some rather ugly scaffolding and green netting around the main temple. This spoiled the view a bit but only slightly because its such an impressive building. One of the wonders of the world now I'm told and I can see why. Spent a couple of hours exploring that and climbing up to the top.

Then it was onto Angkor Thom, which is an area that contains a number of different temples. Bayon is the best by far and was one of my favourites across the whole site. It was built with 54 towers, covered with 216 enormous smiling faces, which are supposed to represent the King who built it. A few of the towers have fallen down now but most are still up. This is a really cool, unique temple. Also inside Angkor Thom are Baphuon, Phimeanakes, The terrace of the Elephants and The terrace of the Leper King - all impressive and unique. Another couple of hours wandering around these.

Then it was onto one called Ta Prohm, which is also brilliant. This was the main temple used in the filming of ''Lara Croft: Tomb Raider", chosen because it's in the middle of the jungle and the temple is wrapped in huge tree roots. This temple is really cool. Whilst there, I bumped into Jay & Mitja and arranged to meet them for a beer that evening. Bean then took me around the last few temples on the small circuit. 

That night, I met up with the guys and also Jay's friend, Janine (who he described as being ''not the sharpest knife in the drawer'' - bit harsh I thought). We went out and got some Mexican food and had some beers. Siem Reap is pretty nice at night with quite a lot going on. Still getting hassled by moto drivers but nothing compared to Vietnam.

Day 3 (Angkor Wat - Day 2): Got up at 4.30am so we could go and see the sunrise over Angkor Wat. Mitja came too but Jay didn't make it. The sunrise was amazing and well worth getting up for. Unfortunately, Mitja was feeling ill (said he had been since Christmas Day!) so he got a lift back to town after the sunrise. For me, today was the ''big circuit''.

I thought I was going to be getting templed out after Day 1 but they are all so different to each other that I didn't. The big circuit is also pretty cool and included Preah Khan, Ta Som and Pre Rup. The buildings are so old (9th century some of them) that big parts of them have fallen down. Quite a shame because they look as though they would have been pretty incredible in their entirety. These are less visited than the main ones on the small circuit and so haven't had the same level of maintenance. More rubble than scaffolding. All cool though. That afternoon, Bean took me to visit some smaller temples 13km away - The Rolous Temples. These aren't as big as those on the main site but are worth seeing as they are the oldest ones there.

Spent the evening with Mitja, Jay and a guy called Anton (Russia), who was also staying at our hostel. We chilled out at the rooftop bar playing pool and having a few beers.

Day 4 (Angkor Wat - Day 3). Final day viewing the temples. Just me and Jay today and we went to view a temple called Banteay Srei, which is about 32km away from Siem Reap (a long trip on a Tuk-Tuk). This one is pretty small but the level of detail on it eclipses all the others. Must have taken absolutely ages to complete. Lots of tourists at this one because its so nice. A long way to go but it was definitely worth a look.

Then it was onto Kbal Spean, which is a carved riverbed set deep in the jungle 50km from Angkor Wat. An unexpected but welcome 45 minute hike to get there. Lots of different carvings and a couple of waterfalls, which we also checked out. This was the site from where the stones for Angkor Wat and the surrounding temples were taken. A LOT of stone to transport 50km! After the hike, we had a good chat with Bean - a really nice guy who has restored my faith in Tuk-Tuk drivers. He was very helpful across the 3 days and made the tour even more enjoyable for me. I tipped him a few dollars extra to show my gratitude and said I would recommend him to anyone else starting a tour of the temples.

We got back to the hostel early afternoon and I got to play some football for the first time in 2 months. Some local teens had a pitch made up out the back of our hostel and they let a few of us travellers form a european team and play against them. On my team was a guy called Pepe (Holland), Pete (North England) and Miguel (Denmark), who was an awesome player. Had a really fun couple of hours playing and it made me realise how unfit I now am. We had a bit of a shaky start but exerted our european dominance in the end - mostly due to Miguel it has to be said! Were all sweating buckets at the end. Definitely going to need pre-season training when I'm back in the UK.

Spent that evening at the rooftop bar playing pool again. Myself, Mitja, Jay and Anton were joined by an older guy called Nick (Chichester), Andy (Luton) and Eddie (Romania). Quite a mix but we had a good laugh playing and hanging out for a few hours. More beers consumed as well of course.

After pool, overnight bus back to Bangkok. Let's see if I like it better this time....