After a scary snack eating bus journey we arrived in Siem Reap, luckily we were met by our guest houses tuk tuk because there were millions of them wanting our business. After a short ride we turned up at Bou Savy GH, it was very grand with huge corridors and an airy room. We decided to go exploring and found the night market. We had great fun looking around the colourful stalls and we were largely unbothered with only a few "Miss, buy something" comments. Phil bought a krama, a traditional Khmer scarf, the main purpose being for the winter ahead (in 3 months for us) but the Khmers use them for keeping the sun off them. After a lovely 'happy hour' cocktail (don’t worry Phil’s White Russian was very manly) in the markets bar we headed for dinner and wondered home very happy with our new surroundings.
The next morning we were eating breakfast by 8 and out the door in our own tuk tuk for the day by half past. For those who don’t know, a tuk tuk is a little carriage pulled along by a motorcycle. We got our tickets for the wats of Angkor which were very high-tech as we had to have our photo's taken for them. One ticket gets you into all the wats in one day. There's no way we were going to be able to do them all as there are loooads, however we were going to try and cram (nicely) as many of the good ones in as possible.
First up was probably the most famous of them all, Angkor Wat, (you'd probably recognise its three towers). It truly was an amazing structure and we couldn't quite believe we were there seeing it, this is something we knew we were going to do before we left England but it always seemed so far away. The entire thing is 1km square and it sure felt like it walking around. Even the entrance was amazing with all of its fantastic bas relief’s and the first glimpse of the main structure is breath taking. It crazy to think it was built in the 12th century and it has lasted so well over all of these years… although Phil pointed out that if you don’t keep up with your B&Q weekend jobs this is what will happen to your house in 800 years. Think about that next time you decide to ‘put it off’.
Next up was Banteay Srey, a wat built in the 10th century. It loosely translates to 'citadel of the women'. It was well worth the time it took to get there (half an hour away from the main cluster) because it was unique. The sandstone was pinky-red in colour and the carvings were extremely intricate.
We had a spot of lunch before the next one and the sky decided to pour down with rain whilst we were doing so, good timing. Bateay Kdei was next, it was one of the sights we really wanted to see - it had big heads at the entrance gates! Inside were more amazing bas relief’s and carvings. We got surrounded by sellers in this one which was hilarious, all trying to sell us something useless for 'only one dolla'! How they got in without tickets we weren't sure! Ta Prohm was our next wat and also what we wanted to see, it had huge trees and intertwining roots climbing up the walls of the temple. Some of the tree's engulfed whole clumps of the wall and looked like they'd sprouted through a crack and taken over. It was amazing how the temple stayed intact and hadn't crumbled under the pressure. It was some great exploring in that one too, with lots of maze like chambers and corridors and lots of dark alleys and places to get lost. Luckily we stayed together and ended up at the next one, Ta Keo. This one was high, very high. It was very plain looking with not many carvings at all but its high structure was very impressive. We climbed to the top where we had great views of the surrounding area. The steps weren't so much steps but sandstone blocks for giant strides and pixie feet, it was surprisingly difficult to come back down, having to do a reverse Spiderman impression.
Our next stop was a little confusing, our driver dropped us at the main gates and we were to meet him at the west exit. Only on the way to Bayon we found Baphuon, which was largely a construction site of restorations. After getting quite lost and wet, the rain had caught up with us; we found Bayon and our driver. Bayon was another one with huge four sided heads and was an incredible structure. The rainy photos don't do it justice.
We headed back to the guest house thoroughly warn out and a little damp! It was an amazing day and we're so glad we were able to see these magnificent pieces of architecture. We are however a little freaked out that we're here already, we only have three months left now until we're back home for Christmas, we've completed seven already! In the word of Steve Irwin - Crikey!
We spent another three days in Siem Reap walking around the town. We now know the three different markets inside out and know which stalls to avoid if you don't want t-shirts thrust upon you! Next stop for us was Kompong Cham, one of two stops between Siem Reap and the Laos border. We arrived with not a lot in mind and soon found a tuk tuk driver who was eager for our business. As we didn't have a map of the place we decided he'd take us to our hotel, it turned out to be around the corner about 100m away!! Oh well, you live and learn. Our room smelt so badly of damp it was disgusting! Although really tired we decided to head out into the unknown as the smell was gross! Our tuk tuk fan found us and we accepted his offer of an afternoon trip. First up were Phnom Pros and Phnom Srey, meaning man hill and woman hill. There are many folk stories about how the two hills came to be to do with a race between men and women building a hill and the loser would then forever more ask the others hand in marriage. The women won and so men ask women to marry them... sorry that wasn't told with much flare but we though they were just big hills! Next up was a weaving village which was very interesting. Everyone was really friendly all of them shouting 'hallow' as we drove by. The ladies who were weaving didn't speak English so they just smiled; they were very impressed with our hello and thank you's in Khmer. We watched them at work and were told about how they weave when they're not in the rice fields, this time of year being very busy with the rice harvest. They do an incredible amount of work and it was really nice to see that they were getting an income due to sponsorship from a French charity. They offered us the chance to weave a little bit ourselves only it looked quite coordinated and as though we could easily mess it up so we declined! After a smiling contest with them whilst they worked we headed back to our smelly room before dinner.
We're now in Kratie, 5 hours up the road. It's a lovely little town with plenty of life. We had a slight dilemma as they only have one cash point and it only accepted visa, this being the only card we have with no money on it! Luckily it allowed us to go over our overdraft because our next cashpoint is going to be in Vientienne... that's a long way from here (700km away!) and we have a lot of Laos to cover before hand.
Tomorrow we leave this lovely country and head to our tenth of the trip! Cambodia has been a little gem, it's unfortunate we don’t have longer here to explore some more of it's wonderful places with it's extremely smiley people. Phnom Penh was a shock to the system, firstly because of how quiet and different it was to Vietnam but then because of learning about the country's incredibly bloody past and the horrible torment these people have gone through. Siem Reap was beautiful with it's colourful markets and its ancient architectural past.