So after leaving Stung Treng we headed for Siem Reap, where we met up with the gang again for the last night together in SE Asia :( We wont seem our English friends till we get there late September. Siem Reap was the first place in what seemed like forever that we could finally stop! And stop we did, well for the first day atleast. We enjoyed a traditional Kmer BBQ and cheap drinks at Angkor What?
We rang our friend tuk tuk driver and to his delight hired him for 2 days to see the sights of Angkor Wat and the surrounding temples. After driving there it was apparent that we had made the correct decision not to ride! We walked through Angkor Wat for almost 2 hours marvelling at the intricate carvings and how limited the control on what we stood on, touched and climbed throughout the temple. We made it to the central tower with a steep walk up some stairs resulting in a beautiful view and some serious vertigo on the way down! It was then off to some other temples - the proper names escape me at the current time - including a temple that was struck by lightning and the temple where they filmed Tomb Raider. We climbed some original stairs - without handrails - that were no wider than our feet. I made it half way before completely freezing like a gecko - I couldnt go up and I couldnt go down. Ray as usual was fine and off he went while I climbed down almost parallel to the steps. The next day we saw more temples - pink sand stone and one that was not being restored. Then after being 'templed out' we made plans to head to Shianoukville to enjoy the beach for a while.
We arrived after a long 14 hour bus ride (so sick of buses) to find that most places were booked out. We found a dorm at a bar for $3.00 a night, its pretty much just shelves with mattresses on them, the rooms capacity is 25 but I think there are only around 8 of us in there. Then it was drinks with an Irish guy, mixing him with Ray plus free shots ending up a very hungover affair today. Since we have nothing better to do at the moment we headed for the beach to find that we were the only Westerners amoungst 100's of Kmer people. Since their swimsuits consist of being fully clothed and in some cases jeans and a buisness suit shirt it was apparent that we didn't belong and it soon became very very awkward! So its back to our dorm/pub/place to sleep to hang out by the pool. Hopefully tomorrow we can find somewhere to enjoy the sand and sun!
L&R
