We woke early showered and then left the hotel for breakfast in Singapore airport. We thought we would try some local foods and was guided by the waitress. I had chicken noodle with vegetables in a broth and Johns had spam and egg with noodles in a broth. This must be the weirdest breakfast we have had but it was enjoyable. The flight to siem Reap was uneventful and took two hours. We had purchased our visa's before we left so did not need to queue for these.
As we exited the airport our personal assistant from the hotel was there to great us. He introduced us to our driver who would be available to us 24/7 for the next 3 days.
On arrival at the privalidge floor we were greated with a drink that was beautifully presented with a flower adornment. The the manager came and ttwo more that day but John was strold us we had been upgraded to the royal suite. The royal suite was lovely with a huge dining area and jacuzzi bath. A bottle of champagne was on ice for us to enjoy.
We took a much needed nap and then we arranged dinner to be served in our room.
The next morning we were up at 4am to get ready to go and see the sunrise over the temple at Angkor wat. Our driver was waiting for us and told us where to go when we got there. I would advise anyone to brinf a flash light as the route to get to the temple is in darkness with lots of pot holes. The sunrise was just Ok but not really worth getting up so early for.
We went back to the hotel for a lovely breakfast then we met our guide who took us back out to the temples. At first I felt that the guide would be uneeded bur quickly it became apparent that we would not really have know much of what we were looking at without him. We visited three temples and were supposed to visit 2 more but John was struggling with the heat so we decided to return to the hotel. In the afternoon we had a massage in the spa which was really good.. That evening we had the driver take us to the street market and pub street. We enjoyed this and felt quite safe wandering around on our own.
The next day our guide and driver took us to the floating village. The drive up to the port area was an eye opener. The housing and lifestyles of the locals was so interesting. Poverty was very apparent. Our guide was very angry that his people are left to live this way while the people in power just get richer. The boat ride was also very intesting as were the floating homes and villages.
We visited two more temple after this but my knee was getting very painful so we decided to call it a day.
Back at the hotel that night we did the cultral eveing which was pleasant.
The next day we went to the land mine museum although it is such a small museum it is clear the founder was very passionate about what he was doing and he has helped many thousands of cambodians. We bought a number of souveniers here as they were well priced and the proceeds benifit the children.
The journey to and from the museum was through countryside where we saw how the locals lived.
We stopped at a center for the handicapped artizans and purchased a bracelet (which I cannot wear as it brings me out in a rash) . We had the driver take us to a pharmacy to get something for my knee and our guide helped to explain to the pharmacist what the problem was. When we arrived back at the hotel we spent some time at the pool then had a Khemer lunch served in our room which was very nice.
Sadly it was time to leave and take a flight back to Singapore. The airport at siem reap has plenty of shops but things were much cheaper to buy in the town.
Sa
