Ever since we first crossed over into Cambodia six months ago, a visit to Siem Reap and the ancient temples of Angkor has been a priority. In the same league as the Egyptian pyramids or the Great Wall of China, this place is a must see for anyone in the region and buses full of tourists from Thailand and Vietnam thunder through every day. We were patient and finally made it!

Expecting a seriously spoilt town full of money-hungry local tourist businesses, we were pleasantly surprised by the nearby base-town, Siem Reap. Despite mass tourism, the small town has managed to keep most of it's authenticity, and the small local population seem genuinely flattered and full of pride that so many foreigners are interested in their treasured temples.

Our first day in Siam Reap was a roller coaster. Setting off in the late morning with a couple of bicycles, we rode 8km out to Angkor Wat, the first temple on most Angkor itineraries. We caught a glimpse of it from a distance before we were stopped by a couple of guards. It turned out that the only ticket office was 5km back in the direction we had just pedaled! By the time we bought our official 3-day pass, it was almost midday, so we decided to leave Angkor for tomorrow and instead ride out to nearby Tonle Sap, the biggest inland lake in south-east Asia!

Along the way, we spotted a popular looking local noodle shop. It had rained pretty heavily the night before so this shop was flooded, with around 10cm of water covering the floor. This didn't bother us too much and we were impressed that they were still in business, so we ate. The food was well worth getting wet feet, although by the time we finished, the water had risen to around 20cm!

We waded back to our bikes and continued on. We didn't go far until we ran into another flood, this one covering the entire road and the village on either side. The Siam Reap River, which flows side by side with the road from Siem Reap to the Tonle Sap, turned out to be completely affected and we splashed our way through 5km of flooded, semi-paved road, thoroughly amused. The flood didn't seem to bother any of the locals too much, and business was as usual, with bikes, motos, cars, trucks and buses barely slowing down through the rising waters!

Tonle Sap lake was a little disappointing. There were plans for a huge lakeside resort, and for us a giant dusty construction site blocked the road out to the lake edge. The only way to see the lake was to board a motorboat full of other tourists, for a price that depended on how much money we were willing to part with. We decided to save our cash for Angkor, the main attraction.

There was a little hilltop temple nearby with potential good views of the lake, so we aimed for that instead. We almost lost it when another guard at the top wouldn't let us into the temple and up to the summit. Although it is about 20km from Angkor and the only ticket office, this temple was considered part of the package. This meant that the only way to see it was to pay $20 for an Angkor day pass, leave early and drive all the way out to the lake.

After an emotional topsy-turvy first day, we set ourselves to start fresh and rode out to Angkor early the next day. Although the flood had risen to cover most of Siem Reap, we made it to the temples without any trouble.

Riding push bikes was a great way to explore the hundreds of temples scattered throughout the forests of Angkor. The ancient forest was just as impressive as the temples themselves and we stopped a couple of times to sit and listen to all the strange insects or watch monkeys monkeying around. The bikes also allowed us to go on our own, slow and deliberate pace, and even get off the main roads to see a few less visited temples. We spent one morning riding half way around the old city wall of Angkor Thom. The crumbling stone wall separated an engulfing forest from a beautiful fresh water ancient city moat, and we stopped at one of the four stone corner temples to admire a view of surrounding rice farms. It was strange to think that some of these families were probably growing rice before, during and after the Angkor Empire, and have watched on as archaeologists and tourists have come and gone over the last century.

The slowly crumbling city of Angkor Thom, the immensely impressive Angkor Wat, and the forest strangled ruins of Ta Phrom were beyond words. These heavenly stone temples were built under the direction of a succession of competing Kings of the Angkor Empire, over a 600 year period from AD 802 to 1432, and contain an unimaginable amount of detailed architecture and symbolism. Efforts of restoration after years of reclaiming jungle and civil war are proving to be a difficult, expensive and lengthy process, so it's hard to imagine the blood, sweat and tears of thousands of peasants working to build them so many centuries ago.

One of our most memorable moments was getting stuck in heavy rain at one of the smaller surrounding temples, Chau Say Tevoda. We were taking shelter under a leaky sandstone tower when an old Buddhist Nun beaconed us into the central tower for a blessing. We ended up sitting with her for a half hour while the rain poured. She was 80 years old and had lived in another temple nearby for her whole life!

Meanwhile the floods in Siem Reap were getting worse. Home and business owners were desperately stacking sandbags across their driveways to keep the water out, and the markets were flooded. All of the local kids were making the most of it, belly flopping off roundabouts, floating from bridge to bridge down the surging river and water-skiing behind cars as they powered through the flooded streets. Bewildered tourists watched in horror as the locals splashed around in muddy flood water containing who-knows-what.

One thing we noticed about Siem Reap was the amount of expats living there, many of them involved in non-government organisations and orphanages. Unfortunately many of these are in it for the wrong reasons, using the pity and guilt that many tourists feel in a developing nation like Cambodia to make a profit. One of the better initiatives are a couple of children's hospitals, set up by foreigners, that provide free medical services. Keen for a couple of extra free T-shirts, and for a good cause, we donated blood. The procedures were up to international standards, and blood of all types is so desperately needed that this is one of the best things anyone can do in a place like Siem Reap, as long as you're not squeamish!

Coincidently, just as we were leaving, the floods began to subside, concluding our unexpectedly mad and equally impressive visit to Siem Reap and the wondrous temples of Angkor.