Hey everyone!

We arrived safely in Bangkok at about 4pm on Thursday the 10th after the 11 hour flight! We had a very interesting transfer to the hotel, there seem to be no rules on the Thai roads! Just beep your horn and pray for the best! We stayed in the Bangkok Centre Hotel for the first two nights which was pretty nice. On Friday 11th we had a little walk around Bangkok near to the hotel and then chilled by the pool. At 6pm we met our tour guide and group. There are 15 of us in total, 7 boys and 8 girls. There are 5 Norweigans, 2 Canadians, 1 Irishman and the rest are English. After the meeting we all went for our first authentic Thai meal, we both ate Pad Thai (Chicken and noodles). It was extremely cheap, about a quid for a meal and drink, but very nice!!

On Saturday 12th Feb we had to be up very early to make our way to the Cambodian border which took roughly four hours drive. On the way we stopped for a quick break and saw our first squat toilet, not a pleasant experience tee hee! On our way to the border we were worried about the none queuing system which they seem to have over here, literally elbows at the ready and barge your way to the front. Luckily we got there just before a massive group arrived and it didn't take too long. We had a 2 and a half hour journey to our destination but made a quick stop for lunch - a club sandwich is not as we know it back home (omelette with pork, ham, salad and sweet bread). As we drove to Siem Reap the divide between rich and poor became clear to us. The poverty was quite a culture shock. Massive five star hotels next to people living in run down shacks. We learned that in Cambodia 50% of the population are under the age of 15 and the average family has 10 children.

An hour after arriving at our hotel we all piled into Tuk Tuks to go for a traditional Kymer meal at a family's house. The Tuk Tuks were really fun and scary at the same time. Before dinner we visited a little school that taught English to poor and orphan children and saw some local boys playing football. The children are so sweet, they all run out of their houses to say hello. Our host was very enthusiastic and welcoming. We all sat on the deck on cushions and shared plates of pork noodles, vegetable curry, ginger chicken and rice, finishing the meal with Dragon fruit. At the end of the meal we met some local children who wanted to practice English. They were very sweet and we were impressed with the questions they asked. When we arrived back at the hotel we saw most of the Man U derby match at the end of which a Gecko ran across our room leading to us not sleeping most the night!

On Sunday 13th we had to leave the hotel at 5am for sunrise over the Angkor Wat Temple. We met our guide Ra who was lovely and looked after us all day. We got to the temple at half five after having a picture taken for our pass - not attractive!! Sunrise was due at 6:45 so we took some photos beforehand. However as it got lighter, we realised that the cloud would obscure any sunrise we may see. After popping back for breakfast we then visited another two temples. The first being the one in the film Tomb Raider and is now called this by locals and tourists alike. We had a short trek through the jungle to get there which was fun but dusty, our feet and shoes were filthy. This particular temple has been destroyed by 200-300 year old trees which tower into the sky as you'll see in our photos. However there was reconstruction work taking place to restore this impressive temple. The next temple was called Angkor Thom. Unfortunately we arrived here bang on midday with the sun at its hottest so looking round was hard work. Originally the temple had 54 towers, and each tower had four faces of Buddha, totalling 216 Buddhas in all. The walls were covered intricate carvings depicting anything from war to daily life.

That brings us to now, 6pm our time and about to head for dinner with the group in an hour. Hope you're all well and we'll upload our photos as soon as possible!

Lots of love

xxx