Getting up for a bus at 6am is not fun. Minibus picked us up from NapPark hostel and took us as far as the Cambodian border. 400 baht each for the minibus seemed decent value as we were expecting to be taken all the way to Siem Reap. We stopped 2 miles from the border, after a 5 hour drive, to swap minibuses, have a bite to eat (worst meal of the trip so far) and fill out paperwork for our Cambodian entry visa (costing us US$35 dollars, $15 more than we should have paid but less hassle and waiting around). Crossing the Cambodian border took about an hour overall. We stopped just shy of the border and had to walk through immigration to meet a bus the other side. A short ride on this took us to a bus station where we were told we had to wait 2 hours for the next bus to take us to Siem Reap but were constantly 'recommended' to get a taxi ride instead. Having already paid for the bus however we duly waited and palmed off the taxi firms endless advances. The bus ride took about 4 hours to Siem Reap including a 45 minute stop for refreshments. We arrived at the bus station at around 7.30pm local time and were told we would have to get a Tuk Tuk to our hostel. After some very aggressive sales work from one particular man we reluctantly decided to hand over all of $2 each which unwittingly bought us the services of the best Tuk Tuk and driver in the land for the next 2 days!

We arrived at The Siem Reap Hostel at about 8.30pm and, after dumping our bags, headed to Pub Street, what we thought would be a Cambodian version of Khao San Road. Far from it. Pub Street was less tacky and more authentic than Khao San and most importantly a pint of beer was readily available for just 50 cents! After our long journey we decided it would be a fantasic idea to sample to nightlife and found the hilariously named Angkor What? bar. Lol. The following day we decided to spend relaxing at the hostel pool (yes, a hostel with a pool!) to prepare for our early start the following day to watch the sunrise at Angkor Wat.

As our alarms went off at 4.30am, 3 weary souls, limped out of bed. Bang on 5am our Pannan, our Tuk Tuk driver arrived. After a quick tour of the veichle we found that this particular Tuk Tuk had been upgraded to include a subwoofer and a Ipod dock! With Mumford and Sons blaring out and with James in a particularly jovial mood we arrived at Angkor Wat. We were escorted by torchlight by Cambodian stall holder who claimed to be called Angelina Jolie to the lake in front of the temple. Once there we claimed our spot on the banks of the lake along with several hundered other tourists. We cant really put into words the sunrise so just have a look at the photos, it was an incredible sight. After the sunrise we went into the main temple to explore the ancient ruins. Despite the delapidated state of the buildings, the scale and level of detail in the stone work was stunning. An hour or so later we returned to Pannan and his pimped up Tuk Tuk and explored the other equally impressive temple of Bayon and Ta Prom before returning to the hostel. A memorable day!

We are currently spending our final day in Siem Reap before catching another bus to Phnom Penh in the morning.

James, Dave and Ant