Blog 9 - Crossing into Cambodia and Siem Reap

To say that this journey was the worst bus journey so far is an understatement. The travel time was supposed to be 12 hours but ended up taking about 17 hours and 3 buses and being left on the side of the road for 3 hours at the Cambodian boarder.

We left Don Det at 8am and took the short boat ride to the mainland. It took almost 2 hours for the company we booked with to get us to the boarder which was 15 minutes away. On arrival at the boarder, we had to get off the bus and walk through where there was supposed to be another bus to meet us on the other side.

We crossed quite smoothly, more organization than in Laos and after having a health check in the quarantine station and thinking that the guy was taking photos who was actually taking temperatures, we were through to the other side bit there was no bus.

The guide told us it would be there soon. What he did not say was although the bus would come, it would not leave for 3 hours as they were waiting to fill it and the other bus from Laos was delayed. We tried sitting in the bus and waiting but the driver would not use the petrol to turn the aircon on so it was about 50 degrees inside the bus so we all camped in the shade on the side of the road.

3 hours later and we were on our way to Siem Reap. One more bus change and another 1 hour waiting around and we finally reached our destination at 1am. We did not have a hotel booked and the bus station is about 7km from the centre. We spoke to one of the locals escorting the bus who said that he was a rep for a hotel and he also had a tuk tuk at the next station. We decided to give it a try. It turned out it was a great hotel with a swimming pool for $15 per night between 3! The hotel was called Siem Reap Temple Villa and is in a great location.

The following day we just chilled by the pool, the sunbeds were great and as most people in Siem Reap were there to see the Angkor Wat, the pool was empty. We booked with the same guide Mr Mark to see the temples the following day starting at 5am for the sunrise.

Siem Reap is a lovely town, a great local market, lots of bars and restaurants. Viva mexican restaurant was our favourite as Tacos were $1 and frozen margaritas any flavour were $1.50 - bargain!Simon bought a fake tag watch which lasted about 3 days before losing time.

5am the following morning we are up and ready to go to the temple but Mark our guide did not show up. Instead, Mr Noi turned up to say that Mr Mark was sick and that he would drive us. We were a little unsure as he didn't speak much english but there was little other choice at that time in the morning so go in his Tuk Tuk.

We had a great day b ut it was very tiring. We went to 8 temples in 1 day, most people try and spread this over 3 days. We started at Angkor Wat at 5am to see the sun rise. No one old us you have to walk in the pitch black through the temple grounds for about 10 minutes before you get to the best spot to see the sun rise. Lucky for us we were walking along side a girl who sold coffee there so she told us where to walk, the best place to view the sunrise and used her torch to light th way. She also then brought coffees over to us - bonus!

The sunrise was beautiful. The only down side was some stupid American woman who decided to sit on the floor and then shout at everyone who walked in front of her that they were blocking her view and as she had been there since 5am they should have some respect. It became a bit of a joke and the whole crowd were making fun at her in the end.

The temples really are amazing. The craftsmanship that went into them mainly in 1120 and they had no real way of transporting the stones hundreds of miles.

My favourite other than Angkor Wat was the temple that had been preserved as a ruin. Most of the other temples have been restored as best as possible however this one has trees growing through the centre of it and are now embedded into the structure. Simons favourite was Bayon as it had carved faces out of the stone and the detail is amazing.