Today was another great day.

This morning we caught the bus from Batambang to Siem Reap.

The owner of The Royal Hotel kindly gave us two scarves as gifts and we met two lovely people at the hotel who were taking the same bus as us who gave us some really helpful advice about Siem Reap. - They even wrote down places to stay, see and eat (how kind!).

The bus ride was very good - air con and curtains! I have learned to take my hoody with me on the coach for when the air con works as it can get a little chilly so I was all tucked up happy as Larry :0

The bus, as is usual stopped mid journey by some shops, except this time it drove off without us and some of the others!

The woman we met at the hotel had the same look I did when I saw it leave and for a few moments we all wondered if it was coming back and then we figured it must do at some point so we pootled about and waited.

As we waited, one poor guy came up to us and said in a thick European accent "Do you know if the bus is coming back as my wife is still on it?!" (love it!!)

The bus did eventually turn up about 10-15 mins later and I guess it had gone to get some fuel or maybe it couldn't park by the shops this time (usually it is a road stop though this time it was in a town).

After 3.5 hours from Batambang we arrived in Siem Reap and again as usual a number of tuk tuk drivers huddled around the exit of the bus all touting for business as we collected our bags.

In the end after a number of repeated and polite "no thank yous" from me, I smiled and stated "we need to have a conversation, please give us a moment".

One guy then said "I'm sorry, we don't mean to annoy you, it's our job".

I smiled back and said "I understand, we just need to talk for a moment and then I promise we will talk with you", to which he replied "it's ok, I understand".

Rob and I then agreed to go first to the hotel the guy on the bus recommended as well as try one from 'The lonely planet" (TLP).

We then said to the tuk tuk guy who had kindly given us a moment to talk that we would go with his tuk tuk.

Anyway, the two hotels were either too expensive or full.

The driver (Sky) then recommended a hotel which having checked out was great and we settled on staying there.

It is the best hotel so far this trip. Pool side view, balcony and pretty decent sized room and bathroom with a bath which Rob is very happy about.

We then explored Siem Reap a bit and we both fell in love with the place.

So many good places to eat and drink all in walking distance and also lots of shops for souvenir shopping which we are greatly in need of as we haven't picked much up in Cambodia yet.

It also has a lovely feel to it and the roads are less busy than major towns we have been in.

We then had lunch at the Red Piano as recommended in 'TLP' and it was lovely. Steamed rice and red curry for me with a mixed fruit juice - yum.

After we did some shopping and then agreed to go Angkor Wat as we were told it is free from 5pm and we thought it would be a great opportunity to take a look as the sun set.

By chance we came across Sky as we were walking back to our hotel (laden down with a large bottle of Vodka and coke!) and asked if he would like to take us.

He was happy to see us and also to pick us up in 30 mins :0

When we got to the main entrance to Angkor Wat we discovered that though it was free from 5pm, you had to buy your tickets for the next day(s) to be able to go in.

As we didn't have enough money we were a little stumped at first and then figured we would either go back for some more cash or be cheeky and ask Sky for loan!

He was so lovely and when we explained we had made a mistake and needed to go back to the hotel he offered to lend us what we needed. - we were blown away and very grateful!

Anyway, this blog is rather long so I shall tell you about the temple of Angkor Wat quickly.

When we first saw it as we drove up on the tuk tuk we were both amazed. I felt a little emotional and having pulled up and parked opposite, we immediately started taking photos.

It is a beautiful temple, built in the 11/12th century and it is huge.

As the sun set in front of it we didn't have the best light though it was good enough for us to enjoy :0

After entering the temple and starting to walk through the grounds, we came across a lovely young monk whose name was Jem. We struck up a conversation about his Pagoda and how he had been learning English for 3 years (his English was very good) and when he came to Siem Reap from the country to be a monk.

It was such a privilege to talk with him and he keenly asked us to visit his Pagoda which we said we would be happy to do.

We then explored the temple a more as the sun went down and must have seen less than a third of Angkor Wat before it was closing time.

As we were considering heading back, a police guard waved a torch at us and gently beckoned us out to which I replied politely "yes sir".

He either liked this very much or, as is more likely, is a lovely guy, that he then walked with us and offered to take our pictures at different places on the way out.

He even explained about the hall we walked into (a small room almost) and he had us stand and beat our chests which then echoed (the hall is called echo hall surprisingly enough!).

Rob and I agreed that we wanted to return to the temple again to see it in daylight and explore it more fully as well figure out which of the other temples we wanted to see with our three day ticket.

We then headed back to the hotel with Sky and agreed with him to pick us up tomorrow to explore some of the further away temples.

Now the final (phew!) part of this blog entry is to tell you about the great ice cream placement we visited that had a 'cool lounge' where you could sit or lie on huge white sofas with small tables on or sit down at normal tables in a great all white air conditioned room eating your ice cream (Rob and I shared a chocolate sundae for our dinner) - fantastic!!

So, another great day with the visit to Angkor Wat being an amazing glimpse of a place that we are honoured and excited to have the opportunity to explore.

Hurrah Siem Reap - you rock! (pardon the pun :0)