Siem reap and the lost city of Angkor Wat

My last stop in Cambodia was an epic one. The city of Angkor Wat to be more precise! After a fairly comfortable bus ride from Battambang we arrived late afternoon. As soon as we got off as predicted an onslaught of tuk tuk drivers defended upon us. The system here is that all the drivers want you to pick them to do the temple tours. In return they give you a free transfer. Alternatively it should be a dollar each to any location within the city. Now in hindsight we should have just paid the dollar and chatted up a few drivers for our tour however we went with the sales pitch. He seemed a nice enough chap however on the day he was pushy, rushing us through the temples and making awkward hints about wanting food... I was happy to take him to lunch but his manner kept changing and he became very negative towards us which never helps. So I would advice to shop around. Price wise a small tour of all the main ones should be no more than $15.

I didn't do the tour straight away as I had a pool to chill by! I stayed at the mad monkey and it was awesome! Big clean air con dorms, beach bar and swimming pool!!! It's a bit of a party hostel but they have arranged the rooms in such a way that the noise doesn't bother you. So when you're planning to get up sunrise at Angkor Wat, you can sleep! Clever!

Also the nightlife in siem reap is great. I think the best party I've been to in a while. The rooftop bar at mad monkey is a great place to start, even if you're not staying there. Then head on to the infamous pub street to either Angkor what? Or temple bar. Both blast out dance anthems until the early hours!

If partying isn't your thing the city had loads of cultural thing a on offer. There's the national museum, night market bazaars and endless massage parlours.

Now for the temples themselves. I picked a day ticket as opposed to three days. I'd say of you've got the time and can resist the party get the three day. It's a rush to squeeze it all in. However I did all the main ones in a day. We left at 5am to do the sunrise at ankgor wat temple then did bayon, Angkor thom village, tha prom aka tomb raider temple, and a few others. My favourite had to tomb raider! So atmospheric and cool! But there were so many little ones too id have liked to explore, perhaps on a push bike.

Siem reap has been one of my favourite places do far. Definitely give it time and enjoy the party!!!