Just a brief 40 minute flight from Bangkok over to Siem Reap in Cambodia. Jumped in a taxi to our hostel, Okay1villa. Our room was, let's just say, basic...but clean which is the main thing. There is a 'no shoes' policy in this hostel, so the entrance is like a shoe shop!
Since it was late afternoon we went to the top floor to enjoy the swimming pool, roof top bar and restaurant for the evening, whilst trying to switch from our Thai hello's and thank you's to learning the Khmer (Cambodian) versions. I played it safe with a chicken cashew nut dish, but Chris went straight in for a Khmer Fish curry dish, a local cuisine and quite spicy.

Took a wander on Tuesday morning into the main city centre to find our bearings. We found a supermarket and enjoyed some pastries for brekki - due to Cambodia's history with the French, they have a fair amount of influence on their cuisine. We tried a local snack, not being sure of what it was. It looked like a bread roll with herbs on, but tasted nothing like this, it was very sweet. We later found out it had what they call chicken or pork floss inside....weird.
After a couple of issues at the hostel, we ended up moving to a nicer room with a bath tub and shower, rather than a wet room.
We found a cute looking Cambodian restaurant for lunch, both wanting to try more of the local cuisine. I had a green bean and coconut salad, and Chris had a Khmer style soup - very strong flavours of lemongrass and ginger. There seems to be a lot of begging and pleading in Siem Reap due to the number of tourists passing through, and using it as a base for visiting Angkor. Chris, feeling charitable, bought a book about the dark Khmer Rouge period in Cambodia from a mine victim with no arms.
Our afternoon was spent at the pool and soon enough we were back out searching for another Cambodian restaurant for dinner. Two more local dishes; Fish Amok - a coconut curry paste fish cooked in a banana leaf, and Lohk Lahk - a meat gravy based dish with a fried egg.

Wednesday saw a 6am start, off in a Tuk tuk over to Angkor. We had a friendly driver for the day, who's nickname is Bruce Lee - no idea why as he didn't look anything like him!
First up was the largest temple Angkor Wat. We spent two hours exploring the worlds largest religious monument. Its total area is nearly 200 hectares. Some spectacular sights and lots of pictures were taken! We bartered for a guide book, paying just $6 for a $30 book! Taking it in turns, one of us would read aloud facts about the temple we were visiting and the other was in charge of taking the pictures. Great teamwork!
Back onto the Tuk tuk, we passed under the South Gate into a large area of temples called Angkor Thom. We reached Bayon, another very large temple, three levels, and features uniquely, a mass of face towers. Next up was the Bapuon, Phimeanakes, The Royal Palace, and the Elephants Terrace. The Bapuon is an enormous temple mountain, with five tiers, and the views from the summit were amazing. We walked by the Phimeanakes and The Royal Palace, smaller temples, and onto the Elephants Terrace, getting its name from the carvings of elephants along its wall. We exited the Angkor Thom area through the East gate and stopped off at two smaller temples, Chao Say Teroda, and Thommanon. The last temple of the morning was Ta Keo, another temple mountain. Ta Keo was the first to be built entirely from sandstone, and has five massive towers on the top of the construction. A very rewarding view from the top over the forest.
A well deserved stop for lunch, we found ourselves at a small restaurant sharing a traditional Fish Amok. The restaurant invested a lot of time into its staff, teaching them English and using all local produce. There is a very small percentage of the Cambodian population who are educated to read and write, so places like this restaurant are important for the tourists to support.
Next on the agenda was Ta Prohm, most famously known for being featured in the film Tomb Raider. With many hidden corners, strangler figs and silk-cotton trees entwined among ruins, this temple was fascinating to explore. Last but not least, we ended our day at Banteay Kdei, being welcomed in by face towers at the entrance. We didn't quite make it back to the hotel due to running out of fuel! Bruce Lee pushed us to a petrol station and we decided to jump out and walk back (only 10 mins or so).
Time to 'cool in the pool' before heading out for the evening. Chris found a recommended $1 meal and drinks on Tripadvisor and Lonely Planet, so we couldn't miss out!
Unfortunately, the food was very westernised, cold, and overcooked! So we quickly drank our glass of red wine, which for $1 was pretty good, and made our way over to Pub street, full of bars, restaurants, and market food stalls. We found a cheap, cheerful, and Cambodian market food restaurant, and both ate dinner for around $5.

Thursday was a chilling and planning day. We spent the morning by the pool, headed out for a cheap lunch, and tried to avoid the heavy downpour! We treated ourselves tonight to the local cuisine, Kentucky Fried Chicken, not sure if you've heard of this deliciously!!! Then took a walk down into the main town for a banana and Nutella pancake, and an avocado smoothie! Yum! Chris was harassed by a young boy for some money, which ended up as a footsy match and nearly losing his flip flops!

Friday was a 4am wake up call, and 4.30am pick up by Bruce Lee as his first customers in his new (second hand) Tuk tuk, to head to Angkor Wat and watch the sunrise. Thank god for the iPhone's torch, as we wouldn't have managed without it, in the pitch dark making our way through the entrance gate. It was pretty spooky, and very eerie, only being able to see 1m in front of you and being able to hear a pin drop. We later found out that there is an un-cordoned off 15ft hole somewhere in this section! After about 15 minutes we eventually saw some lights up ahead, and joined a group of people at the lake in front of the temple. As we eagerly awaited the sunrise, the group of people got bigger and bigger. It was absolutely spectacular watching the sunrise over Angkor Wat, and a must do if you ever get the chance to visit.
By 6.45am we were onto the next temple, Phnom Bakheng. A quick bite for breakfast in the Tuk tuk ended up with a male monkey trying to steal our bananas! Chris only had the banana out for a few seconds, and the next thing I know I have a monkey on my lap trying to steal our guidebook! Bruce Lee decided to try to hit the monkey away with the book, which obviously he didn't like, started growling and bearing his teeth at us, so we shot out of the Tuk tuk like a bullet from a gun!
A few km climb, spiralled around the temple, and we made it to the top for some incredible views across the city and reservoir.
Next up was Preah Khan, which was best viewed walking through East to West, so we arranged with Bruce to meet him on the other side. Nearly an hour later, having explored the temples complex layout of buildings and passageways, we made it out of the West entrance, not to find Bruce! There was only one road into this entrance so we knew he must be waiting at the wrong entrance for us... after about a 20 minute walk in the scorching sun, we found him.
Next on the list was Neak Pean, a unique island temple, with a long walk way across the river leading up to it. Then onto Ta Som, a small temple, similar to Banteay Kdei with its face towers; East Mebon, a rural setting among rice fields, and elephant sculptures on the corners of each levels; Pre Rup, another temple mountain, with great views from the top; and to finish the day we ended at Prasat Kravan, a temple of just 5 small towers, all in a row, but with very fine interior designs. I bought some postcards from a very sweet little girl, 10 for $1, so she could go to school.
This time we did make it all the way back to town, stopped off for a cheap lunch, then back to the pool to cool off and have a well deserved nap! A tad templed out!
Dinner was another find by Chris - Bug's Cafe - yes that's right, we had bugs for dinner! The owner, a very nice French man, welcomed us and took some time to explain the background of the restaurant and the menu. Himself, along with a top Cambodian chef, put together the menu, incorporating various bugs and Cambodian flavours. He was very calming and reassuring - two traits I was very much in need of, whilst my heart was racing at the thought of what I was about to eat! So he recommended the Discovery Platter, consisting of:
- 2 Wild spring rolls stuffed with ants (green and red ants)
- Insect Skewers (spider, giant waterbug, grasshopper, all marinated with grilled veg)
- Mediterranean feuilletes with ants (a pastry stuffed with ants with a pesto sauce)
- Tarantula doughnut
- Cricket and Silk Worm stir fry in a coconut curry sauce.
YUK I hear you all say! But if I can try it then that is saying something! And the flavours and sauces were yum!
We both ate the spring rolls, feuilletes, tarantula doughnut, and the cricket and worm stir fry, but Chris was the brave and daring one who ate the spider, giant waterbug, and grasshopper (I ate the tail!). An experience I am glad we did but not sure it is one we will repeat!
We stopped by for a foot massage on our way back, very deserving after the number of temples we had walked around!

Saturday was a well needed chill day by the pool, our for some lunch with a couple we met at the hostel, and in the evening we enjoyed watching some traditional Cambodian dancing.

Sunday, our third and final day of exploring temples. We took a taxi this time as we were heading much further a field. Our first stop was Banteay Samre, similar to Angkor Wat in style, but with a compact inner enclosure, and very remote. Next was Banteay Srei, over 20km north of Angkor. This temple contained many exquisite decorative carvings in pink sandstone. A further 40 minutes drive and we stopped for a quick lunch before heading into Beng Mealea. We also had the opportunity to watch some villagers churn rice into a dough using a horizontal tree trunk, to make rice noodles. Three people had to use their body weight to elevate and drop the tree trunk onto the mixture, which was being turned by another person.
Beng Mealea is the most 'explorable' temple and an uncleared site. It was in true Indiana style that we took the services from a local guide (villager) and clambered through the treacherous route. It involved squeezing through small spaces, climbing up and over huge stones, balancing along the roof tops, and was a real test of our fitness! Embarrassingly myself and Chris were drenched in sweat by the end of the route, but our guide was as dry as a bone. Also, we later found out that this lady had a prosthetic leg. Unfortunately, she was caught up in a land mine explosion, her husband lost his sight, and they tragically lost their 10 year old son. Cambodia is the most densely mined country in the world, with over 1,000 mine victims every year.
Just under an hours journey back towards Siem Reap, we made our final stop at the Roluous Group: Lolei, Preah Ko, and we ended our day with sunset at Bakong.

Monday, we oversleep our alarm and nearly miss the bus to Battenbang...