Day 1

So here it is, the first blog entry of the big trip!After emotional goodbyes at the airport with both our families we headed off from Belfast City to Heathrow for our connecting flight to Bangkok.We had a few hours to kill but thankfully Gary and Cheryl met us at Heathrow which helped pass the time as well as treating us to our final UK meal for a while!Thanks again guys - we really appreciate you coming up.

We got through security and onto our plane which was the biggest either of us had ever seen!!The flight was long however good food (steak and Guinness pie) and good TV (A-Team Movie, Hot Tub Time Machine and numerous episodes of two and a half men) helped it go in a bit faster…..for me anyway!Laura got stuck beside a woman who literally coughed every 30 seconds for 11 hours and with a guy behind snoring for most of the flight her chances of sleep were shot!We landed it Bangkok at around 4pm local time to torrential rain (still the monsoon season here) but at least it was warm rain!After taking forever to get through immigration we grabbed our bags which were the last 2 left on the carousel and headed for the taxi rank to try and get to our hotel in central Bangkok for our meeting at 6pm with our tour group.Despite seemingly not knowing were the hotel was and the insane driving of almost every car on the roads into the city he got us to the hotel front door bang on 6pm - just in time for the meeting.Everyone on the tour seems really nice and the tour leader, Jack from Cambodia, seems like a cool guy.We checked into our hotel room which was a much better standard than we were expecting, dumped our bags and headed out with Jack and the group for authentic Thai Curry!Despite insisting for "not spicy" it was still almost too hot but I guess that's how they do it here!

After dinner we headed for a walk down Kho San Road which is…….a bit mad!Think your average bar/restaurant street in a Spanish holiday resort and multiply it by 1000!It has everything from Fish Spa's, were you put your feet into a tank of water and small fish nibble off all the dead skin to deep fried scorpions and "ping pong" shows…..without the table, players or paddles!!We spent a little time here and then decided to head back to the hotel as we were both pretty exhausted from the trip over!After returning to the hotel we repacked our bags for the next day, got a cold shower (it's 25 degrees and humid at night here) and went to bed before a 6am start the next day to head to the Cambodian border.Our initial experiences of Bangkok were good and we can't wait to get back into Thailand in a month or so and spend some more time there but much to do in the meantime!

Day 2

6am and the alarm is ringing - early start to get as much free food at the hotel breakfast buffet as we can before we go on the first 4 hour bus trip of the day to the Thai/Cambodian Border.Jack has organized a private mini bus which to be fair was a great shout.Bus was well air conditioned and comfortable which was essential as when we walked out of the hotel at 7:30 am it was already pushing 30 degrees!Our bus driver fancied himself as a bit of a formula 1 driver seeming to overtake anyone and anything in front of him which got us to the border well before the other bus with the second half of our group!We filled in the necessary paperwork for our Cambodian Visas during a petrol stop en route and handed everything to our tour guide who sorted it all for us which made things a lot easier!The Thai/Cambodian Border was much busier then expected and following a cheap lunch (2 sweet and sour chicken, 1 sprite and 1 water for $3) we joined the queue for passport control which seemed to consist of half of the population of Thailand!It took ages to get through - we must have been standing in the queue and midday heat for over an hour which us 2 Belfasters found pretty tough!After some more paper work on the Cambodia side we entered Cambodia to a pretty spectacular welcome sign (photo to follow) and joined our bus for the second 4 hour trip of the day to Siem Reap where we are staying for 2 nights.It is remarkable the difference in the 2 countries which is instantly noticeable as soon as you cross the border.Cambodia is much simpler and nowhere near as developed as Thailand but very beautiful with very friendly people who want to give you lifts everywhere in their taxis and Tuk Tuk's (basically a moped with bench seats attached to the back for up to 4 people - photos to follow)!

We arrived at our hotel in Siem Reap at 5:30pm local time and had half an hour to get freshened up and into a Tuk Tuk for a trip both of us were really looking forward to!Jack had arranged for our group to go into the jungle and eat dinner with a Cambodian family at their house which was a bit surreal but amazing.They had an area outside fully laid out with 12 places where we sat on the floor and ate their traditional food which the family cooked for us and the kids served - great experience!The girls then made Laura a flower for her hair which instantly made her want to adopt them so we got a few snaps with them and headed off pronto before she acted on it!!To finish off the evening we headed to the night market in Siem Reap which is just a massive array of market stalls under lights which sells pretty much everything!Laura got herself a silk scarf for $2 which should help with the heat tomorrow when we are at the Angkor Wat Temples.11pm here now so off to bed ahead of a 5am start to hopefully see the sunrise at the temples - so cross your fingers that the weather is clear for us!Not a bad way to spend a Monday morning - I'm sure you'll all agree!

So up at 4:30 am to go to Angkor Wat Temples at sunrise.We were both very excited about this and were praying for good weather so it would work out well which it did!Pictures turned out great - once Craig finally put the camera on the correct setting!We spent about 1 ½ hours before heading back to the hotel for breakfast after which the rest of the group joined us and headed back to the Temple Complex for a guided tour of 4 of the temples!It was amazing; the place is so large and unbelievably beautiful.How that was made so many years ago with no modern technologies, it's a lost art these days.It was a bit of a work out visiting the different temples, for one it was so so hot, when it rained it was soo good, we went outside and just stood in it, think the locals thought we were nuts!Also because of the sheer size of the temples (and due to making people bow down, according to Jack) the steps up into them were incredibly steep, it was a little scary for someone afraid of heights!

We were lucky the day we went, that although there were many tourists about, the place was that huge that at times it felt we were the only ones there.Again, the people of Cambodia just seem so friendly, there were a number of Buddha statues in the temples, and people came to pray in front of them (which was class to watch) and so many people came up to us and bowed in the traditional greeting and tried to show us how to pray, or just generally smiled and pointed at things when the language barrier got in the way. It made the whole place seem so alive and not some historical monument.

Our local tour guide was great fun and made the whole thing very interesting but it was a very long and hot day and once the rain had passed mid morning we were both struggling!We made it to the final temple - the Jungle Temple (which is where tomb raider was filmed! Lara Croft time!), before calling it a day and heading back to the hotel for a cold shower and a kip before dinner!

We went to a restaurant in "Pub Street" which had a stage where dancers performed the local/national Aspara dance among others while we ate - provided a great atmosphere for dinner, and Laura got the chance to get up and get a photo with them.Finished up our last night in Siem Reap with a couple of drinks in the restaurant bar with our guide-jack AKA little Buddha and Peter and Bella before jumping in a Tuk Tuk back home - a good finish to a great day!

Not much happened the next day as we were due to spend a large part of it traveling.We had a 6 hour journey on the public bus which we thought was going to be a nightmare but the bus turned out to be a massive air conditioned coach so it worked out fine!We were sitting at the top, on the front of the bus so we got to see some great sights of the countryside, and the crazy driving which at times is a little scary! Siem Reap was amazing, the people so so friendly, We will miss here, but on to Phnom Penh, the capital, for our penultimate stop in Cambodia……….

Craig and Laura =)