Day 64-67 in the world of Sam and Dani: We arrived late in the evening and booked into the guest house that was run by the mini bus company. The next day we got up early to go and find some different accommodation we had seen in Nic's lonely planet. Unfortunately, the figures were out of date so we ended up just trying places on the off chance. We ended staying in a nice guest house called Green Town where we managed to get 3 triple rooms for $9 ($3 each). That day we went for a mooch around before hiring bicycles to explore. We had such a good day: we went to see the palace and into the gardens before taking backroads through more secluded parts of the city. We were going down a lane and came to what we thought was a puddle, but no it was more like a lake, so when we tried riding through it our feet became soaked and we got stuck, causing us to get wet pushing our bikes out and the Laos people working on a building nearby finding it hilarious =) After our adventure we decided to go to one of the many cafes around Siem Riep that support charity, the Butterfly Garden helps children get into education and families with aids amongst other things. It was a lovely set up and the chocolate marble cheesecake and blueberry pancakes were amazing! We investigated bar street which we don't think really needs an explanation and whilst sitting in the Angkor Wat bar (a must when you're in Siem Reap as happy hour means jugs for cheap cheap cheap) we met Borey, a tuk tuk driver, who we hired to take us to the temples the next day, but not just in an ordinary tuk tuk... a rock n roll tuk tuk!! This guy had set up a sound system in his tuk tuk with discolights and microphones, genius!

We were picked up at 5am the next morning so that we could watch the sunrise at the temples. Borey brought a history dvd with him so it meant that we could find out about the temples on route, and also we didn't fancy music booming at that time of day. We arrived at Angkor Wat, but due to it being cloudy didn't actually get to see the sunrise but we sat and had a hot drink before we went and got breakfast. When we went back we looked around Angkor Wat which is the main temple in Siem Reap. Built 1000 years ago it is a pure work of art and it is clear why the Cambodians chose it to be on their national flag. After that we went around several others, our favorite was the one where Tomb Raider was filmed. When you come out of the temples there are children trying to sell you things and people begging everywhere, not a very good experience! The kids outside Angkor Wat all had nicknames too so when you arrived they would ask you your name and tell you there's, sounds innocent enough, until you comeback out when they are screaming your name saying that you promised to buy something off them! The temples are spread out all over so it was s good job we had the rock n roll tuk tuk cos it meant we had music. It was also a good job we had Critch who entertained us all by singing karaoke, not only were we in stitches, but we had other tourists taking photos.

We visited the Landmine Museum whilst in Siem Reap, and although it's not very big, is definitely worth visiting. The museum is also a centre that helps children who have been affected. On the way back we seen an orphanage and decided to stop and have a look around. These children were gorgeous! They were so happy that people had stopped to see them, because unlike those in the city that have constant visitors, they rarely get them. They were very polite and spoke very good English that they were taught by the director. There were two rooms where the kids slept, one for 15 boys and the other for the 12 girls, both rooms only had one double bed. The kids all seemed healthy and when asked about their routine one girl excitably told us that they had eggs for breakfast- something as little as that meant so much to her, it makes you put things in perspective! We asked the director about funding, he explained that the orphanage doesn't have a sponsor so any money they receive is from tourists passing through. The director told us that they have only had one volunteer to their project who taught English so we've decided that after Vietnam we're going to go back and volunteer for a week.

That evening we went to an orphanage in the city but we didn't get the same vibe as we did from the one during the day. We had seen a leaflet at our guest house that advertised the orphanage performing traditional dances so we thought we'd go. Unfortunately, it wasn't what we'd expected. Everything was very publicized and there were big expensive banners everywhere, money we personally think could have been spent better. As soon as we arrived we had the director telling us about how much things cost and taking us over to a board that displayed every single thing they pay for. There were donation boxes, one read 'staff incentive to work'!!! The other director didn't mention money, we had to ask him! During the show the children looked unhappy and didn't interact with anyone afterwards, very strange. Obviously you don't like to think bad about these places, but something wasn't right =( If anyone comes to Cambodia, we'd recommend visiting remote places because you know where your money is going.