So we headed to Siem Reap on Saturday 22nd Nov on the bus! WE wanted to go by boat up the Tonle Sap but it would of costed $35 each! With the bus being $5 each and same time length we had to take bus!!!

Apart from braking down for half hour on the way we had a smooth journey...the roads were good, only one lane each but nice and straight forward.

We headed to a hostel in Lonely Planet (sis-it's been our bible!) and it was fabby!!!! Ivy 2 Hostel, $7 room, clean and friendly, British ex pat owned so we were so excited when we saw heinz beans on toast on menu for breakfast!!!!

Siem Reap is the gateway to Angkor Wat, everyone stays around the town and were kind of expecting a very much shanty town, but apart from the outskirts where there were plenty of dirt track roads, Siem Reap oozes with tourism! They even have a street called '"Pub Street' Which is thier version of Wind St every night of the week!!!!!

We were still hanging out with Debby and Louise as our routes were going in the same direction and we all planned to visit Angkor Wat on Sunday. We ended up getting a tuk tuk with Rhi for $20 for whole day and he would take us around the kingdom.....its much bigger than expected!

Angkor Wat is now owned by a mega oil company and they charge quite alot to enter the sites, we thought that most of the entry fee would go back into restoring the temples but unfortunately they only get about 3-4%, which is nothing. Daz and I could only afford a day pass ($20) but you can get 3 days at $40 and 7 days at $60.....there is plenty to see so if your into the history to Khmer etc 3 days or up to 7 is better!

We crammed as much as we could in the whole day...we got there by half 8 and watched sunset on one of the temples, it was perfect!

What can you say about Angkor Wat.....that was our first stop......its jaw droppingly big!! Dating back to 1200 AC its so hard to imagine how they created and built this massive temple...we walked around inside and out and although we didnt have a guide (thats another story) we listened in on a few tour guides and got little knowledge. You could spend hours exploring the temple and they are currently restoring parts of the towers.

We then headed to Angkor Thom, another temple called Bayon which was fascinating to visit....it used to have 53 towers, each representing the 53 provinces of Cambodia but due to damage there are less towers....the walls have faces inscribed into them and it had lots of rubble around, still in restoration...this temple was inside bigger walls than Angkor Wat and had many other buildings and pieces to admire like the wall of elephants.

We saw an awful lot in the one day and they do recommend more than just a day as it can get tiring and thus less enjoyable, however the four of us plodded on and visited Preah Khan a highly explorable monastic complex, Neak Pean a small temple surrounded by water in the rainy season, very photogenic and Ta Som with lots of elephants insicribed on the walls.

As you can imagine back in the day when the temples were errected Elephants did most of the labouring by pulling the heavy stones up to the temples, as most of these temples are built on a mound or very high, so there is alot of representation of elephants.

The most impressive temple was Ta Prohm, the only temple still set witin its ruins and its beauty is evident with the fig and silk cotton trees covering and wrapping around the ruins...definately had the most character. Blocks of stones lay everywhere and the vegetation and wildlife lived very much within the temples area. Definately had a jungle feel atmosphere. We wish we had more time to explore this temple but our day was coming to a close and we had to head to Pre Rup for sunset, this temple set high up on a mound had the most spectacular views of the sun setting towards Angkor Wat....looking over the kingdom, you dont realise how big it really is.

We sat on top of one of the towers with the girls and watched the sun set....a few hundred other people joined us and the atmosphere was so relaxed....im sure everyone else was thinging the same as us! '"We in Angkor Wat watching the sun set...how fab is this!'

It was such a long day!!! We were stinking when we got back as it was +35 degrees all day and tuktuk driving on dirt tracks, we were very happy to have a shower!!!!!!

So we'd love to go back to Angkor Wat one day....we'd def recommend a guide, we had planned to get one but he let us down last minute and we choice to use Rhi the tuk tuk driver instead who was trying to save money to become a doctor, he was so lovely...as some of the tuktuk drivers have been rude in Camboida and Vietnam! He was a delight and wants to help the people of his country...bless. Like I said ever since the Khmer Rouge routine it seems to have united this country and make them stronger to succeed.

So yeah a guide would def mean more information about the Kingdom and the Khmer King and what alot of the meanings of the buildings and inscribes, although we still had a fascinating day.....Angkor Wat is unbelievable.

We chilled in Siem Reap for a day....small town but touristy in parts. It was nice not to do anything for a day! We'll get photos up asap, we were very happy snappy in Angkor Wat so we'll have to pick which ones to put on!

We wish we could have longer in Cambodia but we were aware of time so we headed to the Thai border with the girls on Tue 25th Nov.....will update you on that fun trip next time! xxxx