After an extremely long day of travelling we arrived late at night to our hostel in Siem Reap where we had reserved a bed for the next 4 nights. With Christmas only a couple of days away we decided we were going to buy a 3day temple pass to explore at our own pace. We met Lisa from Holland who was travelling solo and wanted to join us for the first day tour.

We started our three day tour by hiring a tuktuk to take us to some of the smaller temples on the Grand Circuit, we wanted to start small and build momentum. The Grand Circuit included Preah Khan, Neal Pean, Ta Som, East Mebon and Pre Rup. A lot of the smaller temples were wonderful. Their condition varied greatly in terms of condition but that was a part of the charm. It was extremely hot and the tuktuk drive between the temples was refreshing and provided a cooling breeze.

For an extra dollar each our Tuk Tuk driver Chom, took us to the best view spot to watch the sunset behind the temples at Phnom Bakheng.

After 6 hours of exploring the temples we had worked up an appetite. We met Sophie in our dorm room who invited us along to Meng Cafe which Sophie had visited 10 times so the food had to be good. We agreed and decided to pre book a table for Christmas Day.

Second day - Christmas Eve
We hired a Tuk Tuk and visited Banteay Srei which is 32km northeast of Siem Reap. Banteay Srei means ‘Citadel of the Women’ and it is said that it must have been built by a woman, as the elaborate carvings are supposedly too fine for the hand of a man!

Once we got back to the hostel we had a relaxing afternoon looking round the Cambodian markets - selling the same stuff as the Thailand ones!

To start the Christmas celebrations off we joined a bar crawl along pub street which was great fun. I was determined to be in bed by 11 to get enough sleep before our early start the next day but before we knew it we returned home at 1am to find our room mate passed out on the floor. We took care of her and by the time our heads hit the pillow it was 2am.

Christmas Day
For the third day in Siem Reap we had saved the main attraction – Angkor Wat and since this was our last destination we decided to take a tuktuk before dawn and watch the sun rise. With our alarm set for 4.30am we only got a couple of hours sleep before we set off. We made it before dawn, got a good seat and waited. We were not the only ones who had the same idea for Christmas Day we were joined by thousands of tourists all eagerly waiting. Angkor Wat turned out to be impressive definitely worth the early start even if we looked like zombies for the rest of the day!

My favourite Angkor temple was Ta Prohm which has been nicknamed the Tomb Raider temple where nature has run riot, leaving iconic tree roots strangling the surviving stones. On the small circuit we also visited Bayon, Ta Keo and Angkor Thom.

After 6 hours exploring the temples we arrived back at the hostel to Skype loved ones back home and finished the day eating a Cambodian 'Christmas dinner' with 26 other travellers from 13 different countries (Germany, Holland, India, America, Australia, Peru, France, Finland, Taiwan, Nicaragua, Columbia, Guatemala and England!) sharing stories an experience I will never forget. I hope you all had a great Christmas too!