So we're officially in love with Cambodia! There isn't really anything to dislike about the place. The cities we've seen have given us great experiences plus some sights we'll never see again, the people are so happy and friendly, and it's cheap as chips!
Following our eventful night bus journey (as described by Liam) we arrived in Siem Reap at sunrise and headed straight for our hostel...Oral! Pretty sure it wasn't a w**** house, and despite the name it was a great place with free breaky! We arranged our trip to Angkor Wat there and then with our tuk tuk driver Tom and spent the next 8 hours lying in bed watching films. Why? Because we could!
Angkor Wat is an area just outside Siem Reap full of Ancient Temples dating back 13 centuries! The most famous as you may have heard being Angkor Wat, the seventh wonder of the world! It really is a world wonder! Tom picked us up at 4 the next afternoon so we could collect our 24 hour tickets and go to see sunset. It was lovely but we could see why everyone prefers sunrise and the next morning that's exactly what we saw...and it was incredible!
Bright and breezy at 4:30am Tom collected us and dropped us off at the bridge that leads down to the Angkor Wat temple! Its pitch black so all you see is the light of everyones torches and with that you make your way to the lake where everyone seemingly waits for the sun! It's not until the sky gets lighter that you realise just how many people have turned up, it was packed!
At 6am on the dot the sky started turning shades of pink and orange but 30 minutes later the sun hadn't made an appearance! We'd been informed that it was a 'real moment' by Mr Hoskins when the sun rose so were like "Well this is an anti-climax, where's the bloody sun?" And with that our disappointed selves headed into the Angkor Wat temple to beat the crowds.
At 6:45 however as we explored the grounds the sun appeared (lazy b*****) so we had to sprint back to the lake to avoid missing it! Totally worth it though, you can't capture an image like that but we tried our best!
The next 3 hours were spent exploring the most well known and worthy temples, one called Tah Promph where Tomb Raider was filmed! There the trees grow through the stone, it's very surreal! We also got blessed by two Buddha's on our way round and you'll be pleased to hear have good luck for life.
We're now back in Phnom Penh, and back at the best hostel Mad Monkey! I write this sat on a roof top bar, free G&T in hand while Liam beats some Cambodian men at pool for free beer! Tomorrow we fly to Bangkok and will head straight to our first island Koh Tao the same night, but not before some sibling loving with Lady Lou and Daz who are heading back the UK...we're not smug at all I promise! :)
Xxx