CHRISTMAS IN CAMBODIA

The bus trip from Phnom Penh was comedy. We were the only Westerners on our bus and the entertainment was in the form of Cambodian karaoke. It was bad enough that we didn't know or understand any of the songs but worse still were the videos to each song. They seemed to feature the same three people in some sort of comedy or romantic scenario but just wearing different outfits.Things started to go down hill when we made a stop at a roadside place selling drinks and food. Some of the things they eat as snacks here are truly horrific. Let's just say that I was really unimpressed when the locals started bring bags of cooked crickets swiftly followed by bags of char-grilled tarantulas. It was like my worst nightmare come to life! Still, we're really impressed with Siem Reap; it's a really nice little town.

We hired a tuk-tuk driver for three days to take us around the temples at Angkor - they were amazing. We even got up for sunrise at Angkor Wat (although sadly so did 2000 other tourists). Our driver is a lovely guy called Rak. He is training to be an official tour guide so Sarah and I bought him a Khmer book about the temples as a Christmas present. The people here are so wonderful, they are very friendly are always smiling despite the terrible things that most have them have suffered. I ended up crying when Rak told us about how two of his brothers and sisters were killed by the Khmer Rouge. The really sad thing is that there are still so many people getting killed or maimed by the millions of landmines still scattered across the country. It's really sad. It's strange to be here for Christmas - it doesn't feel like Christmas at all. Still, we celebrated the day with a veggie burrito and a pina-colada. We've loved Cambodia and really hope we get to come back again one day.

Next stop Bangkok….