We were both hoping that Siem Reap was going to be nice, as we had to spend a fair bit of time there waiting for our visas to arrive for Thailand. Checking into our hotel we was quite impressed with it. The New Riverside guest house was lovely and by far one of the nicest budget places we have stayed in so far on our trip. A big room complete with a pool view and kitted out with all the little hotel luxuries, like free tea and coffee, fridge and cable tv; we was definitely set up for the week.
The small town of Siem Reap was also nice and most of all, it was clean. Centred around a river it was full of a variety of shops, bars and restaurants and another huge Market. Looking around the town we was confident that we would probably be ok for the time we had to spend here.
First on our list of activities was the Angkor Temples and the famous Angkor Wat. The surrounding countryside is made up of a fair few temples of which can take you upto 3 days to explore all of them. However we just wanted to see the main temples so we booked a day trip to look at a few of them- Angkor Wat, The Bayon, Terrace of the Elephants, Terrace of the Leper king, The Phimeanakas and Ta Prohm. They were all amazing and of course Angkor Wat was the most impressive; It was huge and had a great big river infront of it which reflected the temple beautifully in the water. The temples where all amazing and as you wandered around them you became very impressed with the way they were designed and all the carvings of the Gods in the stone. In Ta Prohm it also had some amazing jungle like trees where the roots had twisted around the ruins over the years making it feel like it was a temple from an Indiana Jones movie.
After a very hot day and a very long walk around the different sites we headed back to the hotel for a dip in the pool too cool down.
Being the start of rainy season we didn't know what the weather was going to do from day to day. The rest of the week was split into a few walks round the town and also a few dips in the pool. We also had a great game of crazy golf which was temple themed, and if you got a hole in one then you got a free beer (Jonathan managed it on the first hole, very scabby!)
We decided to use our time in Siem Reap to begin planning our Australia accommodation. Signing up for a couple of house sitting websites we began to search through the ads and applied for any that looked decent. We also had to set up a profile and obtain some character references for any that came back to us due to us not having police clearance. This was great fun and as we accepted our first house sitting opportunity in Perth for three weeks in October, it made us eager to get more. We now have one more house sit which might be a possibility for a week in September, which we are still negotiating!
So after a long week it was finally the day to receive our passports which would be arriving with the nightbus from Phnom Penh. We was very anxious to see if they had been lost and if we was going to be stranded in Cambodia! Awakening on the last day we hurried down to reception to see if they had arrived. They still hadn't arrived even though the bus had arrived an hour before! After a few phone calls to the hotel in Phnom Penh and then the bus company we was informed they were waiting for us at the bus office and we had to get a TukTuk to get them ourselves... Phew! A last minute bus ticket booked and we set off across the border to Thailand. Luckily all had worked out well!
Cambodia definitely gave mixed feelings for both Jonathan and myself! Sihanoukville, Jonathan liked and I didn't. Phnom Penh, I liked and Jonathan didn't. Siem Reap we both liked! However I think we both enjoyed all the attractions and it was definitely worth the look. I dont think any other temples will now compare after viewing the beautiful Angkor Wat, and it will be very hard to beat the realism and facts on show within the museums of Phnom Penh.
Now onto Thailand, and what will be our third visit to this country but again we are extremely looking forward to it! Onwards to Bangkok, Hayls and Jonathan x