Waking before dawn is not something I'd normally enjoy doing. It reminds me of cold, dark, winter mornings, normally on a Monday and normally followed by 8 hours in the office. But this wasn't a normal morning.

Angkor Wat, the temple of Siem Reap, the icon of the nation and commonly known as the 'eighth wonder of the world', rose from the darkness. Black turned to orange. Orange turned to blue. Even though millions flock here every year, you feel, if only for a few minutes, part of an elite group. There aren't many better places on the planet to witness the majestic and awe-inspiring sunrise. If you were in disbelief, the gentle reflection on the surrounding lake is enough to "pinch" you. It's for moments like this that we travel.

As the sun rose into the morning sky, so did the temperature. By 8am the heat had arrived. Walking around the 1km grounds of the Angkor Wat (or "Angkorrr Whattttt?! as the American group found hysterical to repeat repeatedly next to me at sunrise) started to become uncomfortable. Having explored the ruins, it was time to head off to many more temples before the morning was done. If you've seen one temple, you've seen them all - right? Wrong! Whether it was the Bayon (featuring 214 smiling faces), Ta Prohm (the original Tomb Raider temple) or main attraction, Angkor Wat. They're all different and worth exploring if you have the time... And sweat supplies.

Siem Reap isn't just temples however, to me amazement, I had the opportunity to donate blood at a children's hospital. The community relies on tourists to contribute with close to 70% of all donations (roughly 1000) coming from foreign. The needles are clean, I hadn't donated for a good few months so I thought why not! It gave me the chance to meet a couple of girls from Canada, see some different sights and do some good in the process.

Siem Reap, the place that just keeps on giving also gave me a first. Crocodile meat! It was delicious, albeit I'm not sure if the 30p a glass beer helped. Long live Pub Street. Eating it, I did have a flashback of Karl Pilkington talking about getting a taste for toad in China though. It's going to be a hit and miss found to find. If you don't know who Karl is, find 'An Idiot Abroad, and enjoy!