I arrived in Siam Reap to blistering heat apparently it was the hottest day so far at 35 degrees quite a difference from the last couple of weeks and got into my taxi to take me to my hostel Mad Monkey!! After checking in and putting my stuff in my room I headed straight to the rooftop bar for my welcome drink and set about making some new people. That night I went for dinner with some people I had met - Aj, Kelsey, Ross, Jake, Dean and Darren - where I tried my first Cambodian dish of Khmer Amok which was gorgeous its basically a coconut based curry with chicken really big and only $3.50. Whilst we were out I arranged to tag along with Jake and Dean the next day to the Angkor temple complex however this meant being picked up at 5am to try and catch the sunrise so off to bed for an early night I went.

Bright and early the next morning me and Jake met downstairs to wait for our tuk tuk however Dean was nowhere to be seen, we later found out he had had a big night and not yet returned, so we set off to the temples. As we arrived we were greeted by hundreds of people with the same sunrise idea in mind and set about finding a good spot for a photo however we after waiting past sunrise the photo opp never came as there were was major cloud coverage gutted!! We got chatting to a group of people there - Jay, Carl and Hayley - as the sun decided to peek over the clouds for a quick photo opp and everyone took the oppurtunity to take as many photos as poss. The crowds then dispersed and we started to wander around the first temple Angkor Wat which was spectacular and also infested with very pesty monkeys attacking all the tourists :) We then were taken to Angkor Thom by our tuk tuk driver which is another temple with loads of intricately carved faces into the temple itself and we got blessed by a Buddhist whilst there which involved lighting some insence and getting a yellow string braclet tied around our wrists whilst a prayer was said and you have to keep this on until it falls off naturally otherwise bad luck will come your way. The last place we visited was the temple where Tomb Raider was filmed which was pretty impressive as through the years trees have grown through the temples making the look very mystical. After the temples had been visited it was only 1pm however we were knackered from our early morning so headed back to the hostel for a well deserved full english for lunch. That night was another early one due to the very early morning.

Although the next few days in Siam Reap didnt involve and sight seeing I did meet the most fantastic group of people which still included Ross, Darren, Dean and Jake however we were also joined by Flo, James, Graham, Johnny and his friend (really sorry cant remember name oops) Ours days would begin by meeting in the bar upstairs with the ever cheery Johnny greeting us with a morning hug whilst he was sipping a G and T followed by lots of lazing around with even more laughing and drinking cocktails!! Flo also spent some time making us all matching customised Adidas t-shirts as I swiftly joined in and jumped on the band wagon to make my own. The nights followed by much the same drinking and also lots of beer pong or dancing on the bar. As I previously said Gangnam style became the Thai theme tune then Say Hey by Micheal Franti was deffo the song that will forever remind me of Cambodia. After warming up at the hostel bar we moved on to Angkow What?? bar for further drinking of bucket cocktails and some rather questionable dancing (you know who you are) all in all probably one of the funniest groups and weeks I have had.

I am now moving on to Phnom Penh which I am really looking forwad to as there is a lot of Cambodian history to learn about there and I have already bought a couple of books to learn a bit more before I go. Even so I have had an amazing time in Siem Reap and will DEFINITELY be returning thank you to everyone who made that week one to remember.

Next stop Phnom Penh..................