Monday we were picked up from our hostel at 7:30 for our journey to Cambodia. Our bus stopped at a sort of station full of tourist and told us this is where we got our visa, it seemed very dodgy however this is where everyone was getting theirs so we jumped on the band wagon, and they worked so we can't complain. We were taken along to the border and told to pay £4 each to get a 'VIP' visa, they literally gave our money to the police and we were pushed to the front of the queue. We hopped on another bus for a extra 3 hour journey to Siem Reap. We checked into our accommodation and got friendly with Lisa the Canadian co-owner instantly, she was so friendly and gave us loads of tips and advise. After ditching our bags in our room we headed out for dinner at a German restaurant for our fix of Western food then went to bed.

Tuesday we had a bit of a lie in and decided that we would have a quieter day today mooching around the local area. We started with a visit to Artisan Angkor, a Cambodian company which showcases Khmer workmanship of silk fabrics and garments, stone and wood carving, lacquer ware, polychrome products, silver plating and silk painting. The company was originally set up from an educational project to help young rural people find work near their home village, providing professional skills to communities with limited educational opportunities. Artisans Angkor offer good working conditions and social advantages to its employees, it has now opened 42 workshops in Siem Reap province and it provides employment to over 1300 people, including more than 900 artisans. Whilst at the Artisan workshop we were guided round and able to watch the artisans at work, painting, carving, chipping etc. It was great actually watching what work goes into all the souvenirs we have been seeing in the shops. As part of the tour we were scheduled onto a free trip to the silk farm however it wasnt until 13:30 so we popped into town and had a wonder around central market and we were obviously encouraged to buy some souvenirs now that we know how they have been made. At 13:30 we headed off to the silk farm which was a short drive out of town, our guide began by showing us all the mulberry trees they grow to feed the silk worms, Laura was disappointed that no handbags grew on the trees. We were taken into a hut where we were firstly shown the moths and the eggs that they lay, after we were shown the silk worms which were busy chomping away on their mulberry leaves getting nice and fat, then we were shown the worms busy making their cocoons. After we headed off to a sort of factory room where we were shown the cocoons drying out after they had been boiled to kill the worms inside, the ladies were then using a device to unwind the silk from the cocoons. We followed each step round to the end until there was a completed scarf, it was fascinating, no wonder silk is so expensive after they have put so much work into it, Lauras brain was boggled watching them weieve the threads to make the scarf patterns! None of the machines were electric either, the women were all busy pushing peddles with their hands and feet on a wooden frame. After we were dropped back we found a nice Indian restaurant for dinner, then we headed back to our accommodation and had a nice chin wag with Lisa before heading to bed.

Wednesday we were up early and on our tuktuk by 8:00 to head to Bang Mealea an ancient temple believed to have been built in 12th century along with Angkor Wat although it is 70 kilometres away. Is was a 2 hours tuktuk ride which in that time of morning was very chilly... There was dew on the grass! The driver took us through the countryside full of farmlands which was beautiful, Cambodia definitely is the most poor country we have visited in Asia with lots of the farmhouses just wooden shacks and children washing under water pumps outside, reminded us a lot of Africa. The temple was very impressive and popular for being the one that has not been restored yet so you can climb all over it rather than look from behind some rope however they was about 3 coaches full of Chinese tourists and they were a nightmare, pushing and shoving, standing in your photos, so we didn't stay too long. We enjoyed our tuktuk ride back through the country and by this time a lot of the children were out on their bycycles going to/from school, they love to wave at the tourists as they drive by! The roads are so bumpy and dusty, when Laura washed her hair later on the water was brown!! We had a few hours to rest before hopping back onto the tuktuk to head to Pre Rup to watch sunset which was pretty. Pre Rup is a temple, part of the Angkor collection, it is believed that funerals were conducted at the temple. Our driver dropped us at pub Street so we could get some dinner, we went to a Cambodian restaurant to try the local Khmer curry which was tasty. We headed back to our accommodation, had another chinwag with Lisa who had been so hopeful and managed to send off our passports to get our Vietnam visas for us!

Thursday we were up at 4:00 to head to Angkor Wat for sunrise, we got to the temple about an hour before so managed to get a good seat for some photos. As the sun got closer to the horizon the early morning sky lit up beautifully behind the temple creating a reflection in the pond infront of us. As the crowd got thicker we decided to head into the temple whilst it was quite for a look around. Angkor Wat was built in early 12th century and is the largest religious monument in the world. After our tuk tuk dropped us at Bayon, the last Angkor collection temple to be built in the early 13th century, we both liked this temple as it has 216 gigantic faces carved into many towers of the temple. We walked around the area to view other temples nearby before joining back up with our tuk tuk driver who drove us to Ta Prohm, built late 12th century it is the most visited temple in the Angkor collection as it has been left in much the same condition in which it was found the photogenic and atmospheric combination of trees growing out of the ruins and the jungle surroundings, it is also famous as it was used as the film set for Tomb Raider. We were dropped back to our accommodation around 11:00 and had to watch Tomb Raider knowing we had been where it was filmed! Later we went out for dinner and ate at Red Piano which became well known after Angelina Jolie ate there and they named her favourite drink 'Tomb raider'. After we had a mooch around the night market before heading back for bed.

Friday we had a nice lie in then spent the morning updating our journals, blogs, writing postcards, replying to emails. We headed out for dinner later on and had another Indian, our favourite! We had another mooch around the markets and bought badges to sow onto our backpacks, a flag for each country we visited. We headed back to our accommodation and did some sowing whilst waiting for our bus to pick us up, we caught the midnight bus for a 7 hour journey to Phnom Penh.