My trip started off with a never ending journey - getting to Bangkok took about 20 hours all together and by the time we arrived we weren't even sure what day it was anymore. Our flight to Cambodia wasn't for another 24 hours so we spent Monday night in a hotel in the centre of Bangkok.

On Tuesday morning we visited a monk my dad used to work with and then hired a long boat for an hour and a half. It was a great way to see a bit of the city, but probably the most exciting moment was when we saw a monitor lizard climbing out of the water. These are literally huge (they look more like small crocodiles than lizards) and we saw several around the city. After lunch we headed to the airport for our flight to Siem Reap.

Wednesday was our first full day in Cambodia and we spent it exploring Angkor Wot and parts of Angkor Thom in 35 degree heat. I'd seen photos of these places many times before (and now have a ridiculous number of my own) but nothing quite captures what it's like to be there.

The next day we decided to get up at 4.30 to see the sunrise. Instead of going to Angkor Wat, where all of the tourists would be headed, we went to watch by a manmade lake. Just as we were giving up after waiting around for a disappointing hour of staring at a hazy horizon, the sun appeared from behind some trees, huge and blood red. It wasn't quite the atmospheric morning we'd imagined but was still worth the trip.

We then went to see some of the smaller temples - a truly magical experience at seven in the morning when no one else was around. Within minutes of entering I had lost all five members of my family and I spent a good half an hour wandering around by myself.

On Friday we did the longer trip to a further away temple and to see some underwater carvings. This involved a 20 minute uphill trek through the jungle. My family is completely incapable of walking at the same speed, so I was quickly by myself again. However this was probably the best way to do the walk; alone and listening to the sounds of the jungle.

Since we'd used up all three days of our passes to see the temples we spent our last day by the pool in our hotel, which is probably something we all needed. I'm currently trying to make the most of the nice hotels and restaurant meals as when I leave my parents in two weeks time I probably won't be seeing many more for the rest of my trip. We'll be checking out of this hotel tomorrow morning after a wonderful five days in Cambodia - next stop Laos!