We woke up, got ready and took our backpacks down to reception to await our bus to Siem Reap. We checked out and waited outside when we were picked up by a tuktuk. He drove for around 2 minutes and dropped us off to get on our minibus there was a big local bus that we decided not to get as it would take a lot longer to get to Siem reap. When we boarded the mini bus, we were the only foreigners on board. Once all the luggage was loaded into the back and all the passengers were on, we began our journey; with Cambodian pop music playing.
I decided to take a nap for the beginning of the journey and as my head was resting by the window i noticed a foot about 30cm from my face; thank god it was a perfectly manicured foot otherwise i would not have been happy. We stopped off twice during the journey, once to fill up on petrol (and crisps and a can of soursop juice as it's my favourite) and the second time was for the chance to have a quick sit down meal, Dan ordered steamed rice as he was hungry. When we arrived in Siem Reap it seemed very touristy. There's around three streets named "pub street" which have row after row of restaurants and bars offering ostrich and crocodile burger. It looks like a more manic version of pai mixed with the night markets and bustle of chiang mai. When we got off the minibus we were immediately greeted by a tuktuk driver offering us a lift. We had arranged with "11 happy backpackers guesthouse" to stay at their sister guesthouse and that someone would collect us with our names on a piece of paper. No one came and so we were contemplating whether to walk around to find a guesthouse until the tuktuk driver said there aren't any in the immediate area so we got in with him and he tried to find the guesthouse that was supposed to pick us up- "Golden Fish". After driving he couldn't find it and said it used to be on the street but isn't there anymore so he took us to "Garden Village" guest house, which was in the lonely planet.
When we arrived we saw a poster of the guesthouse in Pnom penh and it turns out i had misunderstood the woman when she told me the name of the guesthouse. I somehow got golden fish from garden village, but, she did have a strong accent and buck teeth on my defence. We paid for two nights in a khmer style room with shared bathroom and twin beds for $6 a night. When we got to the room it was like bamboo shacks with thin, wobbly sheets of wood separating each room. We dumped off our backpacks and headed back down to arrange a plan with the tuktuk driver for tomorrow.
We arranged to be picked up at 05:00 from the guesthouse to get to Angkor Wat for sunrise. We headed back to the room and chilled out for a bit, the guesthouse also has a rooftop bar selling drinks and food but it's not as nice or big as the one in 11 happy backpackers. We then went out to explore the town. We went for lunch in a place on pub street and got burgers and a shake. We also went to a bookshop to exchange our books for new ones. I was looking for the second book to "bared to you" but they didn't have it, I can't remember what the one i got was called but it had been nominated for awards which is always a good start. As it was a very hot day we decided to head back to the guesthouse to chill out and have a shower. I was contemplating buying a dress i had seen at the market but i need new chang shorts as i like to call them, decisions!
Later that evening we decided to browse the night market as Dan wants to buy a "chang" sleeveless shirt. We couldn't find any but i spotted some potential shorts and dresses. After walking around the town we headed back to the room with snacks from the mini mart. We got some small biscuits which taste like kaak from egypt and some bacon bread thing. Both were enjoyable. I set my alarm for 4:30am and we got to bed.