Hello everyone,

On Saturday 27th August we left Sihanoukville on the Mekong Express and went on the long long journey to Siem Reap. The drive back up to Phnom Penh was slightly hair raising but the second leg was much better and we got some great views all the way. During our time in Siem Reap we stayed at a guesthouse called 'Haks House' which I would recommend to anyone. It was really nice and cheap and Hak was so so helpful.

The next day we got picked up by our tuk tuk driver to do our 3 day tour of Angkor Wat which we had arranged through Hak. First he took us to buy our passes which involved having our photos taken. Next we were taken around the 'small circuit' which included the temples of Angkor Thom and various others such as the 'Tomb Raider' temple which we never did find out the proper name of! At one of the temples we saw monkeys which was very exciting! Out of all of the many temples we visited over the 3 days I think 'Tomb Raider' was my favourite. It was actually used in and named after the movie which we watched on one of the bus journeys. The most amazing thing about it was the trees which had grown out of the ruins with their roots entwined in the rock. While we were doing our tour we were constantly mobbed by local people, mostly children trying to sell us things which was a bit annoying but some of them were fun to talk to. When we arrived back in Siem Reap we walked back into the main town and went out for dinner.

On the Monday we had another early start ready for our second day at Angkor Wat. This time we were taken around the 'grand circuit' which included the main Angkor Wat temple and lots of other little temples. It's safe to say we were definitely templed-out by the end but we still loved every minute. While we were looking around Angkor Wat it decided to absolutely bucket down so we had to bring out our sexy ponchos. What was good about our tuk tuk tour was that we could go where we wanted to go and stay for however long we wanted at each temple, as opposed to being herded around on a bus. Our driver was really nice too.

On the third day we went slightly further afield out to a waterfall and some other temples. The journey through the countryside and villages was amazing. To get to the waterfall we had to walk up a long rocky path through the jungle which was really nice. When we arrived at the top we saw a beautiful with carvings in the rocks. On the way down one of my flip flops broke (probably not the most appropriate footwear I could have been wearing) so I had to walk with one bare foot, though luckily I found a stall to buy some more from later. Before heading back to the guesthouse we visited a few MORE temples. We were sad to have to say goodbye to our driver, he was so nice.

We left Siem Reap and Cambodia on Wednesday 31st August.

Lots of love,

Jo and Ryan xxx