Unfortunately our visit to Siem Reap was hampered by the fact that Aza encountered a nasty bout of what we assumed was food poisoning. What made it worse was the fact that it all began during the 12 hour bus ride from Sihanoukville to Siem Reap...

Without going into details, Aza endured the ride (luckily for the frequent stops)...Though when we arrived it all seemed a bit odd: we had chosen the local bus (cheaper) which dropped us all off approximately 5kms out of town, so on arrival in pitch black darkness we had no choice in terms of negotiating a tuk tuk fare (furthermore we had no idea where we were!). Then we were told that it was 'peak season' and that the town was entirely booked out. Luckily one of us remembered the name of where some friends had stayed previously, and upon insisting the driver it was where we wanted to go, we found rooms for $8 including fan, TV and hot water (boy this was a welcome treat!).

Alas that first night Aza got next to no sleep (perhaps the words 'projectile' and 'double ended' are enough to summarise why) and then spent the next entire day recovering and attempting to rehydrate (not the easiest when nothing would stay in). Bit by bit the colour returned, then the sense of humour! Put it this way he wouldn't wish it upon anyone. Thank god for antibiotics!!

So in between attempts at nursing and regular checkups, I spent those 24 hours walking around town...it turned out to be a lovely wee place, again with a very colonial feel. Prior to arriving in town Aza and I had planned to spend one day in an orphanage/school and then the second exploring Angkor Wat. Alas given Aza's predicament the former did not happen...nonetheless it was very refreshing to see that the town was full of initiatives aimed at helping less-privileged children in society (such as plenty of opportunities for long-term volunteering as well as centres which trained people in skills such as sculpture, weaving etc...). Andy had joined us from Sihanoukville, so together we walked around town with a gelato in one hand whilst checking out the local market - nice, though eventually markets all seem the same! Although there was on funny part: the jewelry section, in which as you walked through all the booths would turn on their super-bright lights only for them to turn them off as soon as you walked past. Apparently electricity is comparatively very expensive in this country!

Furthermore this town seemed to be swarming with tourists (naturally because of the Angkor Wat) so it wasn't easy to escape the masses. Had we had more time, it would have been cool to hop on a bike and peddle around....Not wanting to stray too far from Aza recovering, we spent the remainder of the day hanging out at the guest house playing pool with the owners...

Anyways we were determined to make the most of what would be our only day at Angkor Wat so we arranged to be picked up at 5am to see the sunrise above the mighty temple...Although not a 100% Aza was determined not to miss this either. Once on the road it became clear that a sunrise was also on the agenda of hundreds, possibly more tourists haha. Nonetheless as people swarmed onto the grounds of the palace in pitch blackness we managed to negotiate our way to a very unpopulated patch of earth which was right infront of a pond which upon the sunrise provided great reflections...And we were not disappointed. Despite the masses of people, it remained very quiet as colours started to spread across the sky and gradually the silhouette of the temple revealed itself. Despite not being the best of sunrises it sure was incredibly impressive and we were in awe! This temple (built 1100-1175) is arguably the largest in terms of religious structures in the world!

Once it was light enough, we spent the next couple of hours strolling around the structure, admiring all the incredibly detailed carvings as well as the temple in its entirety. There was a lot to see - the grounds are massive, including the moat which in itself is 200m wide, around the entire landscape. We then stayed put to enjoy a tasty breakfast. By this stage it appeared that the masses had moved on so we enjoyed the relative quietness....

With the big temple ticked off, there were only several hundred more of these to go (this is actually true, the area is swarming with temples as each new king was determined to build his own one even if it meant moving the town around...naturally many remain somewhat undiscovered whilst others have fallen into complete ruins). So out of the hundreds remaining we saw a fair few others (and I'm ashamed to say I can't remember all the names). First off was the Bayon with all its faces carved high into the rock, staring down at us. This had seriously fallen into disrepair though it was still very cool to explore. We were shocked that we were able to walk where we desired, literally climbing all over these historical artifacts.

Within the same area (walking distance) there were several other cool things to explore such as the Elephant terrace, and another temple which today is otherwise known as the biggest man-made puzzle in the world. Back in the '60s a group began to restore the temple, and this meant literally pulling it apart then putting it all back together....unfortunately when the Khmer Rouge came along (Pol Pot regime) all the artifacts were destroyed. There were bricks all over the ground, so it is anyone's guess how to put it all back together...

Our tuk tuk driver then drove us around to a few more places...of highlight was the temple in which Tomb Raider was filmed (name?). This place was very impressive, and a lot of fun to explore. Here, nature has literally overpowered the temple such that trees and roots are growing throughout the entire grounds. It is as if the temple is literally being swallowed up. In order to get good photos however one had to be patient and wait for the masses to move when they were blocking pictures (usually there were several of us waiting patiently at the sides, for others not to realise that we wanted a photo without anyone in it = a good exercise in tolerance!). This place was well covered as well (forest) so it helped cool things down a bit. Another temple was virtually a vertical climb up very very steep and high steps. Again we were free to wander around the entire structure (at one's own risk!)...We briefly saw a few others, however by now I am ashamed to say that we began thinking that one temple was just like the next...

With Andy in tow (ozzie) we were quickly reminded that the cricket was on (!), and with the boys outnumbering the girls, we were back in town early afternoon for a late lunch...and exhaustered!

After a few hours relaxing we all headed out to town again - we went straight to the night market where we enjoyed a pedicure/massage 'fish' style....this was where we placed our feet in a pond where tiny little fish swarmed over them whilst nibbling away at dead skin. It certainly required getting used to!! Within seconds it was very apparent that the fish preferred eating from the boys feet....hmm I wonder why? Afterwards we enjoyed a street meal of fried noodles (for $1US!!) washed down with a cold beer. As it as still early we then headed to the infamous 'Angkor Wat? Bar' which certainly lived up to its name with very very potent buckets....you could say that Aza was back in form after this night!! A good night regardless.

Next day (monday 22nd dec) we had the morning to kill (exchanging traveller's cheques plus more street food) before heading out to the airport to fly to Luang Prabang, Laos! We had bought our air tickets for these way back in HCMC when we first landed at a horribly high price (we won't disclose) only for Andy to decide on the day that he wanted to fly as well...you guessed it, his ticket cost A LOT less. Furthermore he got a direct flight, whereas we went via Pakse (southern Laos) despite the fact that we had been assured otherwise...So how was Laos Airlines you may ask? Interesting (a very dodgy landing where people actually breathed a sigh in relief) yet the service was top notch! We were even served food which is a luxury compared to Air NZ and Jet Star haha.

Thoughts on leaving Cambodia? Loved the place; wish we could have stayed longer and got more amongst the local side of things; loved Angkor Wat and Sihanoukville; appalled by the atrocities it has suffered as well are the way too many amputees walking around; ashamed that we never adjusted to the local currency (we keep comparing it to the Vietnamese dong!)...10 days is not enough, we will someday return!!