The trip to Siem Reap started with a lift from two of the staff at the guest house to the bus on the back of their motor bikes. They tore through the Phnom Penh rush hour traffic with fearless disregard for any other vehicle on the road. We made it though Nik swears only just, her driver being insane, and both swore we'd never take the motorbike taxi again. The Bus was great AC, air suspension, TV with VCD movies, complimentary breakfast, water and steamed towels! All for only $6. There is a boat from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap which heads up the Tonle Sap River, a very beautiful trip, but costs $25. Sadly over our budget. The bus was quick, comfortable and passed through some beautiful rural areas with seemingly endless vividly green paddy fields. On arriving in Siem Reap we fought off the usual huddle of Tuk Tuk touts at the Bus Station (road side). We knew where we wanted to stay and it was walking distance. The tuk tuk drivers of Siem Reap are unusually persistent because if they can get you in the cab they can try to convince you that they are the best option for transport to and around the temples in Ankor. The Ivy Guest House 2 which had great reviews and looked nice was booked out - the owner an expat from the uk was really helpful and told us where to go to see a couple of other guest houses, he also recommended a Tuk tuk driver Mr Ron who charges fair prices. Mr Ron took us to three guest houses before we deceided on one overlooking the busy markets at the centre of Siem Reap. We walked around Siem Reap and its old French Colonial buildings and did a bit of shopping at the market. The town had a huge amount of tourists (mainly French), and to cater for, a lot of restaurants ant hotels too. The amount of tourists have inflated the price of everything in the area, and as everything was already priced in $ US and not the Cambodian Riel (4000 to the $1) we really went over budget here. Cambodians seem to have adopted the $US for their own, to them it is a safer bet to have their savings in dollars which hold value and not the Riel which in recent years has plummeted dramatically. Continued on 17th Aug (see link above)