DAY 62 - BANGKOK/BORDER/SIEM REAP

And so the tour began. We departed on a mini-bus at around 7am and arrived at the border after a couple of hours or so, briskly purchasing our visas and making our way through to Cambodia, the fourth country of our trip. From there, we got back on the bus and made our way to Siem Reap, our first destination. It was clear, as we journeyed along Cambodia's surprisingly well maintained and clean roads, that the group were going to get along well, and we relished the opportunity to chill with the pretty much the same people for the entire length of the tour, something we had thus far been unable to do. Upon arriving at the very acceptable Victory Hotel, we rested for a while, got a snack, and spent some time on the internet before heading out for dinner in the evening. I was surpised with Cambodia's tourist infastructure, Siem Reap boasting huge luxury hotels as well as loads of great restaurants and bars, many aimed at the high-end market. It seemed that, despite hard times in the last few decades, Cambodia's tourist market had boomed and allowed the cities to develop a real tourist-friendly feel about them. The food at the restaurant was fantastic, some of the best we've had all trip, a league above anything we had in India. A culture and dance show played out on a stage as we ate, and the atmosphere was good - a quality start to our journey through Cambodia. As the evening closed, James and I decided to stay up until 2am in order to catch the England game, so stocked up on energy drinks as we walked back to the hotel. After the final whistle, we managed to grab about 2 hours sleep before getting up at around 6am in order to watch the sun rise over Angkor Wat the next morning.