So we are off to Cambodia with our intrepid friend Rob, first stop the capital - Phnom Penh which was described as nice and sleazy by a friend of ours due to the number of pesky prostitutes. Well maybe it was the presence of Rachelle or perhaps we didn't look affluent enough but all we attracted were lots of beggars and people offering us rides to grim tourist attractions. Encouraged by our success in other cities we took the Lonely Planet's recommended walking tour which covered 5km and took in attractions such as the royal palace (very nice actually), two shopping complexes and the train station which looked abandoned. The final stop on the tour was happy hour at the Raffles hotel bar, recommended but loses its decadent appeal in contrast to the city's poverty.

So we decided to cut our losses and move north to Siem Reap (literally defeat of the Thais in Khmer), the site of Angkor.First, however, we felt we had to go to one of the killing fields of the Khmer Rouge regime of the 70's and hear about the atrocities first hand. Not a pleasant experience given our guide had helped liberate the camp from its executioners and was very vivid in his descriptions but important to see nonetheless.

After a fairly good bus ride and booking into a very nice hotel our first impressions of Siem Reap were good. The people are friendly and there are lots of amenities for the humble tourist and none of the raw poverty we saw in Phnom Penh. The next morning we hopped in a tuk-tuk and made our way to Angkor Wat, the daddy of all temples. Over the next three days we roamed all over the main temples each of which are as astounding as the last and utterly different. Our favourite was Ta Prohm which has been partially reclaimed by the jungle but Angkor Wat and the Bayon have to get honourable mentions, see the photos for full effect. We even managed to get up at 4:30 for the sunrise (with exception of Rachelle who was ill) and made it back for sunset (just me as Rob was ill by this time). Unfortunately I was next on the list the following day and we were all ill at the same time in a triple room, not a nice place to be.

This meant that we had to abandon our plans of cooking courses and four-wheel driving and while Rachelle recovered quickly Rob went from bad to worse and three days later found himself being given antibiotics through a drip and pumped full of pills by a Cambodian doctor. While this fixed him quickly I doubt it was exactly what he expected on his trip and it stole away the last few days of our Cambodian adventure.Meanwhile, Rachelle managed to keep herself amused getting a four-hands massage (which she described as a good-cop bad-cop massage as one of the ladies was a little over-enthusiastic).On our last night we went into town to see some traditional Khmer aspara dancing avoiding foods like the "temple sandwich' which included hot dog, crab stick, salad, boiled egg and cheese in a pita bread which made us feel ill just thinking about it!

Tune in next time to hear all about our last night in Bangkok, Rob's departure and Singapore - our final Asian experience before Oz.

Lots of love

Antony & Rachelle