Hiya,

Well I finally made it across the border into Cambodia, my first stop being Siem Reap. Got on a bus at am on Tuesday (after leaving the ticket at the counter, nearly missing the bus, and then when I arrived I left my luggage on the pavement and went and got in a Tuk Tuk. When I arrived at the border town, I hunted down the only westerner in the bus station and got a Tuk Tuk with him (and his much younger Thai girlfriend) and asked to go to the border. I was so determined that I wasn't going to get scammed, I read up so much that I thought it wouldn't happen to me, but it did. The tuk tuk driver took us to this building and told us it was where the visas were processed. I knew immediately something wasn't right, and asked the Thai woman if she could find out if it was the visa office. They told her it was, and she seemed to think it was all fine, but I wasn't convinced, so I kept asking the men in the office if it was the actual border, and if everyone comes through there. He reassured me it was, and I had no other choice but to just go with it, as we were in the middle of no where, and I couldn't have left to go anywhere else. Anyway, I got my visa from them and they took us in a tuk tuk to what was in fact the actual border, and it turned out if I had got my visa at the actual border, I would have paid less than half what I paid. The rep from the 'visa office' did get me through though, through the hordes of people in my face trying to sell me things and grab my stuff (it was really intimidating and quite frightening), and onto a bus to the taxi station and eventually, into a shared taxi. I shared the taxi with another English girl (And some local randoms) and she had had a much worse experience than I did. She was taken to the same place I was, was charged double for her visa than even I was (I think I paid less because the thai girl was there), was made to pay for her tuk tuk to the border, and when she got there she realized she had been scammed and abandoned the man from the 'visa office' and went the rest alone. She was completely bombarded by people coming out of the border and had her bag taken off her which she would then chase after, and when she caught up the men then demanded money for her bag back. This happened several times to her and she lost a lot of money. When we got to the taxi we saw her bag was open and she had had money (about 50 dollars) taken. We were then dropped just outside Siem Reap and were told the tuk tuk driver would take us to our hotels for free, but when we arrived he tried to demand money and wouldn't let us have our bags until we gave it to him. The girl I was with tried to argue and explain to him that we were told it would be free, but I knew it was a scam, so I got into the tuk tuk, lifted up his arms and moved the suitcases from the tuk tuk and put them into my hotel and made her walk away with me. Phew. Got to Siem reap in one piece but both of us a little shaken. The hotel I had arranged was full, so I ended up in their sister hotel, and I have a really nice room (beautiful double bed, air con, tv), it is a nicer room than some of the 4 and 5 star hotels I have stayed in, but I am paying comparatively quite a bit for it, especially as my room doesn't have a toilet or shower (all the others do) so I have to go to the pool (the hotel has a pool, although it is a postage stamp) and use the (cold) shower and toilet there. I could move but I cant be bothered to move all my stuff now. Siem Reap is a really beautiful little town, with 'Pub street' (that is the actually name of the street) where the westerners for food and drink. You can get a pint of beer for .050cents and a meal for about 3 dollars. Although I randomly ended up in a Korean restaurant outside of town to meet a girl I met last night and ended up paying 9dollars for my meal and 5 dollars for my bill. Ouch. I have spent yesterday going around Angkor with an American girl I randomly met whilst having breakfast in a café, and we pay a tuk tuk driver 13 dollars (for both of us) to take us around Angkor for the whole day and wait outside each of the monuments for us. Today we went again together but this time with another guy that she met, and we all went around together. I got up at 4.45 to get there in time for the sunrise, which comes up over Angkor Wat, and is supposed to be amazing, but it was cloudy so we didn't see the sunrise. So I was there at 5.30am and no sunrise. Never mind, was good to get there early as it was not as hot. It is a really amazing place, quite spooky sometimes and the size of the place is just unreal. You could spend weeks there and still not get round it all, but I can only do two days before I have had enough. We also went up in a tethered ballon, which was really cool, so got to see the landscape in which the Angkor site is based and find each place from up there. I am going to meet them both tonight at the night market and possibly watch a film there (usually about the Khmer Rouge) and get some (cheap I hope) street food. I am going to leave Siem Reap tomorrow, although I have not completely decided where I am going yet, probably to Phnom Penh. I annoyingly cant leave Cambodia until the end of next week because I put the wrong date on my visa. Grr. I might try and go to the embassy in Phnom Penh and see if they will change it, but I have been told I will have no chance. So it looks like I will be stuck in Cambodia for another week, which is a shame because I wanted to get to Vietnam so I know I will get enough time to do Thailand and Malaysia before my flight, but if worse comes to worse I will just have to change my flight. There is a massive difference between Cambodia and Thailand, which is apparent as soon as you cross the border, the landscape is very dry and arid as soon as you pass through the border (which is actually really weird), and it is much much poorer and less developed. The roads are bad, the internet connection (at least here, it has taken me 1 hour, 45mins just to log on grrrrrrr) and the people really hound you here.
Anyway, will try and update you and put the pictures on when I get a better connection in Phnom Penh.
Ps I found out yesterday that I have been using the Asian squat toilets the wrong way round the whole time I have been here, which explains why I have always been weeing over my foot, How I was I supposed to know that you face away from the door?! The other girl I was with didn't know either, so I don't think I am that stupid. Ah the things that cheer up your day. Now I will have wee free feet for the rest of my trip. Yay.