After our last night in Sihanoukville we were up early to board our coach to Siem Reap. There isnt a main road direct from Sihanoukville to Siem Reap so we had to go via Phnom Penh.. We thought our luck was in on boarding, we'd been sold the first two seats at the front of the coach with plenty of leg room to stretch out. We were sat right near the tv at the front of the coach which was showing bizarre Cambodian pop videos with funny love stories involving drunk men and their spouses beating them, odd. As well as that we were subjected to two vintage Mr Bean episodes, apparently out here he's still classed as amusing. So glad i had my Ipod :)

All was good with the journey til we got to Phnom Penh 4 hours later and had to switch coaches. After waiting to get on the next coach we sat there for what seemed like a year while we waited for another coach to arrive and swap its passengers onto ours. By this time our coach was jam packed and we ended up cramped with not a great deal of leg room for the next 8 or 9 hours until we arrived in Siem Reap. The icing on the cake was that they played the same Mr Bean episodes on this coach too, whoop de doo.. When we arrived it was about 8pm and as we'd spent the whole day travelling in a sardine tin we were ready to eat and call it a night.

We'd already arranged a free transfer on paying for the coach ticket so we didnt have to mess about with all the competing tuk tuk mafia. We hopped in our tuk tuk and headed into town. We told the driver we wanted somewhere cheap and were dropped at a nice place where we were shown to a 5$ room. There were gaps in the mosquito barriers and as we were already nursing a good few bites between us (they seem to like Ciaras skin more than mine) we told the guy that we'd go elsewhere. As he didnt want to lose the business we ended up with a much better. cleaner room for an extra $ a night, win! It's probably one of the nicest rooms we've stayed in so far and it had a TV too! 50 channels and only 2 or 3 in English, better than nothing i guess :)

We headed to a local restaurant as it was dark and we didnt have a clue where we were in relation to anywhere. I ordered spicy fried beef and made the mistake of telling them i wanted it good and spicy. 15 minutes later a bunch of locals on the next table were giggling at me panting, sweating and trying to douse the inferno with beer. I had to pick out the sliced chillis and leave half of it, what a puff, lol. Ciara ordered boneless chicken which was brought out with bones intact, she wasnt too happy and left most of hers too. I guess its the luck of the draw when you eat somewhere new as to whether you like it or not.

The next morning we were up and about early to go and see Angkor Wat, something we've both been really looking forward to all along. We negotiated a price to get us there and back with Sock, who would be our tuk tuk driver for the next 3 days. As Angkor Wat is so big and is surrounded by lots of other wats and temple sites with miles between them, the tuk tuk drivers will drive you between certain sites and wait around before taking you back. We opted just to go to Angkor Wat and back for the day knowing that it would take a while to walk round it. On the way we bought a 3 day pass for all the sites for 40$, well worth it..

Sock dropped us there and we told him to pick us up at 5.30pm. Immediately I was gobsmacked at the size of the site, its epic! It's surrounded by a huge moat which you cross over a walkway which then leads you into the main garden type area before you get to the actual wat itself. I havent taken so many pictures in one day! I figured it best to get too many than not enough as I may not come back again. Dont worry, I wont be putting all of em up as it can all look the same to someone looking at them on a pc, i'll stick just the best ones up.. I managed to get a lot of shots without people in which i thought would have spoiled the effect of the pictures, only trouble was, I had to wait a while til people were out of the way!

Angkor Wat was built for King Suryavarman II in the early 12th century as his state temple and capital city. Apparently it took 10,000 men 40 years to complete it and you can still see the original holes in the blocks of stone that were bored in to transport them to the site from Mount Kulen which was about 25 miles away. The blocks were transported by elephants and rafts. Parts of the site are under construction as its a national heritage site and maintained and restored pretty much constantly i'd imagine looking at the size of it. All over the place theres a lot of new sandstone mixed in with the older original stone. There's dozens of walkways and other buildings within the site, some of which are closed to the public for safety reasons but most are accessible. A good few of the original swimming pools that the monks used to swim in are still there too, they look straight out of a Tomb Raider game. Just talking about the place doesnt give a good enough impression of just how huge it is, you'd have to see it for yourself, its awesome.

We finshed walking round the site earlier than expected and killed some time in a nearby restaurant where i fed scraps of chicken from my lunch to a cute but slightly scabby little puppy. We've seen so many stray dogs out here that would make such great pets after a bath and a few shots, some are more mangy than others and its only the clean ones that get petted, sorry you canine mingers!

We hung about for a bit and waited for Sock. I dont know if thats how you spell his name but its the way i'd spell it and it makes me laugh. He showed up early which we were grateful for as we were pouring sweat from traipsing round in the sun. Cambodia is way hotter than Laos or Thailand, i have no idea why but the heat is brutal! The breeze on the journey back sorted us out though. We got dropped in town and agreed with Sock that he'd pick us up the next day to go and view the other sites, 11$ between us for a driver for the day is a pretty good deal. We ate at a cheap restauarant as Ciara and I have been overspending and trying desperately to level the budget out for weeks. We still have months of travelling left (sorry to rub it in) and dont want to have to face to world of 9 to 5 sooner than expected because we blew our budget! So noodles with chicken was our meal for the night.

On initially passing through Siem Reap from the bus station when we arrived it was quite late and dark so we didnt see just how many great bars and restaurants it has to offer. One of the streets, Pub Street (i'd love to live on it just to say i live on Pub Street, ha ha) has loads of bars all trying to compete with each other for business. As the season is just picking up now they are all desparate to get you through their doors. As a result, a draught beer at happy hour, which is open til close in 90% of the places, is 50 cents a glass, about 30p. I'd died and gone to heaven. For that price you'd expect bog standard flat beer like you'd get in the Aardvark in Coventry (sorry Aardvark but your beer is s***e!) but it was anything but. It was crisp and refreshing as it should be. Ciara isnt a big fan of beer so had just one or two and unluckily for her had to drink cocktails at a higher price instead.

Next day Sock picked us up and took us to the first of the sites at Angkor Thom, Bayon, which was equally as good as Angkor Wat despite a lot of the stonework lying in piles with moss growing over them. You walk up some steps to the top where there are many carved stone faces looking out into the distance. They're all in surprisingly good condition considering they've been battered with 800 odd years of weather. There were a lot of tourists at the top so once again I had to pick my shots carefully for effect. There was a Buddhist shrine in this little stone room and a guy gestered me in and handed me an incense stick and said to light it. I thought nothing of it til he asked me for some money. I thought, hang on, you've given me a stick for me to light and i've unnassumingly thought nothing of it and now you're trying to sting me! I dont think so.. He didnt look too chuffed when i said i didnt have anything to give him. He'll get over it..

We walked around Bayon for a while longer, I managed to get a couple of great shots of some monks that were milling around the place, their orange robes go really well against the backdrop of the dark grey stone, nice contrast. We left Bayon met Sock on the other side, jumped in and headed for the next site, Baphoun and the Terrace of the Elephants. Once again, lots more pictures and much of the same. Theres a good few lakes surrounding the site which are beautiful as well as some ancient swimming pools. On our way back to the road I climbed one of the smaller temples Phimeanakas, only halfway up mind as one of the stone pieces i stood on wobbled a bit too much for my liking and as there were people behind me, I didnt want to be responsible for any squashed heads, broken limbs or fatalities so got back down instead. It started raining pretty heavily at this point and just as we were getting a bit wet Sock came hurtling up to us wearing his poncho with the raincovers down over the tuk tuk and we hopped in.

After stopping for lunch we went on to Preah Kahn, a smaller site that was built and dedicated to King Jayavarman VII's father. The sites entrance is awesome with lots of carvings of demons and guardians as well as what looks like a tug of war between ancient warriors and demons on either side as you walk in. Its also surrounded by a moat covered in algie. We checked out Ta Keo afterward where we shown round by a guy in a Police shirt. We hadnt asked for a tour guide as we had wanted to explore under our own steam but he took it upon himself to show us around telling us the history as he went. Nice, I thought, but whats the catch?.. Apparently when Ta Keo was built there were hundreds of gems stuck into the walls of the main chamber but over the years they've been stolen. The dancing halls where girls used to dance for the king and his associates is all still intact too. Our 'guide' eventually finished his tour and as i'd suspected, asked for some money for his wife and four children. I knew it was coming so was prepared to tell him we didnt have any money. After all, it was his decision to lead us round. At this point, we'd lost our bearings being led around and spent 15-20 mins trying to find our way out in the heat. Eventually, we found the right path, met Sock and on we went.

Next we headed over to Ta Prohm, built for the kings mother. This was one of my favourite sites due to the absolutely massive trees which have grown and forced their way through the temples and the stone work over the last few hundred years, spilling their roots over as they go. For want of a better word, they look really trippy. Ta Prohm is also where the majority of the first Tomb Raider movie was shot, some of the other sites provided some of the exterior shots but the interior shots were shot at Ta Prohm. A lot of the site was under construction too which kind of spoiled things a little seeing tarpaulins and cranes dotted around but better that than letting the place fall into disrepair.

Lastly we headed over to Banteay Kdei and had a look around. Not as big as some of the other sites but was good all the same. Right opposite is a massive lake so we took a moment to rest up and chill out while watching some local kids fish. One of them caught what i thought would have been a massive fish due to how sheerly chuffed he looked! It was a tiddler but a catch all the same.

A few people we'd previously spoken to had said that you could do all the wats/temples in one day and would only need a one day pass. Glad we didnt listen to them as I think if you were to pack it all in to one day and rush your way around them you wouldnt appreciate it all as much as spreading it out and taking the views in at your own pace. So glad we did two days at the sites.

It was getting late so we got Sock to take us back and paid him for the days driving along with a tip. That night we ate another local restaurant, I had a Khmer curry and Ciara a chicken Amok. Just as we were tucking in an Asian-American guy called Hong, who was on his own, introduced himself and started talking to us. Either he didnt see that we were eating or he just didnt care cos he spent the next fifteen minutes chatting away to us, half pissed, told us that he came from Colorado about 6 times, said the word AWESOME, but more like 'AAAOOOWWEEEESSOME' about 20 times before he shuffled off to stroke the cat at the bar on his own. Nice enough bloke but che ould do with letting people get on with their meals, ha ha. After that, we went back to the room with a couple of cold beers from the minimart and watched karate guys break concrete blocks with their elbows on TV.

The next day, in the morning, we bumped into Sock while we were walking to the post office, he was on his way back to his spot by the market and gave us a lift, stopping at the post office on the way. "For you, free! What a diamond bloke, some would have hustled us for a small amount to get where we needed to go but he didnt. We had a wander round the market and just chilled out really, went for a couple of drinks on pub street before heading back and getting an early one.

On the next day, Thursday as Ciara tells me, we were up and about at 6.30am, way too early when you're on holiday, to go horse riding. I wasnt overly keen to go but Ciara had been looking forward to it all along so i went along too. We got to the ranch and I was given the calmest horse they had due to Ciara letting them know when she emailed the place that I havent ridden a horse for well over 20 years. Ciara had decided on a 3 hour ride which started off ok, nice and easy, steer the nag to the left, to the right, a little kick to get him going and pull the reins to stop him. It was when our guide, Lucy, decided we'd try a little trot that the trouble started. I couldnt get the rhythm right as the horse was moving and was getting a sore arse in the process as well as achy legs from trying to stand up at the crucial moment to get the rhythm. My horse also kept stopping to eat everything in sight, nearly pulling me over his head as he did, ha ha. Later we tried a canter which I felt was too fast (my horse had fallen over onto his front legs within 5 mins of leaving the ranch so i wanst filled with confidence in him) and asked to slow down and just walk as I didnt want to end up as another Christopher Reeve. So pretty much, we just trotted back to the ranch after that.

I think Ciara would have enjoyed it more without me along as I think I just slowed her down, horse riding isnt really my thing. Needless to say, my legs and arse ached for the day and into the next. After the ride, we went for a much needed last beer and one final fish Amok on pub street where afterwards i dived into a bookshop and picked up a book on crystal meth, some nice bedtime reading.

The following morning we left for the Cambodian border on our way to Bangkok. Our coach for this journey was dead cramped and not the most comfortable. I finished a book i'd been reading about the Khmer Rouge and not long after, we arrived at the border where we were pleased to find that we werent charged a visa fee to re-enter Thailand. Only snag is, we only got a 15 day stamp and we really needed a 30 day stamp. As a result we've had to rethink our plans and are going to spend more time in Malaysia instead. Thailand is nice and all but there's more to see.. We were both a bit gutted to be leaving Cambodia as it's probably been our favourite country so far, each has been great in its own way but Cambodia is for a lot of reasons the place i've enjoyed the most, not as commercial as Thailand, cheaper beer, great food and good people.

After messing around at the border - the guy in our guesthouse sold us the coach tickets but we suspect that he forgot to call and tell the coach company that we were on the coach, therefore we didnt have a place on the coach even though we had tickets in our hand and had to wait for another minibus to take us to Bangkok.. 5 hours later we arrived, got a room for 350 baht, dumped our bags had some food and another wander down Khao San Road where we foolishly spent a bit - Ciara bought a dress and a couple of tops and me a couple of tshirts. I defy anyone to walk down that road with money in their pockets and not buy anything! Theres's so much on offer at good prices. As well as my evening meal, i polished off some Pad Thai from one of the street stalls, sod the restaurants, street food is the one! On our way back to the hotel we watched a weird half drunk streetperformer doing some of the lamest, feeblest bodypopping i've ever seen. I dropped a coin into his cup anyway.

The next morning, we had breakfast in Burger King as we'd been given some vouchers and got our stuff organised before jumping in a cab to take us to Bangkok airport where we flew to Krabi, a bargain flight that we booked nice and cheaply along with a return ticket to Bali for a few weeks time.

We landed in Krabi after an hours flight and hopped on the transfer bus into Krabi town. We wanted to head for Ao Nang beach but having not been there before, didnt really know exactly where we were going. I was sure that the tour guy said we were at Ao Nang beach and we hopped off. Turns out, we werent, we were at the next beach along. We hopped on a boat to Railay beach as a lot of other people were headed that way so we figured it must be good. On landing on the beach we realised that it was just resorts at 20 quid a night each, way too much for our skinflint budget so we ended up paying for another boat to take us round the corner to another little cove, Ao Ton Sai, popular with climbers. We found a little bamboo bungalow with a mosquito net for 250 baht and checked in. I later realised my mistake on getting off at the wrong beach and Ciara wasnt best pleased, sorry!

By this point we'd spent a lot on boat taxis and transfer buses, were already over budget anyway so we had a cheap meal with a couple of beers whilst we watched drunk people juggle firesticks at one of the bars. We later booked a boat with the lady at our bungalows to Koh Phi Phi for the next day, in the process which we later found out, we got stung for as they were the only place on the cove selling tickets! 450 baht!(we got back from Koh Phi Phi for 250 baht)

Next morning, we got told we could walk round to Railay at low tide and save ourselves the money on a boat taxi. We had to walk over rocks, some of which were quite slippy. Not easy when you're wearing 2 backpacks! Unfortunately, Ciara wasnt feeling too great and slipped and fell right onto her front, bashed her head slightly and cut her legs and grazed her arms in the process. I dashed over and tried to get her bags off her but it was like trying to get a tortoise to flip itself over as she had one on either side. If it hadnt been for the bag she was wearing on her front, her injuries may have been worse.. Even thought she was in a bit of pain we carried on, I took one of the bags and carried it for her as well as my two and we made it round in one piece.

We waited a while for the ferry to Koh Phi Phi, boarded it and then chilled out for the 1.5 hour trip over there.

I'll leave the blog here as we've spent 4 hours sat here typing it all up and you have enough to read already! Besides, it's beer o' clock!