There were two G Adventures groups running in parallel since Hanoi, each with their own tour guide. Some of the people in the other group seemed to have a permanent sour look on their face, so we nicknamed "The Grumpy Group". We were the "Party Group" 😁.

The trip to Siem Reap was a long bus ride with the Grumpy Group on one side and our group on the other. Furtunately the coach was a big one so the seats were comfortable and the aircon very good.

We stopped at a place where a few roadside vendors were selling a variety of insect delicacies - grasshoppers, tarantula spiders, water cockroach, centipedes and scorpions. Apparently, they were all marinated in a variety of savory sauces so they were a crunchy snack. We opted out, but a few were brave and tried them out. Maddie ate a whole spider! There is a history with this sort of food that dates back beyond the hard times of the Khymer Rouge, where insects are often the most available source of nutrients to poor farmers.

We stopped for lunch at a place that overlooked a man-made lake, complete with grazing water buffalo. There were coloured bags hanging along the edge of the thatched roofs that were supposed to repel the bugs. That didn't seem very effective though.

We stopped to get our tickets to visit the temple ruins and to avoid the queues the next morning. We arrived at Siem Reap and the hotel pool looked very inviting. It was even hotter here than Phnom Penh. We went out for traditional Kymer food on Beer Street. Steve opted for a chicken sour soup as he was still recovering from surgery and Sue had a green mango salad.

As with most "Beer Streets" in each city we visited, there was a serious bussle and buzz about it. Siem Reap had tanks of fish that you could dip your feet in and the fish nibbled away at the dead skin. A couple of people in the group tried this out and they said it tickled. Many of the vendors were offering complimetary beer with each treatment. We decided we'd save that experience for next time we vistited. Steve's wings had been severely clipped due to the surgery so we opted to head back to the hotel for an early night.