I was sad to leave Rainbow Lodge but this I fear is the curse of travelling. You can grow fond of somewhere and some people in such a short space of time that to leave can be a little sad. Mix that with the apprehension of going somewhere new - will I know anybody, what will it be like etc.

The bus picked us up as they said it would on the side of the road and after an interesting bus journey consisting of speaking with a crazy, drugged up American and putting up with some Cambodian guy screaming and wailing the whole way, Naomi, Sean and I arrived in Phnom Penh (PP). I had missed the 2pm bus to Siem Reap so had to wait for the 6pm bus. No worries, gave me a chance to have some food and catch up on email. Was amazing how much you don't miss it when you don't have it but then you must check it the moment you get access again!

On the bus to Siem Reap, (night bus that left at 6pm and arrived at 1am), I was sat next to this Cambodian guy called Deemon who insisted on giving me his mobile phone to speak to his mates....! At the rest stop halfway, the Bus Host dude, (the one who loads and unloads your bags and brings round free water), asked Deemon if he partied and Deemon said yes and also pointed at me. I said yes and before I knew it, I was crawling through the luggage compartment in the bottom of the bus through a small door into a little compartment, (the party room). I had some snacks and Sorteer, (Host dude) bought a case of beer and the 3 of us drank beer and 'partied' whilst everyone else slept, (or attempted to understand Cambodian TV which is either strange kind of Saturday night Entertainment programmes, or karaoke). We did have another guy join us, he didn't speak a word of English but when we all got our phones out to swap numbers he was very keen to get mine. I'm pretty sure I was invited to Deemon's family reunion the next day and that he was trying to set me up with one of his sisters, (she like English.....)! I didn't go but perhaps I should of for that 'authentic' Cambodian experience, (the reunion that is). They all started to fall asleep so there I was sleeping this little compartment in the bottom of a bus with 3 Cambodian dudes. Not your usual bus journey......

The girls who worked in my guesthouse were probably the most friendliest and kindest people I have met in all my travels. Siem Reap itself is pretty chilled. I liked it - there is of course Angkor Wat, (the temple itself), alongside Angkor Thom, (an ancient citadel compromising several temples including Bayon), and Ta Phrom, (the 'Tomb Raider' temple where the jungle just grows out of the rocks - famous for a particular shot with Angelina Jolie! (there is even a cocktail named after her in a bar on Pub Street). There are loads more temples to see here and the Japanese and Korean tourists in bus loads with their laminated 7 day passes around their necks will see each and every one. I spent Sunset, (stupidly busy and touristy), sunrise, (ditto), and then several hours exploring the main temples. It was pretty incredible.

Bayon and Ta Phrom were the best IMO. It didn't help that Angkor Wat had scaffolding all around it. Was still impressive and the sheer size of it with all the stories carved into the walls is incredible. There are also bullet holes everywhere since it was used during the Khmer Rouge regime as somewhere to store weapons!

Bayon is just faces looking at you from everywhere. It's difficult to capture it but getting 3 in a row and kissing one, (courtesy of Santhou), may have gone someway....?

Ta Phrom with these huge trees where the roots snake around the ruins is very impressive.

It's difficult to say much more about them - it's a pretty awesome experience and the scale of the site with the huge number of ruins is unfathomable, (I went 40 KM North to see one particular ruin! I also spent some time in the Cambodian countryside visiting villages etc as part of this which was very rewarding), but is hard to describe and even harder to photograph, (despite me taking a million photos). I had paid extra for a guide, Santhou so was able to found out a little more than if I had just walked around. He also

Whilst I was in Siem Reap I also visited a local landmine museum opened by a Cambodian dude who at the age of 10 had a gun forced into his hands so he could fight for the Khmer Rouge. He was then ordered to lay landmines and did so alongside fighting for 10 years, (being so young he had no idea and it was either that or be killed - in fact most of the Khmer Rouge, particularly those who carried out many of the executions were between the ages of 12 and 18 - it was thought their innocence made them easier to command). He has since defected and has spent the last 19 years clearing the Country of landmines. He has cleared 50000 in addition to bombs and other ordnance from the Cambodian Countryside. Most of these are defused and on display in his museum. There are still millions to clear and alot of the Country is still unsafe, particularly on the Vietnam border where the Americans dropped hundreds of millions of bombs and landmines during the War.

Siem Reap is also home to Pub Street....... Enough said I think, and the photos will provide sufficient evidence. I also have a t-shirt from Angkor What? Bar to go alongside my 'fishermans pants' I got from a bar on Koh Chang. For those of you who know Pub Street, you will be very disappointed in me for ending up in Angkor What? Bar 3 nights running but I met some really cool people, (including another person from Brighton, that's 3 already), and managed to meet up with various people from Koh Chang and Rainbow Lodge. In fact, Siem Reap exhausted me what with Angkor What? until the early hours and then Angkor Wat for Sunrise, another early start for the trip into the Countryside and another early start for my bus to back to PP.

'Me bird' was a little jaded in Siem Reap after all the exertion of Rainbow Lodge, I still had no shot glass or pack of cards but Jonny and Rob were there playing 21. Even after they left I flew the flag and introduced it to several people. We also played 'fives' and drank a 'tower' of beer which I had never seen or heard of before. And then there were the buckets..... $4 a pop and if you bought 2 you got a free t-shirt. I also had snake, squid, crocodile etc on a Cambodian BBQ which was a pretty cool experience.

I'd go back to Siem Reap - was a great place to visit and I would like to experience the temples again. Next time maybe DragonFly will be in operation - an American dude has just started running micro-light flights for $20 for 20 minutes over the site. Would be pretty good way of seeing it I reckon.

So, I was off to PP and to catch up again with Jonny and a few others. Could be interesting!