We were sad to say goodbye to our hostel and Battambang, they were cool in booking us accomodation in Siem Reap and organised a free pick up at the other end. So we enjoyed our final noddle & egg soup before heading to the bus station. We soon realised that Cambodia had also invented their own version of Laos time, so we waited and waited for our bus till only an hour late it arrived and we were on our way.

It was a scorching hot day again and the sun was out in force, I was suprised that still farmers were out digging up their land by hand. I couldn't imagine that kind of hard labour, I wish I had done some farm work in Australia so I could appriciate there struggle.

It didn't take long to reach Siem Reap, well 6 hours is nothing compared to some journeys. We had taken the bus as it was quicker and cheaper however the views by boat are supposed to be spectacular but money and time are getting the better of us now. We were again suprised that although the sign said Anna we were being picked up for free to our new Yellow guesthouse. It was suprisingly cheap and the staff were super friendly giving us free lifts into the city but would also pick us up. I would say that Cambodian people our some of the nicest in S.E.A by what I have meet. We had to grab some money so went by tuk tuk to potter around the markets and city. All in need of a feed we found a resturant serving some nice western food, okay maybe the half price cocktails helped with our decision making. It was heartbreaking and slightly annoying to see so many children and adults physical disabled in some way from land mines. Cambodia has a serious problem with mines left over from wars, and unfortunately this brings high statistics in injury and death from these, with also very little help from the government. Saying all this it is hard not to get annoyed while your trying to enjoy your meal with every few minutes being approached to buy books, paintings and bracelets that you have already brought from the first few that broke your heart. You do get use to it and however rude you learn to try and ignore it you can't help everyone. The town was very busy but had a huge touristy and westernise feel, losing what I believe was it originally charm for now it is just the rest place for those visiting Angkor Wat like ourselves. We brought some souvieners and grabbed some icecream before heading back for some telly, yep we even had our own telly in our room. I'm ashamed to say it but we became very fond of WWE.

4.45am our alarms started buzzing, this is not a time I intended on seeing again after Valley but here I was getting ready to watch the sunrise. We had hired a tuk tuk from our hostel for the day again and he was awake and very cheery for such an early time. He drove us to the entrance, we brought our 1 day $20 tickets which involved them shinning bright lights in your face for a quick photo for your entrance ticket, all I can say is .... Not Pretty. We had decided to take the option of the sunrise over a pond away from the crowds of tourist, hoping to get the fantanstic reflection. This did not happen, we couldn't even really see the famous Angkor Wat, plus the clouds hid the sun as it came up to say hello. We finally agreed it was over and went to explore some of the temple ruins, the first one was through an arch and into a clearing in the jungle. It was a maze of big grey blocks stacked into corridors but was all one level. There was your standard budda shrine, inscent sticks, food, money and cnadles all as an offering. We walked around but there wasn't any signs to read so it was all a little bit lost on us. With the sun finally fully awake and warming the world it was delightful to enjoy the breeze of our tuk tuk as we were taken to the next temple. Again it was similar to the first but trees had taken over and were growing on top with their roots wiggling their way down to the soil. It was like the jungle was trying to hide this ancient city. As we left this temple it became clear that locals still lived in this city, it was the begin of their day and the children were out in force selling all sorts to us. Luckly we had left everything but our cameras in the tuk tuk so we didn't feel guilty saying no, as we really didn't have any money. If I had felt more up for the culture I supppose I could have brought a book and given the others a personal guided tour of the other temples. A quick loo stop before being shown our next stop. Why did these Angkor people insist on bulding their temples either up high mountains or up rediculously steep steps. I now understand why our driver told us to take it slowly. As we approached the steps before us each one was easily as tall as my knee, I felt like I was rock climbing. You actually had to lift your leg high, balance your foot on the narrow ledge and pull yourselves up with your arms. It was a mission and we were grateful it was early hours and the heat was bearable, still I'm sure I sweated out half my body weight. At the top was the same same budda shrine but different, however the views were stunning looking over the tree tops of the jungle that these temples hide between. The climb down was more exciting and tricker than the upwards climb, we took the advice and went slowly down. Finally at the bottom after no accidents, a miricle travelling with Rachey we asked the driver to take us to get some much needed brekkie. We had been up for a few hours and done exercise and were all a little hungry. He laughed and took us to his favourite place near our next stop. He told us a lot about Cambodia and about him. He told us that children went to school for four hours a day either in the morning or in the afternoon, a government inisurtive ment that all children that attended would also have one free meal. This scheme allows children to get an education but also help out at home. It is very clear travelling that everywhere you go all services are family run and everyone gets involved even the really young children. He also told us he dreamed of being a tuk tuk driver and owning it all himself but he would need at least $1600 for this at the moment he worked full time at the hostel for only $50 a month. He liked it there though as he got free accomodation, food and they were giving him Japanese lessons. It was crazy though, we all had $50's in our wallets which was what we planned to spend for the day and thought that was not much money, we couldn't get our heads around all that just for a months work!! We told him about us before finishing our meals buying some tack from the street kids and heading around the stalls. It was early but we all wanted an ice cream so we brought some and one for our driver. We finally tracked him down playing this adapted hackie sack game with some locals and asked to join in. I was terrible and they laughed a lot, but we all had fun. Cuter still it was nice to see our driver sharing his ice lolly with the children. In Cambodia they look out for each other, it has a very welcoming feel I wonder if it is to do with what they have been through. We decided to soilder on with more temples, and to one I think is slightly famous for being the palace Angkor Thom. Our driver gave us some directions and left us there ready to meet him further on, however we got confused and couldn't remember the order and got very lost circling temples and walls one after the other. We weren't too bothered and enjoyed taking it all in and creating some interesting photos. They were impressive and we learnt that each king wanted to show off so built bigger, higher more semectricle temples than the previous. Typical male ego. We ran into some young monk children who had taken to playing by the pond, Hana took full advantage of using her funky camera setting and got some cracking photos. Starting to get bored we tried to make our way back but for some reason the secuirty guards wouldn't let us pass in certain places, funny they directed you so you had pass by the stalls all hasselling you to buy their souvieners. Re-tracing our steps and taking new paths we finally found our way to tuk tuk drivers and were happy to see our guy fast asleep in the back. It was getting close to lunchtime and we were all a little tired and exhusted so our driver took us to the one we had come here to see the famous Angkor Wat. The 8th wonder of the world, poor Cambodia if only it was in the top 7 you could charge double!!! Arriving at the entrance to see just a swam of tourists all wearing their t-shirts, cameras out snapping away it was difficult to see the true beauty of this iconic symbol of Cambodia. However I though it was a little disappointing, it didn't look like the photos or paintings we had seen all round Cambodia. It was under restoration and so a huge part at the front was covered in blue plastic covers. Also there was an entrance gate, which actually was further infront of the main building than what I had seen before. All the same we were here and want to make the most of it so we took our pictures with the other thousand tourist and proceed in. We nearly got conned as we were offered and inscent stick to give to budda which as you placed it down also came with a please give him some money offering, I refused like the others. It was cool to walk through the entrance and into a massive green cleared area, it looked much more like a palace than the previous temples that had been left to jungle. You could imagine the king sat in his temple while the area surrounding was full to the brim of his people. The sun though was beating down hard on us and unfortunately there was no shade to run and hide under so we made our way quickly to the main temple for a rest and to soak up the scenary and atmosphere. We then continued through looking at all the markings on the walls until we arrived at the main stage, however we hadn't been told to dress appropriately and were refused entre inside. So we watched others and took some photos but decided we had had enough and want some cool down time in our hostel.

Back at the hostel we all feel asleep instantly to our favourite WWE. Our day wasn't over just yet and again our alarms awoke us 3 hours later. We prepared for our return to Angkor Wat for the sunset, although numpty also known as Rachey had lost her ticket. So we set off as a duo with our tuk tuk driver. This time we were going to watch the sunset with all the tourist, thinking it must be amazing. It was still super hot so we obviously need some rehdration so we bartted with the children to get us two cold beers to enjoy over our sunset. We set off on the step climb to the top of another temple, yep another one that involved a hike to visit. We thought about using the elephants but decided not to be lazy. Up at the top it was again breathe taking to see the views over the jungle but spoilt by the thousands and I mean thousands of tourist. Not even the nice ones, the ones that barge you out the way, don't even say sorry when they step on you and ruin your pictures. The sun was still high in the sky so we took refuge under some shade and waited. The crowds got worse so we moved around to grab a spot, balanced on some temple rocks we cracked open our beers and chilled as best we could. I mentioned to Hana I was gutted that again that I was not watching a sunset over Angkor Wat. She laughed and said yes you are it's over there. I replied with a comment that only my gran would say... "well it would be better if they chopped some of those trees down!!". So it's official I am a female 'jakes'!!! It still wasn't what I expect as the sun was setting down in the opposite direction and again the clouds were spoiling it. Once it had become riduclously overcrowded we decided to leave and spend a little more time at Angkor Wat before the sun disappeared for good. We took some nice pictures especially as the crowds had disappeared a little and went on our way to check on Rachey.

Rachey was enjoying some relaxating time in our room when we got back. We were all still tired from our long day that we just grabbed some dinner, packed our bags and prepared oursleves for our return to Bangkok.