CAMBODIA - Siem Reap & Phnom Penh

Ok... it is about time I got back to writing a little bit more on this blog to let you guys know what we are up to, and before we go too far and forget what we did in all the places (fortunately I keep a little notebook to remind me if the details).
I will try to keep it short though, and not describe too much in detail all the beautiful temples in Angkor Wat, since that would just make no justice to it either.
Siem Reap
So we took of from Bangkok on Jacks Golf bus to go to Aranyaprathet (on the border with Cambodia), this was a 3 hour journey which was quite easygoing and they left us right at the border. The border crossing could not be any easier, even skipping the hundred or so local people queuing to go through. On the cambodian border we were met by a very friendly man in governement uniform (which didn't make it easy to decide wether to avoid him or let him help us). he was very helpful, and took us on a little bus to the station to get our transport to Siem Reap (another 3-4 hours).
Here I think we decided to continue with our intentions to support the local economy... and fell into the trap of exchanging money... he talked us into it by saying that in Siem Reap the banks would charge comission, and that it was good to have local currency (make things cheaper). The truth is that in Cambodia, all tourists are charged in US dollars, and although you can use Rial, there is not much point, because they will get you on the exchange. So the border people got us on the exchange rate... it was good that we only changed 50usd.
We hopped onto our taxi after getting a good price for it (I think they were satisfied with the money exchange rip off (they were all part of the same team).
The road in Cambodia was a total mess... all dirt road, with lots of wholes and road works the whole way (at least we were in an air conditioned taxi). After about 3.5 hours we got to Siem Reap for a total 7 hours from Bangkok... not bad.
Then came the second part of the tuk tuk mafia scam... the taxi driver left us on the edge of town with a really friendly and chubby tuk tuk dirver, who spoke great english... he was going to take us to the hotel.
The only problem was that he obviously did not know where out hotel was... so after looking around for it (probably in the wrong place) he suggested taking us to another hotel. This turned out to be ok... the hotel was quite good, and cheap too... so Ravi (the tuk tuk driver) probably got a comission for the hotel, and got to take us around Angkor Wat for the following two days too.
Siem Reap is quite a large town, but with a compact tourist area with about three streets full of bars, restaurants, shops and lots of people selling things in the street... our hotel was just next to the tourist area.
The next morning we arranged with Ravi to pick us up at 9am to go out into the temples. It is a massive area full of temples all around Siem Reap... and you definitely need some transport to go around... even cycling is too much for the whole area.
The first day we went around Ta Prohm (which is the one with the large trees swallowing all the stones that were left abandoned for so many years, and probably one of the most impressive places), up to Ta Keo and the into Ankor Thom ( the centre of the whole temple area). Within Angkor Thom, probably the best temple is Bayon, which is the one with the large stone faces with big smiling lips.
After that we had some lunch before going to Angkor Wat. On the way we stopped on Phnom Bakeng. This is on the top of a hill, and you can see the large jungle area from here... the tops of the trees, and the large lake in the distance. We could also see the storm approaching... it seemed like the heavy rains from Bangkok were chasing us to Cambodia.
So just as we got on the tuk tuk the rain started to fall, and by the time we got to Angkor Wat, it was very heavy rain... another wet tuk tuk ride. We stopped near the temple to see if the rain stopped, but nothing. We decided to call it a day, it was about 3:30pm and the heat of the day was very exhausting.
The night life in Siem Reap was quite good, and we met up with Celine and Adrien again (the Swiss couple we met in Bangkok) for a few beers and some nice food.
You have to be ready for the kids selling post-cards and books... they will ask you where you are from, and tell you the capital of your country with the population, and ask you if you know the capital of Madagascar or Burkina Faso... and if you don't know, they will tell you you have to buy!
Fortunately they did not know the capital of Colombia, but now they do! I did end up paying too much money for a book on Cambodia (almost 5 usd) but it was well worth it, and the kid was very happy with the sale.
The next morning we continued with our tour around the temple with Ravi (the fattest of all the tuk tuk drivers in Siem Reap!... but I cant see why they are not all that fat, because all they do is drive the tuk tuk and sleep while you walk around the temples).
We went Ankor Wat finally and spent about two hours in there. The rest of the day we went to Preah Khan, Neak Pean, Ta Som, and many others... until we got caught by the refreshing rain again at about 4:30 and went back to Siem Reap.
The last day we relaxed in Siem Reap and took a break from so many temples... but in the afternoon we hired some bicycles and cycled to Angkor Wat again (only about 40 minutes) to see the temple in the afternoon and sun set, which was much better for the pictures with the reflection on the pond and the lotus flowers.
Phnom Penh
Then it was time to move on to Phnom Penh on our way to Vietnam. The bus ride was pretty good (about 6 hours) so we arrived in Phnom Penh in the early afternoon with enough time to find a hotel for the night. We headed for the riverside area, and although the hotels seemed to be a bit more expensive, we seemed to be a bit closer to the nice bars restaurants and the Royal Palace and markets. Again the tuk tuk drivers were all over us as we got of the bus, and the guy who took us to the hotel organised to take us around the next day to some places. The Paragon hotel was right by the river where the Tonle Sap meets the Mekong, and for 15usd/ night we can't complain.
The most impacting thing we saw in Phnom Penh was the Tuol Sleng museum... this was an old school that was used as a prison and torture place for all the people during Pol Pots Khmer Rouge horrible years of power in Cambodia... you just can't imagine how this could happen anywhere in the world, where people kill and torture their own people just to ensure power, and with the main objective of getting rid of any education or culture or progress of any kind, and to think that all this happened only 30 years ago! Anyway... it was not a nice experience but very interesting and informative. We did not want to go to the killing fields to see more horrific things!
The rest of the time in Phnom Penh we spent seeing the Royal Palace which was beautiful and going to get our haggling skills brushed up at one of the markets, where you can see Lorena trying to get some head scarves for 50p.
We also practiced crossing the road with our eyes closed... that is the best way over here! otherwise you get scared and get run over (well... not quite with the eyes closed, but just walk without stopping, going faster or turning back!). We needed the practice for Ho Chi Minh city.
So that was the end of Cambodia for us... after Phnom Penh we got the bus straight to Ho Chi Minh (Saigon) to start our Vietnam adventure (which we are now almost half way through... we are in Hoi An now, central Vietnam... but due to the lack of time and the amount of fun and lazyness I have not updated the blog for a while).

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