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Published: December 22nd 2006
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We got to Bangkok & checked into the hostel our friend Robert had recommended, (he was arriving in Bangkok in the evening & was meeting us at 10pm). Claire & I went for a wander down Khao San Road & went for some food about 8.30pm. After half an hour our food hadn't arrived so we asked the waiter & he said he had forgotten, (no apology was given), he said he would get it to us in the next 15 minutes, (as we were meeting Robert). Another half an hour passed & there was still no food so we asked again, he said he hadn't ordered it, (no apology was given this time either!)
So as Claire & I had ordered, (& drank) more beer we were really annoyed, we tried to explain that we had to meet our friend & now we didn't have time to eat so didn't think we should pay for the second beer. All hell broke loose & we had a massive row with 2 of the waitresses & the waiter, everyone was looking at us. I was so annoyed they hadn't even said sorry for messing up our food order & we had
been there over an hour. It is funny to look back & laugh now but I was raging with anger at the time, the rude people! It worked out well as we met Robert & had food with him before saying goodbye.
We left Bangkok at 6.55am, the bus was late, (as expected), & we had been up since 5.50am. We got the bus to the border & arrived about 11am, the best thing was though that when we stopped at a petrol station for a rest, an Elephant walked up to the shop, I thought I was dreaming!!
We had to wait at a place at the border for over 2 hours, (they don't rush themselves in Asia), & eventually got our Visa's & went through Passport control. We were told to get Riel, (the Cambodian currency), as opposed to US Dollars, (bad decision, these people are really dodgy & will really rob you if you let them). We waited again on the bus for over an hour, leaving the other side of the border at 4.20pm, we then went half a mile down the road & had to change buses.
The roads are so bad
Me pretending to be Lara Croft at Ta Phrom
(The photo doesn't do the temple justice as it really is amazing). here i some parts, it took us till 11pm to get to Siam Reap, (with a half hour break), I have never had a bus journey in my life like it & I imagine I never will again! We got a tuk tuk to our guesthouse & went straight to bed.
We were so tierd on Wednesday that we didn't get up until 11am, got washed & ate some brunch. We booked a boat to Phom Penh for Friday at 5.30am & arranged to get collected at 4.30pm the same afternoon, (Wednesday), by a tuk tuk to take us to get our tickets for all the Angkor Wat temples the following day & a mountain for the sunset this afternoon.
We spent the afternoon just walking around the town of Siam Reap & the local market. We got collected at 4.30pm, got our tickets & walked up a Mountain, (Phom Bakeng), to the temple at the top to watch the sunset, it was busy but totally great. We saw elephants & a little Cambodian band/group playing.
We went back to our guesthouse & met a guy from Surrey called Steve, (he is such a dell boy). We had food together & a few beers, as we were getting collected at 5am for sunrise at Angkor Wat, we had an early night & he had bartered with our tuk tuk driver Chinn that he could come with us, we would go to a couple more places & somehow it would be cheaper than the price Claire & I had agreed, (I tell you this guy is good at bartering!)
So Claire & I went to bed to be awoken at 1.45am by a mouse in our room, trying to eat its way through the woodwork. I didn't go back to sleep after that & Claire decided she would sleep in my bed with me as she didn't like it.
I got up at 4.30am, after about 2 hours sleep & we got collected by Chinn, (Claire, Steve & I), & headed to Angkor Wat to watch the sunrise, it was something I will remember forever. Got some great photos & then at about 7am headed for breakfast in a little restaurant where Chinn knew the family. It was hilarious watching Steve mouth off, he first said he wanted a big omlete & a large mug of good coffee. When the coffee arrived he sent it back as it was in a little cup, it came back in a mug & he said it was rubbish coffee & got loads of people to try it. In the end he refused to pay for it, Claire & I were half embarrassed, half entertained!
From there we headed to Banteay Srei, where I got some fantastic photos of some Cambodian children & when I left the little boy said bye! Steve wanted to go to a shooting range so we went there but it was too expensive, (100 Dollars or about 50 pound for a coupe of rounds of amo), the one man walked out with a massive missle launching thing, came up to me & said you want to fire, I smiled & politely replied no thank you!
From there we went to Ta Phrom, (where Tomb Raider was filmed), it was by far my favourite Temple of the day, it was amazing, it had huge trees growing through the temple, I can't even describe how beautiful it was, we spent over an hour there. I insisted on doing Lara Croft poses for photographs, climbing over the rocks, Claire thought I was daft!
We went on to Thomannon, Angkor Thom, The Bayon & back to Angkor Wat. We climbed up to the top of one temples & had a beer in the sun. We went & had lunch & Steve worked his magic again managing to half the price of our lunch & drink from 3 Dollars to 1.5 Dollars, again it was embarrassing but entertaining.
At Angkor Wat we got some more photos, (I got a bit snap happy today & took about 100 throughout the whole day!!), we climbed up one of the 3 towers for some great views. On the way out of one temple Chinn stopped for me to take a photo of the south gate & the wild monkeys that were walking around. We had seen one of the monkeys go for one of the motorcyclists but just thought it was because he had rode too close to him. I got out the tuk tuk, as did Claire & tried to get a good close up photo, after about 30 seconds he went for Claire & then me & we had to run to the tuk tuk & jump in. It was funny but he was an aggressive little thing.
We headed back to chill for a bit at the guesthouse with a beer & then packed, we had a cold shower as there is no hot water in our guesthouse. We went for food, Steve, Claire & I, at this amazing Restaurant called The Dead Fish Tower, it had crocodiles, a stepping stone pond with biting catfish, coconut dancers & great cheap food.
We got up at 5am to get a bus to the boat to take us to Phom Penh, (the capital), there was no water at all this morning so you get a taste of how people live here. As usual the bus turned up 45 minutes late & they managed to cram in 23 people into a 15 seater mini bus, (there was even 2 people on the drivers seat), Health & Safety is an unknown here!!
We got the boat & spent 5 & a half hours lying on the top deck in the sun with amazing views of floating villages, people fishing & little homes made of trees. We checked into a little place on the lakeside with a bar that has sun loungers & hammocks overlooking the lake. We will eat there this evening & drink cocktails while watching the sunset, (it is Christmas after all!)
We have a bus booked for 6.50am tomorrow to take us to Sihanoukville, where they have amazing beaches in the Gulf of Thailand, (but not as busy as Thailand). We will spend 3 nights there, (including Christmas), before heading back to Phom Penh for a couple of days.
I am loving Cambodia but think the next couple of days will be difficult for Claire & I spending our first Christmas away from home! Hope everyone has a really good one!
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