Siem Reap & Temples of Angkor

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An uneventful bus journey ended with somone pressing a Mr Andrew Ralph sign up to the window. It turns out the Cambodians are more organised than we gave them credit for and we we're whisked off to the Garden Village guesthouse that had free internet, a volleyball court and decent sized rooms with aircon. After a quick trip out for our 3 day pass for the numerous temple sites we headed back to the guesthouse. The bar was relativly lively on our first night and we soon got to know a tuktuk driver named Kim who was more than happy to be our driver for the next 3 days. The first day was spent around the tourist trap Angkor Wat. Feel free to look up some of the facts and figures relating to it's construction, I can't remember the specifics but it's all very impressive. Both Andy and I agreed that the following 2 days were a better experience of the temples. After one particularly long journey we found just ourselves and a couple of others exploring the nooks and crannies of an Indiana Jones site. We both felt 10 again. Again, my memory fails me but I believe a couple of films have been shot in and around the places we visited. The nights in between exploring the temples were spent wandering between bars and sampling a couple of western style restaurants that have appeared with the money brought by the tourist attractions. Siem Reap is really quite different to the rest of Cambodia. Having got to know the english barstaff in one of the more travel oriented bars, we were somewhat suprised to be escorted from the premisis for attempting to haggle for our beers. This left us with a slightly sour taste after the rest of Cambodia had been so welcoming and carefree.

We had heard that the boat trip across to Battembang was meant to be worthwhile, so after a final night in Siem Reap (we climbed a large hill and caught an amazing sunset sitting on a temple) we woke up early for the boat trip. We didn't think it was anything special but I guess 'worthwhile' could be used to describe it. Having read that Battembang was quiet we weren't all that suprised to find just ourselves and a couple from New Zealand mooching around for signs of attractions and places of interest. This was solved by renting motorbikes and heading off into the country a little. The roads were pretty dismal but it made for a good days riding and a bit of mingling with some locals. I have particularly fond memories of a couple of old timers who had just returned from a wedding in the village; one was merrily chatting to us and the villagers in Cambodian whilst the other managed to berate the Yorkshire accent! He also described how he was a refugee of the previously mentioned reign of the Khmer Rouge; he had fled to Thailand to avoid the violence. Our bike trip ended with Andy having to get a split inner tube repaired for $1.

At this stage Andy had to return to Siem Reap where he would fly to Phuket to meet his Dad. I also headed back and booked a bus for Bangkok to meet Katie and Helen who were flying in a couple of days later...

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