Siem Reip 2

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Well here I am in Siem Reap after my visit to Angkor Wat It really is all it is cracked up to be but it is a pity that it has deteriorated as much as it has.

My last 2 days in Vientiane were good because I hooked up with some local Lao people and we went for dinner at a restaurant along the Mekong and had a nice meal then to a rooftop nightclub. The nightclub was full of lasdyboys and bargirls but I was safe with my friends who made it their mission to 'we look after Tbone.' My new drink of choice is Mojito - basically rum, mint, lemon, and soda water, It is very refreshing - and not as heavy in the stomach as the local beers. We met a Japanese guy from Yokohama out here on his annual 3 weeks holiday who was a young (33) engineer doing what engineers have done since the stone age - drinking beer - and lots of it.

I visited Wat That Luang in Vientiane which is a really old wat but has been restored over the centuries and is in pretty good nick. There are so many Wats in Vientiane and every other place that you get Wat fatigue after a while.But it is good to check out the revered Wats. I bought a little Buddha to wear for good luck.

The next day I was up at 4am to get the tuk tuk to the airport at 6am for my flight at 8.55am. It was all an anti climax because there was no one at the wirport except the people on my flight, the duty free was a rip off, and the coffee was terrible (think Starbucks). Still on the plane we got a little play breakfast of sausage roll (but not as we know It), pasrty, fruit, and good coffee. We alnded at Pakse which is till in Laos to refuel and then back intot the wild blue younder for a snack pack of tuna mayo sangers, muffin, and more coffee.

When we arrived at Siem Reap Immigration was a breeze ans customs non existent. I got a taxi into town but yet again the hostel I was going to stay at had closed. Lonely Planet need to update their books. This has happened to me several times in different countries.

Anyway I found a place in the middle of town near the markets, Pub Street, etc - and with hot water and satellite TV. So I am in pig heaven.

Today my tuk tuk picked me up at 9am and off we went to Angkor Wat which is just one of many in a huge precinct of religiou buildings - and the most famous. I keep reading that in the 8-9th centuries the Thais conquered the Khmer and took all the good artisians and cooks and culture from the Khymer back to Thailand. As fas as I can tell the Thais and Khymer have been at esch other for centuries - and the lastest little border dispute is just pasrt of that long running niggle

Angkor Wat is just out side of town. I bought a 3 day pass which I can use over a 7 day period for $40 - the same cost as a one day pass. Weird but true. By the time I got to Angkor Wat it had started to heat up and after an hour it was oppressively hot so I took my time having a look around. It is surrounded by a moat and although it is a temple it seems built like a fort with moast and 3 wall defence around a citadel. There are Roman type baths inside and planety fo intricate frescos and scenes of herioc battles and tales. My award for pig tourists of the day goes to middle aged Japanese by a country mile. They are loud rude and obnoxious - they just push people out of the way and walk through their photos without any apology or seeming to care.

I was pretty Watted out after 3 hours at Angkor in the ehat so had lunch at a local restaurant and then a snooze in a hammock. Now it is time for a shower and nap before I go out later when it is cooler/

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