01/08/2008 - Siem Reap, Cambodia

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We took the bus ride from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap yesterday...wasnt too bad, just crowded and 7 hours long. Once we got to Siem Reap, the bus stop was going crazy with tuk tuk drivers trying to get you to hire them. We settled on one who had decent english and he drove us to our hostel. This is byfar the best hostel i have been in yet! Only $10 a night....there are 6 people to a room with a private bathroom in it...there is a POOL, and free breakfast, it is very clean, and overall just nice.

So yesterday after checking in, we had lunch at the hostel and didnt leave at all! We just hung out all evening here at the bar and then up on a balcony playing pool and chatting with other travellers. Went to bed around 10pm because we had to wake up at 4:30!

Woke up at 4:30 this morning and got ready to head out....went down stairs and met our tuk tuk driver (same as yesterday) and headed out for the Temples of Angkor. We got to Angkor Wat and watched the sun rise - it was amazing. After the sun finally came up, we explored the temple and then again met up with our driver who took us over to another large walled city that was full of temples. We got droped off outside the south gate and rode an elephant in to the main temple! It was a bumpy ride, and took awhile, but I can at least say that I rode an elephant. We spent a lot of time wandering around and exploring, lots of temples hidden in the woods. After this one, we went over to yet another temple. After this, we drove off to another temple, stopping at a few small ones along the way. The last temple was called Ta Prohm and is where Tomb Raider was shot! It is famous for the trees and roots growing all over the walls of the buildings. This one was really cool for that reason and because it was actually more in the jungle!

After the temple, we met up with the driver and decided to head back to the hostel...saw some monkeys on the way! I started falling asleep on the bumpy ride, but we soon got back. We ate lunch and then I laid on a couch/bed thing next to the pool and fell asleep for awhile. Then woke up and hopped in the pool for a bit and cooled off.

It is pretty early still, and not a whole lot to really do...the temples are the main thing here, and we are done with those, so we will probablly just hang around here and relax some more...we have another early day - 5:30am tomorrow....have to catch the bus back to Phnom Penh so we can fly to Bangkok on Thursday.

Internet is still really slow, so no pictures...hopefully soon!

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