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Published: October 16th 2008
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After a tiring 14 hour flight from Cape Town to Singapore and then Singapore to Siem Reap we finally arrived at the airport hoping our bags would arrive too! Thankfully they were sitting there on the conveyor-belt and had made it! We were greeted outside the airport by Rutee (not sure on the spelling of his name but Ian cleverly remembered it by thinking of ''Rich Tea'', as in the biscuits!) and his tuk-tuk. Rutee took us to the guesthouse and then started asking what we had planned for our time there...remember that at this point it was the middle of the night for us, we were half asleep and being organised travellers we had not looked into what there was to see and do in Siem Reap... we couldn't quite understand what he was saying and found ourselves agreeing for him to be our driver for the next few days and show us the sights of Angkor.
The first day, so Rutee had told us, was a short tour of the temples...it felt like the longest day of our lives! I lost count at how many temples we saw and by the end of the day we were lagging!
We started by visiting Angkor Wat (the main temple) then entered into Angkor Thom, where we saw the Bayon temple, then on to Preah Khan, Banteay Pre, Ta Som, Ta Keo, Ta Phrom (where Tomb Raider was filmed!) and more, but I can't remember what they were all called because there were that many! We were definately the hottest we had been since leaving England, we sweat like pigs and as a result drank about as much water as an olympic swimming pool holds! It was not a pretty sight! It didn't stop us, or should I say me, taking a million photos though! We returned to the guesthouse that evening thinking that if we saw another temple it would be too soon!
Day 2...more temples!!! (Oh my buddha!)
We drove a bit further out of Angkor and saw a few more temples which wasn't too hard going and this time we were prepared with our travel towels to mop up the sweat (thanks Fi- you said they would come in handy!!!) In the afternoon we headed out on a boat to see a floating village on the Tonle Sap. Whilst out on the boat, looking at the floating
houses and businesses and admiring the views, we were approached by another boat carrying things to sell to tourists such as refreshments, snacks and of course a python...yes a python! As the boat pulled up alongside ours the little girl on the boat started to pick up and tease the python...Ian was quick out of his seat and soon snuggled in behind me and next to the guide on the boat! Didn't blame him to be fair!
Day three...today we drove quite a way out of the centre of Siem Reap to see two more temples, Kbal Spean and Banteay Srei. On the way to Kbal Spean Ian fell asleep in the tuk-tuk! I meanwhile admired the views of the rice fields and saw a bit more of Cambodia, away from all the tourist areas and built up town. It was lovely and much more how I had imagined Cambodia to be. When we arrived at the first temple we knew that we had a 30 minute walk ahead of us to get to the temple, Rutee had however failed to inform us that it would be a 30 minute trek up a mountain!!! It wasn't too hard going
but I couldn't stop thinking about the snakes and spiders that could have been lurking in the jungle that surrounded us! At the top of the mountain was a stream that led to a waterfall. The bed of the stream had been intricately carved and was very pretty (that was Ian's choice of wording)! Banteay Srei was also a nice temple, much smaller than the others we had previously seen but it had not eroded as much so the carvings were much more detailed. On the way back to the guesthouse we stopped off at the landmine museum. The museum had been opened by a man who, as a child in the Vietnamese and Cambodian armies had laid landmines, but who now clears them and supports families of landmine victims. It was very interesting.
We really enjoyed our time in Siem Reap and were thankful that we were still alive after some very scary moments on the tuk-tuk!!! I don't think anyone has informed the drivers here that you don't drive through a red light, you don't pull out of a junction without looking and you certainly don't drive up the street the wrong way!!! Bad times!
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