Sweating in Siem Reap.

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So we arrived into Siem Reap at 8am and the announcement was made it was 35oC we know already its a hot, humid season here and now that I think about it maybe we should have come here after vietnam however the long bus journey that we would have to do didn't sit well with me....if I wasn't a motion sickness person then it might be a different story anyway it will work out at the end of the day!

We get to the hotel greeted by Sami and a nice cold face cloth and soon a room key to go freshen up and breakfast to follow that! Lovely hotel and room...not what you call a hot shower (solar hot water) today we hung around the hotel, slept, ate, emailed and chatted online...watched some movies oh yeah and went for a swim in the lovely pool it was nice to relax!

We jumped in the free shuttle bus and head to town for a look around and some dinner...its really quiet and its a lot smaller than we expected however we ate on the street at the local stalls just $1US each for food and $0.75C for drink so a good meal for $3.50.

Day two we just hang out in the room and by the pool catch up on what's going on in the world and watch a movie...this place is quiet and rather nice to relax, we went down the road for lunch which was about $4US so not bad! We had dropped off some washing on our way to lunch and a guy had come over to help he us explain to the little old lady what we were wanting he was a tuktuk driver and offered to take us to the Wats tomorrow he said $14 which seems to be about average we said we would get back to him...the hotel is charging $15 for the same tour...as we came back from lunch we notice a few drops of rain and that our washing had been put away and within five mins we learnt why...when it rains here it really rains and it was windy and thunder and lightening the works we thought we were caught in more than a rain storm....we were happy to be in our room and not outside. Later on we decide to get the shuttle into town as the rain cleared after about 40mins however as it turns out the shuttle left without us and they hotel said they would get us a tuktuk as we were ready and waiting but they hadn't come and got us from in the lounge where we were waiting... however we were a little concerned as we know that most of the tuktuk drivers had been sitting out the front drinking most of the afternoon and evening but soon our friend from earlier today had pulled in and said he was taking us....when we got to town we told him to pick us up in the morning and we would go to just two wats with him.

We got up and ready and met him a little early in the morning and off we went to get our tickets we got two day passed $40US that you have a photo taken and its printed on there and then we scoot around the corner where they check our tickets for the day and we are soon on our way to the first Wat which happens to be our favourite Bayon there is a big arched entrance that everyone gets out of cars and tuktuks and walks through then on the other side they pick us up and take us down to the first actual Wat entrance...there is about seven little wats inside this fenced area but we just want to see one so after explain twice we don't want to see the others we head off to have a look around while our driver waits close by for us...this place is inspiring I would love to have been able to come and have a sunrise here...only thing is that there is so many trees I am not sure what you would see....the place has hundreds of faces all slightly different and for me I think I could sit and draw this place for days there is guys here that do....as they are drawing they try and sell there work however we found it a little expensive about $20US for a small picture...the guy explained that it takes three days to do one picture however for us this is still to much at this stage and we pass on it the art work here is unbelievable and everywhere in town there is painting after painting but nice work. There is awesome frame style windows on the back part at the top that we took some photos in there is some smaller ones but these were the ones that were occupied most of the time by the tour groups. The weather is great here blue sky but hot 39oC and the humidity is crazy so we spend as much time as we can here with hordes of tourists arriving we head off to the next place. As we drive along the driver stops at what are obviously popular with tourists to check if we want a photo...some of the time I just snap a pic to keep him happy as we were really just here to see the three Wats we want to see and that's it! The next one today is ta phrom which is most well known for being the location used for Lara croft tomb raider....its pretty amazing this place with the trees growing in, under and around the damaged wat...I was actually quite shocked by how damaged this place was not what I thought at all from what I heard from other guides this place is being funded and supported a lot by the indian government and there is a lot of restoration going on actually the only place that hasn't got scaffolding or fencing around it that we went was Bayon what a shame as it makes it harder to appreciate the place properly.....however by this stage its really hot and we are done for the day all we want to do is go back to the hotel and swim have a rest and shower, so we head for the tuktuk I stopped on the way to get the money shot of the place and Mike carried on when I came up to the car park I have ladies yelling from all angles water miss, water miss, postcard miss as soon as the lady by the tuktuk realised I was with Mike she yelled something at all the other ladies in cambodian language I guess it was something along the lines of she is with him and I a serving him.... so it all stopped. we got back to the hotel and have muffins to eat and relax by the pool...we head into town for dinner again and eat at a place that's a bit more expensive this time and Mike has the famous Amok which he really loves. (now looking for a recipe so he can have it at home...however I am not such a fan so not sure how that will work out hehe)

The next day we are up early 4.45 to go to see angkor wat at sunrise....it was a nice morning but not so clear and the sunrise wasn't amazing...the Wat itself is grand from a distance but up close the detail is lacking in comparison to Bayon but beautiful all the same (again there is work getting done here and the great ugly green netting really doesn't add ambience to the place that's for sure...many signs saying not to entry this way etc)
We spent a few hours there and wandering around and by 8.30 we head out and ask to go to 'the hill' that everyone tries to sell tours to watch the sunset from....we walked up there and it was a hot walk even at 8.30am...there was a nice view but you can't see any of the wats which is what I was expecting to see....anyway we decided not to do the sunset up there its really just a view of some flat land as there isn't many hill and you can't see any rivers from here either....the sun still appeared to be rising a bit even now and I thought maybe we had left to early however I just think that the sun came up and the that's that no real effect in the sky today...so at the top of the hill there is a wat that has very, very steep steps I can't imagine how everyone gets down in the dark after the sun is setting I have seen photos of this place with hundreds of people here to watch the sunset...not for me thanks...you can see the photos of the stairs they were not even as wide as mu foot so we had to go down sideways and Mikes feet still over hung the step a fair bit! You can imagine with such narrow steps that its steep not helping that situation was then fact that they were about 20-25cm high each one it was a slow journey up and down and then we were like why did we come up here again...oh thats right so we didn't waste money to come back at night hehe! The fact that we are here in rainy/storm season doesn't help as we knew there would be no sunset at that time of the day just slippery hillside and steps to the top haha and I am not good with stable let alone slippery! However I am proud to say I have not fallen over on this trip at this stage just the one injury in vietnam from the bike.
we head down and jump into the tuktuk and head back to the hotel....we go back to have a sleep and have organised to go to the orphanage after lunch sometime but no time is discussed our driver says he will be outside....I fell asleep late and when I woke up we head down to see him about 2.30 and no a sign of him so we think maybe he went up the road came back in an hour but still no sign then another driver says he will take us $6US we were like no way!

We let it go and hope we see our driver tomorrow....so the next couple of days we chill by the pool in the 39oC heat with luke warm bath water to swim in the pool and appreciate having nothing to do but laze around and swim.

Finally a couple of days later we see our driver and he said he waits until late but he left as we weren't there...we said we came down and he was gone and he offered to take us that night to see them all dancing at the orphanage...he doesn't mention price and due to the fact that we paid him for two days work and he only did one over the two days we assume its free....a few hours later we meet him downstairs and we stop and get some rice 10kg $5 and we head over to the orphanage they are greatful we have come as many people don't especially now with low season. There is over 60kids in this place and they all sleep on the stage that they perform on as they are currently waiting for someone to lay the floor in there new accom which they have never had before...they have been sleeping on this stage for a while now and the funding is all from tourists...its a poor place and they rely on tourists to give what they can and have even gone out to perform in the villages to get money from there however the people in the villages don't have money either so its not really helping much! The kids are cute as pie and I can see why Angelina Jolie adopted cambodian orphans they perform well and we really enjoy the show we talk to the kids and the australian lady that has recently moved there to help a bit and soon to head off back to town...when we get there we ask our driver if he wants dinner with us but he says no....then asks us to pay him....we have a quick discussion and it is decided that this is free (I don't think he deals with confrontation very well and didn't know what to say)

The next day is just chilling and we brought a painting from a heavily pregnant lady in town...its a painting of Bayon and we love it and $15US I think there is $15 worth of oil paint on the canvas alone a bit like China how can they make any money off this its amazing how cheap they can get things! other than that we do nothing else and love it....next stop is Kota Kinabalu just a few hours flying but we go via Kuala Lumpur we get up for our early flight and have some breakfast on looking out the window I see the amazing sunrise and think why didn't we think this through we should have gone to Angkor Wat sunrise the day we left for the airport we already had to be up like 40mims later than we did the day we went to the sunrise we should have gone on the way to the airport...oh well you live and learn don't you!
Off to the airport and one long trip to Kota Kinabalu via Kuala Lumpur!

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