Siam Reap

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Our travels to Cambodia were not as simple as i origionally thought!lol!I had been ready up on the border crossing from Thailand into Cambodia for a while and was apprehensive however it was even more stressful than i thought! To get to the border you have to get a bus from Bangkok to Arranya/Poipet and then the fun really begins......!!!!!When you get there there are a million con artists waiting to 'sell' you a over the price version of a visa to cross the border and they are seriously convincing!!If i hadn't read the book we would have bought it and lost out on vital drinking money! 😊 But i stood my ground and put on my stern teachers voice and we managed to get through with a legitimate visa! However, when we got into Cambodia then the fun really began! We stupidly mistook the kindness of a man dubbed 'Mr Crazy'as just good will and let him advise us on how to change our money! Big Mistake! After a long wait in a casino at a exchange booth we had our Thai Baht changed into dollars and then subsequently into Cambodian Riel at another counter! This was completely unnecessary as we soon realised when spending our first few thousand Riel at a restaurant! In cambodian it is much easier to pay with dollar so we not only wasted our time but also paid a commision TWICE which i am almost certain 'Mr Crazy' would get a huge chunk of! THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!!!! If anyone ever comes to cambida and meets said Mr Crazy AVOID LIKE THE PLAGUE!!!!

However, when we got to Siam Reap we managed to find a good hostel (despite the Tuk Tuk drivers trying to take us to there recommended hostels- again TIP: NEVER LISTEN TO TUK TUK DRIVERS.....THEY LIE!!!!!!). The hostel we stayed in however was recommended by our Lonely planet guide and turned out to be nice although full of little gheckos! Thank Go the one creature i dont actually mind! I was just so happy that Lisa, Katie and Emily had arrived and we were in a big group!!! Our first night in Siam Reap we were so tired as we had practically been awake for 24 hours travelling from Koh Phi Phi to Bangkok and then to Siam Reap continuously!!! We went to dinner and found the most amazing ice cream shop! (I feel like i have spent a large chunk of my travels so far talking about ice cream but it was really good and they had peanut flavour which is my new fav!!!) Anyway we had dinner at a street food stall which was just YUM, i love all the BBQ seafood (squid, king prawns and yummy fish) and had a few cocktails (241 of course) before bed....exhausted! The nex day we decided to rent bikes and explore! I say we...i had to be kindly persuaded to rent one as everyone who knows me knows i am terrified of riding after a incident with me...a bike....and a tree! Bad times! But i got on one and unsteadily made my way to explore! However, myself and Sean got lost and separted from the others and ended up on a motorway! Now i have NEVER been so scared in my whole life...Cambodian driving is very insane, there are no rules people are on all sides of the road and seemed to take pleasure from my terrified screams! The minute i got home i vowed never to get on a bike again!lol! We did however on our confused travels visit a butterfly farm which was really pretty and took some photos of pretty things! Im not going to lie though i am also very afraid of flying things so i cant say i was totally at ease around the flapping butterflys but i tried to keep my fear under wraps as i felt Sean had had enough of my unjustified fears for the day!lol!

That night we decided it was time to have a party to celebrate us all being together which to us meant...get on it hardcore with some buckets! We found some really busy bars and proceeded to drink our body weight in cocktails! I had the best night, we met loads of people and did not leave until 6am! However, the night was ruined by a run in with some street children! Emily got separated from our group and surrounded by about 12 of them of varying ages from 4 years to around 12/13. She was really scarde and they stole her money! When the rest of us realised we tried to step in but they were very rough and i got pushed a couple of times by a 13 year old! None of the other locals seemed to take it seriously but it was very scary for us so we went home as quickly as we could!

The next day we went on a boat ride to a floating village which was really amazing! We visited a floating orphanage and the children were so lovely and welcoming! It was amazing to see how the people lived and to hear some of their history! We decided we had had enough of the Siam Reap nightlife so we just went for dinner and a few drinks in the evening and then caught the night bus to Sihnoukville which is a beach resort!

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