Cambodian craziness

---

Our journey to Cambodia started off with two flights- a quick hop over to Bangkok and then a fair wait before a connection to Phnom Penh. The first leg of the journey went smoothly and we based ourselves on the floor in departures near our gate for the 4 hour wait. We caught up on Netflix, had a coffee, did some journal catch up, adult colouring and had a game of uno! Yea we are well versed in keeping ourselves occupied for long periods of time!! The reason I tell you this is because whilst playing uno the Chinese lack of awareness struck again! First of all this woman was not so subtly staring at us, we continued with our game- she edged closer, we continue- she's crouched down behind Jo staring at her cards and at us playing, we giggle nervously but continue. She is now sat in between us picking up the cards we are playing with, fascinated by what we are doing. Thankfully the game finished. I asked her if she wanted to join in (after all- what else could I do?)- nope she was quite happy to watch- so I handed her the Instructions in Chinese from the instruction card- god knows what she actually wanted. Eventually she left us to it- me and Jo amused but still none the wiser! To be fair the Chinese culture continues to prove a source of entertainment for us, even now!
Anyway I digress! We eventually landed in Phnom Penh, visas granted- another cool sticker in the passport, managed to decipher the currency conundrum and were in a tuk tuk bound for the hostel.
Now I'm going to dedicate a small section of this post to tuk tuk drivers- because now we have experienced quite a few from a fair few countries! They are nothing short of crazy!!! I think particularly in Cambodia! On route to the hostel I squealed and had to close my eyes as the driver weaved in and out of the traffic in and out of the smallest gaps known to man. To add to this craziness the tuk tuk had no side mirrors! So he couldn't see what was coming up the sides as he blindly pulled out in front of cars, buses and other bikes. Literally the dare devils of Asia!
When we arrived at the hostel we had 4 flights of stairs to climb, but it lived up to its name of the panorama- the views were fab overlooking the Mekong and Phnom Penh. We decided the best way to get over a day of travel would be a beer! And at $0.75 I wasn't going to argue with that!
The next day we headed out and hit the royal palace and silver pagoda in the blistering heat- I know you guys had it hot at home but this was 34-6 degree heat without shade. After a few short words with the unhelpful guard, a run back to the hostel for a t-shirt we were in. It was really pretty and the workmanship on the temples, buildings and monuments really is quite spectacular. That evening we went looking for the night market. The night market turned out to be a funfair and was hilarious to walk round. Tummies grumbling we ended up in a Korean buffet BBQ! We were the only English people in there, and we felt like fish out of water. Still we were hungry so we were here to stay. Nothing had labels on it, so we were guessing at what we were eating, playing food roulette. As my dad would say- I probably ate dog!! We did get back to the table with a plate of food at one point to be presented with two huge raw prawns! We had to cook them ourselves in like a broth- thankfully I knew how to as Jo was still bemused at them just appearing at the table. If this experience wasn't crazy enough, every 5 mins happy birthday kept playing as the staff appeared with yet another birthday cake and sparklers for another birthday boy or girl! It was entertaining I'll say that!
The next day had a totally different feel to it as we visited the killing fields and S21. I thought Auschwitz was awful when I visited it, however, what I think makes this place worse is that this happened 42 years ago and instead of killing an opposition, Cambodians were senselessly killing other Cambodians. I feel everyone should visit here, especially with the political/religious climate the way it is at home- it's quite pertinent at the moment. So a beer was definitely needed after this.
We hopped on a bus to Siem Reap the next day- it was meant to be 4 hours but turned out to be 6. Might have had something to do with the two, Yes two, flat tyres and tyre changes at the side of the road we had to endure. Oh and the whole road full of cows for ages so we couldn't pass. It was amusing to say the least!
Siem Reaps night markets thankfully weren't a funfair and we managed to get some really yummy noodles for $1 for dinner, but the real bargain was the beer again $0.50!!!! Cheaper than the water!
We visited a few temples and the day markets the next day and generally took it easy.
We were up at 4am the next day for a trip to Angkor Wat- the biggest temple in the world for sunrise. If I'm being honest- we missed sunrise- the tour company said we didn't but it was light by the time we got there and we couldn't see the sun for cloud! Still it doesn't take away how amazing and beautiful it is. The day was spent wandering around in awe of several of the many temples the sight has to offer before heading back to bed! The early start and the heat had been the end of us for that day!
We're chilling at the pool now before heading off in the morning back to Bangkok by bus before our flight to Bali! Let's hope this is a flat tyre free and cow traffic jam free journey!
Lots of love Lauren and Jo

---