Siem Reap itself is a lovely place; attractive french-colonial architecture, contempory bar scene, friendly people and cheap beer (far tastier than Thailand’s too!). The town is growing quicky, fuelled primarily by the increase in tourism. The influx of lots of foreign visitors - and their currency - means that the place feels less poverty stricken than the rest of Cambodia, which helps give the place such a relaxed vibe. As enjoyable as it was to trawl the bars of Siem Reap, this was not really why we were here. We had dragged ourselves away from Thailand’s lovely beaches for one reason - to see the temples of Angkor. There are several dozen temple sites within reach of Siem Reap, ranging from the mighty Angkor Wat down to small piles of stones of uncertain origin. Determined ... read more

Hi everyone Apologies for being so slack with the group emails but things have been hectic (and overpriced!) on the beaches of Thailand. Almost a month of our trip has passed, the first two weeks went very slowly but the second two have flown. Until yesterday it's felt very much like a holiday from work rather than a big trip, but making the overland trip from bangkok to siem reap makes it finally feel like we're properly travelling now. So here's what we've been up to: Our first stop was Ko Lanta, which was prettier than i remembered, possibly because it was our first stop. It;s a lovely chilled out island and was a good place to get over our jetlag and relax for a few days. We were fairly lazy, especially because paul was ... read more