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India to Asia by Kay & Anthony
Day 93 -
We had to get up at about 4am this morning as our plane was leaving Laos at 6am.
We got a tuk tuk to the airport which was not more than a very small building, made Ronaldsway look like Heathrow!
We boarded our plane which took flight straight away, no messing around like you get in the UK. No safety speech, just buckle up and lets go!
The flight took 1 hour and once we had landed we got immediately - you didn't even have to wait until the plane had stopped and were allowed to wait by the door to get off!
First stop was an ATM as we didn't have any Cambodian currency. We found out here that all of the ATMs and most shops prefer US Dollars rather than Cambodian Riels so we didn't think this country was going to be as cheap as Laos. Even the beggars wouldn't accept Riels they all wanted Dollars! I thought the saying was 'beggars can't be choosers!'
We got a taxi to the city centre and straight to our pre-booked guesthouse. Anth went out to get food once we had arrived and I went back to bed!
Later on we both went for a walk to get a look at the city and manage to stumble across Pub Street within no time! Ah it was ace, just like the Khoa San Road in Bangkok but with nicer restaurants and a little less hectic.
We decided that we would much rather stay around here over Christmas so that we were right in the thick of it and our Xmas drinks would be right on our doorstep rather than the whole 20 minutes away where our other guesthouse was.
We found Maloney's, an Irish bar if you hadn't of guessed, and wanted to stay here as they were serving Xmas Dinner. We wanted to make sure that we kept the traditionalism of Xmas even though we were in a foreign country so we booked ourselves in for Xmas Eve through to Boxing Day.
At night we had some really nice food at a place where in a few days we decided that we wanted to do a cooking course.
Day 94 -
Christmas Eve!! Although it didn't feel like Xmas what-so-ever. I reckon that today was the hottest day we'd had so far, pushing on 42 degrees apparently!
Today we went to see the Angkor Wat Temples, another of the Seventh Wonder of the World, we have seen two now!
The temples were made in the 12th Century for one of the Khmer (Cambodian) Kings. There were hundreds of temples made which span across a huge area of land around the outskirts of Siem Reap.
We were told that the best time to see the main temple would be at sunset so we got up at around 5am so that we would get to the temple at 6am just in time for sunrise.
Once we got there, we were in complete darkness and had to wit for about 45 minutes until the sun started to rise. Finally the sun rose and the temple did look pretty amazing with all of the shadows forming around it.
I personally thought that the sunrise at the Taj Mahal was better although Anth preferred this one.
Once the sun had risen we went into the temple and had a look around. Then started to walk the grounds.
I don't know if I should compare the two, some people (Anthony) would probably argue that the Taj and Angkor are two completely different things, but seeing as they are both temples in my eyes, I will say that I preferred the Taj Mahal for beauty but Angkor Wat because you didn't get people pestering you and trying to rip you off all of the time. Also, you could be in and out of the Taj within an hour but because Angkor is so big, people recommend that you spend a week there all in all so that you can see the whole thing properly - er, no thanks!
We lasted 5 hours.
You had to get a tuk tuk to each of the temples as they were too far apart to walk but after you'd seen 2, they all looked the bloody same anyway.
After about 4 and a half hours, Anth was bursting for a wee and as there were no toilets in sight, we felt it a little disrespectful to pea up the side of a temple so we took it as our cue to leave.
Once we got back to our hotel, we picked up our luggage and got the tuk tuk driver to take us to Maloney's. Our room wasn't ready when we arrived and as it was still only 10am we both got a Full English Breakfast. Well it is Christmas!
After this we went to our hotel room and it was so nice! We had a huge balcony, a four poster bed and a lovely tiled bathroom. We were rather chuffed with ourselves for finding a little diamond in the rough especially over Xmas!
We went to the supermarket later on in the day to buy loads of chocolate, crisps and vodka, like I say, we wanted to make this Xmas feel as homely as ever!
What made it even better is that the movie channels on our TV were playing all sorts of Xmas films over all of the festive period. We spent Xmas Eve eating, drinking, watching films and getting very excited about tomorrow!
Day 95 -
Christmas Day!! Wooooh! We had both said to each other not to bother getting each other presents but I woke up to one of Anthony's old socks hanging at the end of my bed filled with a Mars Bar, Dream and Cadbury's Fruit and Nut AND a note from FC! The best presents ever especially because I wasn't expecting anything!
Expecting to see snow out of our windows when we opened the curtains we were astonished to find a 45 degree temperature and the biggest sun ever! We therefore closed the curtains and made a pact not to open them for anything all day. We pretended that is was freezing cold by turning the air-con right up and snuggling under the duvet!
We had decided against the Xmas dinner that Maloney's was cooking as it was too expensive and no money can buy a Xmas dinner that would taste as good as mine or Anth's Mum's!!!
Instead our Xmas dinner comprised of chocolate spread butties and a tube of Pringles! Yummy! We wanted to see what the atmosphere was like at night time. I also needed a new pair of sandals so we walked to the local market, just by Pub Street to get some. Anth couldn't come near the market though as the smell of fish coming from it nearly made him spew! I didn't find any sandals anyway and the atmosphere was no different than normal. It might be Xmas Day for us but it's just another day in the factory for the Cambodians! About 9pm we went to a Mexican Bar to have our Xmas drink. We also rang home and managed to talk to all of our family which was quite a tearful experience and us miss home quite a lot but it was really nice to hear everyone's voices none-the-less. Day 96 - Boxing day. We wanted to get some cheaper accommodation as Maloney's was USD25.00 per night and quite a lot over our budget. We set off with our backpacks in the morning and found somewhere after searching for about an hour. After chilling out for a bit we went to book our cooking course for tomorrow. We ended up staying at this bar for a few drinks and some really nice fresh spring rolls which I will be making tomorrow! Day 97 - Our cooking course started at 1pm so the morning time was spent doing nothing apart from waiting around. Once we arrived at the restaurant we were introduced to the other 'students', a family of 3 from Australia who were really nice and ended up giving us loads of tips of where to go when we get there. We were taken to the local market to buy the fresh fruit, veg and meats that we would need for the dishes. I was making fresh spring rolls and beef curry and Anth was making spicy prawn salad and Amok chicken. The lesson was so much fun and the spring rolls were a great hit! My new favourite food I think! There was just too much to eat in one setting though so we had any spares put into a doggy bag to take back to our hotel! At night we just chilled out and ate the remaining spring rolls! Day 98 - Today was just a chill out day. In the morning we just walked around the city and window shopped. The afternoon we spent at the hotel then at night we went out. There was some important football match on that Anth wanted to watch so one of the bars had a big screen TV outside so we went there for drinks and food. I tried a crocodile kebab which was really nice - just like chicken but chewier!
Instead our Xmas dinner comprised of chocolate spread butties and a tube of Pringles! Yummy! We wanted to see what the atmosphere was like at night time. I also needed a new pair of sandals so we walked to the local market, just by Pub Street to get some. Anth couldn't come near the market though as the smell of fish coming from it nearly made him spew! I didn't find any sandals anyway and the atmosphere was no different than normal. It might be Xmas Day for us but it's just another day in the factory for the Cambodians! About 9pm we went to a Mexican Bar to have our Xmas drink. We also rang home and managed to talk to all of our family which was quite a tearful experience and us miss home quite a lot but it was really nice to hear everyone's voices none-the-less. Day 96 - Boxing day. We wanted to get some cheaper accommodation as Maloney's was USD25.00 per night and quite a lot over our budget. We set off with our backpacks in the morning and found somewhere after searching for about an hour. After chilling out for a bit we went to book our cooking course for tomorrow. We ended up staying at this bar for a few drinks and some really nice fresh spring rolls which I will be making tomorrow! Day 97 - Our cooking course started at 1pm so the morning time was spent doing nothing apart from waiting around. Once we arrived at the restaurant we were introduced to the other 'students', a family of 3 from Australia who were really nice and ended up giving us loads of tips of where to go when we get there. We were taken to the local market to buy the fresh fruit, veg and meats that we would need for the dishes. I was making fresh spring rolls and beef curry and Anth was making spicy prawn salad and Amok chicken. The lesson was so much fun and the spring rolls were a great hit! My new favourite food I think! There was just too much to eat in one setting though so we had any spares put into a doggy bag to take back to our hotel! At night we just chilled out and ate the remaining spring rolls! Day 98 - Today was just a chill out day. In the morning we just walked around the city and window shopped. The afternoon we spent at the hotel then at night we went out. There was some important football match on that Anth wanted to watch so one of the bars had a big screen TV outside so we went there for drinks and food. I tried a crocodile kebab which was really nice - just like chicken but chewier!
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