Hi!!! So long since our last blog entry you will have to forgive us as the last 2 times I have put an entry on here it has not saved so fingers crossed for this time!!

After our treks in Chaing Mai, which I really loved (especially the Bamboo rafting because our team beat Woody's!) We then headed back to Bangkok on the train and from there got a bus to Aranya Phratet near the Cambodian border. From there its only a quick tut tuk ride to the border at Poipet.

I really wasn't prepared for the border crossing at all it was crazy. As you walk through you realise how very different Cambodia is to Thailand its like steping into another world. There are so many child beggars there its very upsetting as none of them have shoes and there was one little boy with out clothes. It really is enough to break your heart especially as some of the kids are barely old enough to speak and they just hold their hands out to you or grab you. We had to spend the night in Poipet as by the time we crossed over it was night time and the buses had stoped. I think we both found that night pretty hard as Poipet is a horrible and depressing place and you can't give money to the children as it encourages the parents to send them out begging but it is very very hard. I wanted to take them all home its not fair.

In the morning we took a ride to Siam Riep. There is no road only a track because the air lines pay off the goverment to stop them building a road so that the tourists continue to fly in. So you can imagine the ride, they call it the bum breaker! We got there in just 3 1/2 hours which is very good timing. In Cambodia when you go to get your drivers licence they ask you, 'Do you want to learn how to drive or do you want your licence?' So you can imagine!! I had my eyes closed for most of it!

Siam Riep was fantastic it completely turned my impression of Cambodia around. Its a really special place and they do alot for the kids here with restaurants who take in the kids to train them up so that they will have jobs and lots of charity work for the land mine victims. The place is full of French colonial buildings, some of them were beautiful. We stayed in a guest house which was lovely and we watched a huge storm from the balcony it was one of the best places we have visted especialy because of Angkor.

We hired a tuk tuk driver to take us round the temples of Angkor because its huge and such an amazing place. I hope the pictures speak for them selves there was so much to take in. Some of the temples are very well preserved like Angkor Wat and others like Angkor Prohn (Where parts of the tomb raider were filmed) are left for nature to take its course with huge trees and vines all over them.

After Siam Riep we headed back to the border and shared a car with a dutch guy we met who had lived in Cambodia for 3 years so he was able to tell us alot about the history and culture. Its a good job we had him to make the time go faster as it took 5 1/2 hours as the rains had made the roads impossible.

From Poipet we made out way back to Bangkok.......