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Hey Guys,
Well last time i was in a place on the main land of Thailand called Chantaburri, we only really stayed there to break up the travelling to Cambodia and see a bit of real Thailand off the beaten track. We stayed there one night and made way for Cambodia by bus (Oh God). To be fair it wasnt that bad as it was quite smooth going as we took a taxi to the bus station then a 4 hour bus ride to a place called Arepafet, that was an experience as i had to stand most of the way as even though we bought a ticket you are not guaranteed a seat so eventually i had one when others got off at there stop. When we got to our stop there was another taxi ride then to the border to the town of Poi Phet where we had to get our Cambodian visa, that was hardwork as we had to get out visa in one place then queue for and hour and a half to get it stamped before we were allowed in to the country. Eventually when all this was done we walked in to Cambodia and oh my it was nothing like i expected even when it was so close to Thailand, it was like another world so dusty, dirty and smoggy as none of the roads were tarred and poverty like i have never experienced. We were met by taxi people straight away when we entered giving us prices to Siem Reap as we now decided we didnt want to spend a night here as the lonely planet guide described it as a sess pit and only saty if you have to. So we agreed a price with the taxi guys and then we had another 4 hour drive to Siem Reap, it was a nightmare as it was a constantly bumpy road all the way for 4 hours which wasnt good.
So eventually we got there and then passed on to tuk-tik drivers who were going to take us to hotels, we had a few in mind on the recomendation of the lonely planet guide. We saw the first 2 and they we full but the third was available and it was about 6 dollars which is cheap for a double room and we are 2 minutes from everything.
The next day we blimbled around the town to get our bearings and see whats about. The town of Siem Reap is so different compared to Poi Phet as they have tarred roads to start but you can see it has been westernised for tourism as there are massive hotel resorts here and a street with quite posh restaraunts which i was suprised about. The town seems to be more relaxed and chilled out compared to Thai cities and anything seems to go here, we walked in to a pub earlier called the dead fish tower which basically was a bar/ restaraunt with a crocodile pit, wierd. Apparently it used to be a crocodile farm and they didnt want to sell the remaining ones there when it changed to a restaraunt.
Today we went to see the floating markets on the lake, we took a boat ride around all the shacks that people live in which was an eye opener as it is such a different way of life especially compared to a town where we were 10 minutes away, it makes you so grateful for what you have. There were 5 or 6 yr olds working selling drinks and begging which was hard to look at but they are just earning a living, we bought a drink from them when ever we needed but didnt give them money as you just cant give them all money. The boat ride was good, very peaceful and interesting, we stopped at a floating restaraunt area where they had different animals there, life, crocodiles, some shark type of fish, turtles and even snakes which i held, which was cool. The we went back on the boat to watch the sunset in the lake then headed back to the docks where the tuk-tuk driver took us back home, the wholle thing cost $15 which isnt really uch when you think about it.
Anyway there isn't a lot to do here or see apart from Angkorwot which is the main reason we stopped here, our plan is to catch the sunrise tomorrow and see as much as we can until sunset, then we are out for New years eve, there is a place called Pub street that has all bars and restaraunts so that should be good for NYE as they close the road and everyone parties in the street, so until then i will tell you how it went and how riugh i am the next day.
Adios
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