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When we last left you we were getting a bus back to Bangkok and were hoping to get an overnight coach to Cambodia that same day. When we arrived in Bangkok at 5am, we were then told we had to wait until 11am to pick up our passports and there are no overnight buses, they all leave in the morning so we had to stay the night and go the next morning. We booked back into the D&D, the same place where we stayed when we first went to Bangkok and went to bed for 5 hours! After we picked up our passports, Melissa realised someone had nabbed some travellers cheques and 100 pound worth of money. So it was lucky that we did have to stay in Bangkok as we spent the majority of the day on the phone trying to sort it out. Nightmare! That night we went and had a nice meal, until some guy came up to our table with a bag of deep fried bugs and was trying to make us eat them! He settled with Jade just holding the cockroach to her mouth! We had an early night as had to be up early the next morning to catch the coach..turned out we didn't have much sleep as we were woken by the biggest thunderstorm ever, nothing we've ever heard before!! It was scary!
We caught the coach at 7.30am to Siem Reap in Cambodia. It took 4 and a half hours to get to the border on the bumpiest road ever! We got conned yet again, over charged for our visas and were told to draw out more thai baht and get it changed to riel, the local currency. But it was exchanged at a rubbish rate and we then found out that they take dollars more commonly than riel anyway! We met two guys from Switzerland who were on the same coach, so then shared a taxi with them from the border to Siem Reap which took another 3 hours. We saw our first donkey, yay!!! There were also loads of really thin cows that we had to keep stopping for while they crossed the roads. There was a massive dead pig upside down on the back of a moped and dozens of dead chickens hanging upside down. (You wouldn't of liked it mummy!) We then got into a tuk tuk which was our first one, we ended up staying at the Green town guest house, the rooms weren't great, felt a bit prison like but were pretty cheap. Once we were settled in, we took a stroll and the first thing that hit us was how friendly everyone was. Everyone wanted to say hello to us! Near our hostel we felt we were the only westerners but when we got into the livelier bit of town called Pub street, it was immediately more touristy so we felt safer! As we pulled up we saw the two swiss guys so went and sat with them and had some foody. We ended up staying out drinking with them, there names were Cedric and Fabian! On the streets there were lots of beggars and children trying to sell books and postcards. There were mines victims playing music for money. We arranged to meet the guys the following night then got a tuk tuk back. The next morning we had some breakfast then went to Angkor Wat, one of the 8th wonders of the world! When we arrived there we got out the tuk tuk and all the little kids bombarded us, trying to sell food, water and books! Angkor Wat was absolutely amazing, there was a long walk way with a river either side, we don't think the pictures do it justice, especially as it was a rainy day. There were lots of people getting married there, it was beautiful to see. It was absolutely massive, took ages to walk all the way around, we saw monkeys on the way around! All down the sides of the walls were engravings of soldiers and war, it didn't take us long to start taking funny pictures though. It couldn't be all cultural after all! We then moved onto Angkor Thom, another temple. In the pictures, its the one with all the faces. This was also pretty wicked to see. We then went back to the guesthouse, we tried to cross one of the roads and got stuck half way! There were mopeds and tuk tuks trying to dodge us either side! It was quite funny! That night we went back into town and watched an Apsara dance show in Temple Club. The girls were stunning, had amazing costumes. We both tried the local cuisine, Khmer Curry..you should all be proud! It's actually really yummy but we weren't brave enough to try Amok! We met the guys and took a stroll around the night market. We were in heaven, loads of jewlerry. We also witnessed a fish foot massage but we knew if we had got in we would of screamed our heads off so took a miss despite the guy going "You dont try you never know!" When we walked out of the market, a little girl beggar attached herself to Melissa's arm, she wouldn't let go and was begging for food. It was quite sad to see but it says to not give them anything as it goes against what the charitys are trying to do for them. We spent the evening having a few cocktails and got slightly merry! But again had to get a coach early the next morning so headed back around 2 after saying goodbye to the guys.
Next morning we got picked up at 8.30 to get the coach to Phnom Penh. On the coach we met a girl whose dad lived in Peasedown..small world! Half way there, we stopped off for some food but got a bit carried away with the time and nearly missed the bus! We were the last ones on and it left as soon as we stepped on! Oops! The next part of the journey wasn't very nice, its something we'll never forget and something we wont talk about on here. We arrived at 3.30pm and took a tuk tuk to the Boeng Kak Area, we stayed at the Grand view guesthouse, tiny little room but very cheap! We took a walk to another little guesthouse on the lake to have a drink and got chatting to the manager whose english name was Shaun! He told us about how the Cambodiens are fighting with the Thais because the thais are claiming something that the cambodiens built as their own. He also told us a sad story about the lake and how its slowly being filled in to become a 5* hotel, meaning all the local guesthouses are being knocked down and all the families are having to move out.
That night we watched the killing fields which was on in a restaurant as we were going to see it the next day. We then went back and had an early night.
The next day was the anniversary of being away for one month! Yay! We treated ourselves to beans on toast for breakfast and a nice nana shake before taking a tuk tuk to the killing fields. It was really sad looking at all the mass graves were, there were different categorys for the graves such as naked women and children and another for headless victims. There were odd bones scattered around, we even saw a tooth on the floor. It was quite eerie seeing a tower of skulls and the signs for the age ranges. There were also a pile of clothes underneath of the victims. After seeing enough sadness, we went back to the hostel and had an afternoon nap!! Lou lou had a shower but then the water wouldn't come out for Jade so she couldn't have a shower. Lou lou had to hold a peg on her nose as it had been a very hot and sticky day! That night we had a nice meal in a restaurant that had a cute little pug doggy called Chook. You weren't allowed to feed her cause she was too fat! But we kept "accidently" dropping food and she'd eat it! haha! We did some research over a pot of tea, what english losers!! Whilst we were doing this there was a massive down pour of rain and the streets were flooded! We went to bed but because we had an afternoon nap we couldn't get to sleep! We ended up reading our books till 2.30 in the morning!!
The next morning we had a bit of a lie in then headed to the National Museum. We thought it would be a very cultural and interesting day, turns out we didn't have a clue what we were looking at and we were in a bit of a giggly mood! To top it off, we couldn't even get any cultural pictures for you mummy's as you weren't allowed cameras!
So bit of a waste of a day but atleast we can say we went to a museum!! Haha! Now we are writing this blog to you before we shower and have a nice evening meal. Were being picked up tomorrow at 8 in the morning to head to Ho Chi Min City in Vietnam. Its a 6 hour journey so we should hopefully arrive around 2ish.
We will get our vietnam blog to you as soon as possible! Love you all lots and lots and lots. Jadey and lou lou xxxxxxxxxxxx
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