So here we are on our second day in Siem Reap having just spent a very long day at Angkor Wat.

We arrived yesterday having left Phnom Penh very early in the morning (we had to get up at 6am after going to bed at 2am thanks to some Canadians we met.) Feelings about Phnom Penh were mixed. We had visited the Choueng Ek Killing Fields and the Toul Sleng Genocide museum the day before which was a pretty heavy day. It seems really strange to think that the events of the Khmer Rouge happened within most people's living memory. Some of the things in the Toul Sleng Museum were just horrific - in some rooms there were just old beds that the inmates would have slept on with a black and white photo of an inmate who had been murdered. It was pretty sickening to look at but also really interesting to hear an account of some prisoners' lives. We were glad to leave.
We also went to the Royal Palace which was a huge let down - most of the areas were prohibited because its the king's residence' as well as the fact that they ripped us off going in - unlike the rest of SE Asia they won't let you wrap a shawl around your shoulders for modesty instead you have to buy a t shirt from a conveniently located t shirt vendor at the entrance!

So we left Phnom Penh yesterday morning on a $4, 6 hr bus journey which wasn't too bad. There were lots of locals on the bus who stared at us a lot - i think we're still a bit of a novelty. We arrived in Siem Reap in the afternoon and pretty much went straight to Angkor Wat for sunset which was awesome - apart from the hundreds of Japanese/Korean tourists getting in everyone's way. We arranged with our driver to pick us up at 4:30am this morning to see sunrise at Angkor Wat which was pretty awesome - got some amazing pictures. We spent about 8 hours looking around the temples but it was so hot that we couldn't cope having so little sleep and it was incredibly dusty. Some of the temples were incredible like Bayon - it had hundred of faces carved into it. And Ta Prohm which has tree roots growing out of it and was used for filming in Tomb Raider! It was really cool to see and I'm glad that we did it but it was just ridiculously hot.

We are staying in Siem Reap for a couple more days then we are going south to Sihanoukville to the Cambodian beaches for a while as they are supposed to have a really cool backpacker scene. Pictures to follow on facebook tomorrow!