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Sun 13th Jan -
Got up at 0715hrs and our bus left for Siem Reap. Onboard we received free water and a sweet bun which were demolished before the driver even got into first gear. After 4 and a half hours we arrived in Siem Reap and were met at the bus by a tuk tuk driver who was escorting us to the guesthouse which we had booked through our friend back in Phnom Penh. We got to #10 guesthouse (original eh?) and decided on the room with no air con for $8. We went for lunch and the guy in the restaurant insisted on putting on a video on the history of Cambodia. We booked the same tuk tuk driver to take us around the temples of Angkor for the following two days as they are spread over a vast area. Had a smoke in our room and dicussed how in God's name we were ever gonna get up at 4am to meet him to watch the sunrise over Angkor Wat.
Mon 14th Jan -
Up and out for 0445hrs in the pitch black. For some reason we forgot it would be dark at this time in the morning and managed to forget a torch, and we also managed to forget the book our tuk tuk driver had kindly leant us describing the full history of all the temples. Och well, we will make the most of it eh? Bald cannae read and Laney disnae care anyway! This guys tuk tuk was slightly faster than previous we had been on and the wind was freezing our uncovered bodies/, shorts and vest top are ok for mid day heat but not for night time. The roads were surprisingly busy for this time in the morning, but we came to the conclusion that most people try to get as much work done before the scorching sun comes out to play. Whilst whizzing along we passed a few lorries carrying a shed load of ice and even spotted a man on a moped with 2 dead Alsatians strapped to the back. Mmmmm glad we're not goin to his for dinner ( are we?)!! We arrived at Angkor Wat and had our pictures taken and placed onto our tickets and had a cup of coffee before our tuk tuk pointed in the direction we had to go as he watched us trip and stumble through the dark desperately trying to follow other peoples' torch lights. Death defiantly we reach our final destination and sit on a rock by the lake waiting for sunrise. As it got lighter we heard some commotion and turned to find an old biddy had rocked off her wee plastic chair and was laying legs akimbo. Trying to hold back the giggles and keep and eye on the view through the tears we made a picture of this Kodak moment. After sunrise we walked around but as we had forgotten our book we had no insight into all the carvings and sculptures. As we strolled thru the maze of buildings and tamples we bumped into our friend Peter (the Christmas tree dancing Swede we met in Nam). Some scary noise were coming from over yonder as we sat and had breakfats together and as we peered over the wall to take a lok it appeared to be a mentally handicapped monk whacking his head with his hands. Seemingly there is no health system in place to care for these people and the country is so poorly educated nobody can understand their needs. The monks would be the most educated and they take them in to look after them. Jeez what a long morning and it is not even 9am yet. Back to our tuk tuk and off to next temple.
We templed around all day, climbing huge stairs, to reach some funny face, which had been carved into the side of a brick. Dunno why they made such huge stairs and tiny doorways, which lead to virtually nothing. As there were so many weird and wacky figures around all the temple grounds we decided it was time to make more hugs for our friend Carolyn, and of course some crude and suggestive ones too. What?? It was just so tempting! We arrived back at the guesthouse at 3pm and crashed and burned till 7pm, when we got up for dinner and had a good old giggle about Cuba Gooding Junior. We booked our flights to Laos after careful consideration after being told that the company is a death trap. We basically couldn't be arsed with 2 days traveling by land when we could get on a 45min possible death flight. We worked out the odds and reckoned we were safer flying.
Tues 15th Jan -
Got tuk tuk at 9am and set off for some more temples. Bloody miles we traveled this day. They certainly were not thinking about tourists when they built these bleedin temples. It was a nice drive thru the countryside taking in new sights (well Bald slept)!
We passed a tuk tuk which had taken a detour down a grass verge and had landed on it wee tin roof. We stopped and checked for wounded people with camera in hand of course. there were 2 white girls who appeared to be fine so we dived back in and prayed that our driver kept all 3 wheels on the road. Our next stop included more firkin beggin children. I'm telling you I am slowly likening to the idea of sending my children out to beg as they fair tug on the old heart strings. So we bought 10 bracelets for a dollar from one wee girl and as we moved away were approached by another girl with the same offer but also including a wooden flute - Robbed!!!
We appreciated these wee kids more than the temples os everywhere we went we wound them up. A couple tried to get us to buy juice and asked where we were from swiftly telling us the Edinburgh was the capital. We tell them maybe later and on our way out of the temple they remember our names and come at us like Willy Wallace against the English. Oh no I think Laney may have a soft side. We walked over to the big ice box to buy juice and there were more kids and a bloody baby. So instead of us quenching our thirst we bought all the kids juice and gave the mother $5 for the baby. I know what you are thinking. They will just chuck the cans back and sell them again. We already thought of that and made them open them and we watched them drink it!! HaHaHa I know but hey it was a gift.
All templed out we went home for a smoke. Susan had realized this morning that she could not find her camera so when we got back we started the hunt for it. As she misplaces everything she touches we thought we would come across it and our 2 memory cards that were with it. Somehow from somewhere little Bald started to have flashbacks that she may have left it all lying on the bed in the last place in bleedin Phnom Penh of all places. Donkey!! Off for sunset over the temples at 4pm and hiked a hill dodging elephants and scaling more giant steps. As we reached the top it appeared that a few hundred other shechting tourists had got there already. We sat on a step and became the star attraction as all the wee Chinesey folk started snapping us with their cameras. We watched the sun setting and met Evelyn (Singapore girl we met in Nam) and took some pictures of some right wierdos. En route back to the tuk tuk we had a smoke and as night fel we stumbled over tree stumps and beggars. When we reached the bottome we looked in shock to see that there were now 5000 tuk tuks parked in the place we were dropped off. Nightmare!! Somehowe though Laney has the scent of a fox and sniffed out that old leather seat we had been perched on for days. Back for dinner and telly is not working so we stick on a film recommended by Bald called Daddy Day Care in the main reception area. As all the TV's were out everyone started coming thru from their rooms. We pretended we didn't know who had put the film on or what it was for that matter. Slowly the numbers diminished as they dropped like flies back to their room and we followed shortly after.
Wed 16th Jan -
Took tuk tuk at 0930hrs to the market and wandered around. Sue got a puma top and then we went to the old market and bought 2 Lonely Planet guides. We felt we deserved some new music for our entertainment so we update our I pods with new tunes and got some clothes from Boom Boom Music room. On our way back to #10 who do you think we bumped into. None other than Ross and Sean, so we agreed to meet them after they had been to the orphanage.
Back at the hotel we chilled out and ate a feast. Walked to pick up our Ipods and Sue had no room on hers, not even for her number one request Cabbage Garden. Donkey!!
The boys came round and we went to the red piano so they could eat. We sauntered over to Molly Malones after that and had some fruit juice. Laney and Sue have been off the bev for 9 days now!!
Back at the hotel we played with a bouncing shuttle c*** we bought in Phnom Penh which cause much amusement and noise from the room. We had a good night and listened to new tunes on the Ipods. Our new found friend Feather c*** got munched by the fan a few times too (heids), the noise of which caused concern for the guys at reception. The boys left after midnight slightly concerned at our decision to go flying with Laos Airlines the following morning. We said our see ya later's and hopefully not goodbyes and crashed (out) for the night.
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