WOW! I really love this place. Didn't know what to expect but already am so pleased I included it on my trip (after my scare in Phuket I nearly didn't!). Yesterday was a really long 16 hour journey from Bangkok. The border crossing was a little intimidating and gave you an immediate feeling of being in a different country. Just a few metres of land seperates Thailand and Cambodia and yet it is completely different. There are NO roads! There is no infrastructure! It was one hell of a ride from the border through to Siem Reap. A truly memorable experience as we bounced along the road dodging pot holes, having the way lit up ahead with the most stunning orange and red lightning! Will never forget it. We arrived in the hostel quite late and very tired so today was the first real glimpse we've had. The people are such lovely, happy, smiley people. Although I also know that to scratch beneath the surface would show a country of contradictions. Light and dark, old and new, rich and poor, love and hate, life and death are all visible on a journey through this amazing kingdom, but the most telling of all is the glorious past set against Cambodias tragic present. Cambodia is still recovering from a generation of warfare and violence, including almost four years (1975-1979) of rule by the genocidal Khmer Rouge. They turned the clocks back to "Year Zero" killing almost 2 million Cambodians and laying to waste the country's prerevolutionary culture. Thankfully the Khmer Rouge are finished but their legacy lives on in broken families, the law of the gun and landmines littering remote areas. Just today whilst at Angkor Wat (the world's largest religious building) a monk told us of his family and how he can no longer see his brother because he once fought and killed during the rule of Pol Pot. The temples of Angkor are truly awe inspring with some of the most incredible bas reliefs in the world - the detail in these places are breath taking. Have had soo much fun today riding around the temples on the back of a motor bike. The attitude of the people is really great and very realxed - like the road rules!!! Took an elephant up to a look out point at sunset today. Am just off out to meet up with Stephen, Brian, Conner and Derek. Good food, good company and incredible awe-inspiring scenery. Need I say more?! Night night x