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Heya Everyone,
I think I might be on possibly the slowest computer yet in Siem Reap.
So carrying on from the last blog, me, Dave, Shimak, and Hellana travelled down from Veng Vieng and made it across the border. Shamik, Dave and myself were due to get the train from Non Khai, but Shamik had some stuff to sort out back at home and decided to fly the journey with Hellana instead.
Dave and myself spent a few hours exploring Non Khai, I must say that there isn't too much to see there as it is literally a transition point for people either heading north to Laos or South to Bangkok. However the Lonely Planet guide recommended a restaurant in town, I forget the name, but it was apparently famous all the way to Bangkok for its Spring Rolls, so we had to try them. They lived up to their reputation, they were pretty awesome.
After gorging on food Dave and I grabbed some beers for the train journey and hopped on board. We were surrounded by a load of crazy Thai women who were lovely, they appeared to have cleared out an entire market of food :), the amount of stuff they had was chicken oriental. Dave and I met a guy from L.A. called Jaime, he was really cool, a former special agent for the FBI.........how amazing does that job sound??? He was a pretty fascinating character, he had loads of stories to tell which kept us entertained for the journey, as well as the beers of course :). Jaime was also making his way to Cambodia, the same as me, so we planned to meet at a Guest house in Siem Reap for mid week which was cool.
After being chucked out of the bar on the train for closing we headed to Bedfordshire. We were rudely awakened by said Thai women, having a coffee morning at 05:00am with the train not due to arrive until 07:00am.........aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh. Jaime gave them a few death stares through his curtain, but it was no use, they just persisted.
Anywho we arrived at approximately 07:00am in Bangkok and sought to find where Shamik had crashed for the night. We found an internet cafe in the end and he had messaged Dave on Facebook saying that he was staying in the Honeymoon Suite of the Holiday inn............flashpacking it or what haha :). Needless to say me a Dave headed straight there to see him. It was pretty fancy, we crashed there for a few hours, had a shower, which was awesome and warm for once, I could definitely get used to that standard of hotel on my travels :)
After crashing for a few hours we hit one of Bankok's big ass shopping malls which was pretty impressive actually, however we didn't make it past the food hall, which was epic :). I had to be at the airport to fly to Phnom Penh at 15:25pm, so we went our separate ways at that point which was sad, I have had a great time with those guys, and Hellana of course, they will be sourely missed.
Anywho, managed to catch the flight to Phnom Penh by the skin of my teeth........very close. I had the slowest and oldest dude at passport control, the rage was building. I met a really well spoken and nice Cambodian guy on the plane who used to live in Phnom Penh, but now lives in Siem Reap and he was giving me some really useful tips on the culture etc; he even gave me his card if I got into any trouble whilst I was over here, how nice is that.
I headed for a Guest House called Last Home which was quite central to town and strategically placed by the Gym Bar where the Arsenal Chelsea game was being shown :). That turned out to be a waste of time :) we played well but Drogba just loves scoring against us and as for Alex's goal, well you just have a to take your hat off to him for that. I met an Australian Arsenal fan in the bar called Liam, who had wanted to stay at the Last Home Guest House but had his arm twisted to go where his Tuk Tuk driver wanted him to go. Anyway he moved into my guesthouse the next day and we had the same travel arrangements whilst in Cambodia, so we are sticking together.
We hit the Russian and Central markets and hit the killing fields and S-21 Prison the next day which was a bit morbid but really interesting all the same. We had some beers at the Foreign Correspondence Club that night which is a really cool bar in town. It has 3 floors with a great view over the city. I was really starting to like Phnom Penh by this point, it really grows on you if you give it a chance. Also I must say the Cambodian speciality dish called Amok is a must try, served in a banana leaf shaped into a bowl with steamed rice and either Fish, Chicken or Pork, it really is great, I am hooked on it :)
I only had 2 nights in Phnom Penh but I really liked it there. I think it divides opinions, you either love it or hate it, but I definitely loved it. It is a very wealthy area in parts, lots of nice cars being driven, which I didn't expect at all. The next morning Liam and I caught the bus to Siem Reap, which took about 7 hours........loooooooong. Any who, arrived in Siem Reap at night at around 19:00pm and was instantly impressed, it is a really nice place and very chilled. We are staying in a guest house called Shadow on Angkor which is a really nice place, with free internet although ridiculously slow and nice rooms.
Liam and I went out that night to Angkor Wat, a bar recommended by a few peeps back home. It was a pretty cool place and we bumped into Jaime as well which was a pleasant surprise, so we spent all night chilling there with a 3 litre tower of beer...........very nice.
We had a jam packed day of temple spotting today (06/10). We were up at 04:00am to catch sun rise over Angkor Wat, which turned out to be a massive anti-climax as it was raining and really cloudy, probably the worst sun rise on record haha :), what can you do. We went to a shed load of temples, including the one featured in Tomb Raider, which was pretty impressive; I was pretty templed out by the end of the day though.
The amount of kids trying to sell you stuff as well is crazy, they are absolutely relentless, but not in a bad way, they are pretty funny as well, you would struggle to loose your temper with any of them no matter how many there are. They proper hunt in packs and swarm you, but surprisingly you feel safe about your wallet and stuff, they aren't interested in fleecing you of your wallet, they just want a dollar bill off you.
After visiting loads of temples Liam and I took a boat trip to see the floating villages and forest which was pretty cool, it was a bit out of the way but it was good to break up the days activities with something different.
Apart from currently sitting in an internet cafe, I think that covers all activities over the last few days. We have another days temple spotting tomorrow, we are also visiting the land mine museum which will be interesting I am sure. So one more night in Siem Reap after this one then we are both catching the boat to Battambong, which is meant to be a really nice route. After this we are heading our separate ways, I will be travelling to Bangkok before flying to Kuala Lumpar and then on to Borneo to join up with my organised 10 day treck, which I am really looking forward to and Liam is off to Vietnam.
Its all go. I hope everyone back at home is ok. Jamo you better be practising your squash skills for my return, Mr. Miagi is turning me into an absolute world beater over here :).
Over and out X
- comments
linda Hi Peter Great blog sounds like you are still having a great time. Just a quick note because I need you to phone me - email isn't working at the mo and I need to give you a phone number because the bank have tried to contact you.
Nic Hey...! Think we may have crossed paths somewhere in the night as I travelled siem reap to phnom peng...still here :( due to illness...and as yet it's not grown in me!! I dunno, feels like IRS lost it's soul, that comparing to Bangkok and alike,possibly unfair, but like you say oppinion divided! So you flying everywhere?! Jeez where u getting the dollar?!!! Waiting to get on into Vietnam HCMC, but after a week in cities, really can't wait to get out of the smog and chill a bit -Nha Trang will be first beach potential... Had a driver for angkor who took us to the mini killing fields shrine in siem reap...morbid as you say! We held off Angkor for the day last week which was buddist holiday, and went the day after, sunrise was ok, some cloud and major difficult to photograph-bit behind uploading pics but faves were ta phrom and te keo...bit underwhelmed with Angkor if I'm honest! Anyway, just wanted to say hi....got to go to take said sick person to the Brit travel clinic - hope and prey it's not dengue....but pretty bad shape...and now petrified I'll get something soon! Over and out chrimbo nic x
rone Good stories Pete, the spring rolls sound perfect but I'm not sure the 7hr bus trips are worth it. Keep trekking.