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Siem Reap & Angkor Wat
On our way from Sihanoukville to Siem Reap we actaully took a 24 hour detour via Phnom Pehn as the bus went this way anyway, and a friend of ours who Sarah worked with the the University was also there. So we met our friends for dinner and drinks before moving on to Siem Reap the next morning.
It is pitch black and absolutely chucking it down when we arrive at the muddy bus station in Siem Reap, but there is a tuk tuk driver waiting for our business when we arrive and to make it even better he tells us that the ride is free as long as we consider using him to take us to Angkor Wat over the next couple of days. We were dubious but the guy had a business head and he took us to exactly where we needed to be, and he even recommended a better guest house than the one we were originally ging to stay at! He also didn't ask for any money and helped us with our bags etc. We agreed a pick up time for the morning to get stuck in straight away to Angkor Wat's famous temples which are about a 15 minute tuk tuk ride out of Siem Reap.
So day 1 at Angkor Wat was very nice and we arrange a thorough programme with the driver at the start of the day. We visited Angkor Thom first and spent most of our time at Bayon (see photos if you have a spare day or two!).We then went on to; Ta Prohm, To Keo, Banterey Kdei. We had a little day left at the end of the day so we decided to go to Angkor Wat to watch the sunset (we'd been told it was amazing)...but as we sat there the sky got darker, the air got thicker and it started to rain! We watched as people ran under cover, and to their cars fumbling for umbrellas as they went, but we just sat there in the rain and watched the beautiful thunderstorm make Angkor Wat temple look eerie and dark. Of course we were soaked to the skin within minutes but we weren't bothered and we eventually decided to go home.
Angkor Wat day 2 - due to the rain at sunset we agreed with the tuk tuk driver to get up and do sunrise instead - so he was there at 5am as we came out of the guest house bleary eyed. But asit grew lighter it soon became apparent that the sunrise was also going to be a wash out!! We stood with a dozen or so other disappointed and wet tourists watching the sky as it gradually grew lighter. Of course about 30 mins after the sun had (apparently) come up, the clouds cleared and the sunshine came out!! Anyway on day two we did the rest of Angkor that we wanted to see; Angkor Wat, Preah Khan, Neak Pean, Ta Som, East Mebon and Pre Rup. Due to the early start we were back for a late lunch and nap!
Siem Reap is a really lovely town with some very nice hotels lining the riverside, not least to mention Raffles. it's also really nice just walking around and we also went to Psar Chaa and central market. The next day we were due to leave to go back to Thailand but Jo was very ill so we stayed another day; long bumpy bus journeys are not too enjoyable with a pooly tummy!! The pitfalls of Cambodian cookery!
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