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Wed 3rd,Checked out of hotel about 9ish,got picked up in a tuk tuk and taken to the bus station ready for the 11.30 bus to Phnom Penh,your never to sure what sort of bus you are going to get, they always call them VIP busses but in reality you could be getting a local bus,no air con,packed stinking of pooh and very uncomfortable,we have even heard of people getting on with all sorts of livestock luckily we hav'nt had that yet(unless flies, ants and other flying things count)but we were lucky this time it was a nice bus and quite comfy to.Our visas had run out by 2 day's so we were still not sure if we would get hassle,we had heard that we might have to give the border guards a bribe($5),on the bus you just give the guide your passport and $25 and they sort it all out for you,he noticed our visas were out of date and said we might have to pay,when we were in line at the border I was first up,he hardly looked at it, I was through with the $5 still in my pocket not his,then Ian and then Jamie,no hassle at all very easy in fact,arrived about 6pm after a good journey,the madness begins when the bus pulls up,the tuk tuk drivers know what time the busses arrive and loads of them are banging on the windows trying to get your custom,we got our deal done and took us to the Happy Guesthouse $10 per room per night,not to bad.walked around a bit then bed.
Thurs 4th,early morning pick up for a trip to the Killing Fields and S-21 museum,we had arranged the night before with our tuk tuk man to have him all day,it was a bit of a way out but we got to the Killing fields first,I did'nt really know too much about the history of Cambodia so we paid for a guide,unless you have been here and know what the place is all about you would not belive it,such a sad and eerrie place when you are standing in a place where so many people were brutally beaten to death by thier own people and just shoved into a ditch and left to die if they were'nt already dead from the blows,it's not a very big place but it has so many thousand remains here,they have a glass monument with different bone parts in it on 3 levels,we then went on to S-21 museum,this is the place that the city people or anyone who was educated or even people who wore glassess(they thought if you wore them you were intelligent)were taken to be tortured and killed,horrible place but needed to be seen,I am reading a book now about Cambodia 1975-1982 a real eye opener about the Kymer and Pol Pot regime,will be able to talk about the history when I get home.
Fri 5th,On the move again,and another bus the 10.30 am to Siem Reap,again not quite VIP but not too bad,not as good as the last one though but still no livestock and it has air con so luxury really,you get used to the long trips,8 hours in England seems like years but here you just look at the country side,read a book or listen to music,you get a break stop where you can get a drink and some food which breaks it up a bit ,arrived at the bus station at 6pm,tuk tuk deal done and on our way to the Garden Village hotel(recommended from our last hotel)going down a dirt track when we bump into Matt and Erran,the Sleazy boy's are staying in the same hotel,were not stalking them honest,put our bags in the room then was taken to a temple to see the sunset,really busy but nice to see,went out for dinner with them at one of the street food stalls,$1 for a main meal,nice and enough of it,the boy's are up early so an early night for all of us.
Sat 6th,Sleazy boy's bus left at 5am,we got picked up by our tuk tuk man at 5.30 to see the sunrise over Angkor Wat,loads of people there but not a problem as it's such a big place so enough room to get some nice photo's,sun comes up from the side about 6.30am and over Angkor Wat itself about 7ish,well worth the wait what(no pun intended)a sight and we were there to see it,a tip we had was to stay for a while after,the sun rise's you get a nice reflexion from the lake infront,a lot of people dont see this as they leave,we spent 5hrs there altogether,then back in the tuk tuk to see another 4 more temples,the steps to get to the top are so steep and dangerous but they need to be done,quite funny to see some people struggling(oh that would be me then)bloody hot too,all the temples are different not as impressive as Angkor but great to see,met up with Fraggle and Jo for dinner,had a couple of drinks then bed,more temples tomorrow.
Sun 7th,got picked up at 9am,same tuk tuk man,6 temples to see today,some of them same same but a couple really different and unusal and not so many steep steps today so not so worn out,got back to hotel,meeting up with Fraggle and Jo,it's Jo's birthday today so will have a few drinks,met up with Karen and Bernie from Ireland,made it home about 5ish after a very quiet night club,about 15 people.
Mon 8th,Nice lay in,got up about 1pm,did'nt do a lot today as we were all templed out,had a walk around the town met up with the gang again,a few quiet drinks and off to bed.
Tues 9th,Again a relaxing day,the temples really take it out of you,we did 2 full day's but there are 100's of them here,we were never going to see them all,so they just pick the best one's,Jo and Fraggle found 3 very different one's miles away but we decided not to do them,booked a coach to the 4,000 islands,in another country.Laos
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