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Siem Reap, Cambodia 2nd - 9th April 2012
I arrived at Phuket airport around 2pm and checked in for my flight and waited for Sonia to check in for hers and then we went through customs, finally saying our goodbyes when I boarded my plane around 4:30. I arrived in Siem Reap at 7:30 and waited for my pick up that arrived an hour late. When I got to the guesthouse I was told that my booking got cancelled and that they didn't have room for the night (funny that they picked me up from the airport but anyhow) and that he arrange me to stay at his brothers hotel and I could come back to this guesthouse the next morning. So I did as I was told and got a good nights sleep and returned to the guesthouse in the morning where I asked for a room for two as Bart was joining me today. Bart arrived in the late afternoon so after we had settle in the room we walked into the town to get some food. The next day we slept in quiet late and then cycled around the town before heading back to the guesthouse to plan what we were going to do in Cambodia and how we were going to see the temples.
The following day we left around 11am on bikes and cycled the 7km to Angkor Wat, it was amazing the detail was incredible, it was a lot more impressive than some of the wonders of the world I have seen on this trip, why it is not in the top 7 is beyond me, even though its number 8 it should be higher. We spent over 2 hours walking around it and then decided to get some lunch before cycling back. That evening we arranged a tuk tuk to take us on a tour the following day around the other temples but first stopping of for sunrise at 5:30am at Angkor Wat. We visited everything on the grand and mini circuit in this one day and finally arrived back at the hostel at 4pm exhausted so we had a quick nap before meeting Ivan (my dive guide) for some drinks. Some drinks turned into a lot of drinks and a very late night although it was fun until Bart decided to break the fan in our room so it was very very hot. The next day I felt like crap but pushed on through and we visited other temples, on was the lady temple which was made from pink limestone - it was beautiful, that were further away and saw sunset a Pre Rup temple. That evening was a lot more chilled and we just walked around the markets.
The following two days o became ill again and decided that it was time to get some antibiotics to help my body. On the evening of the 9th we boarded a bus to Shinokville. The bus journey wasn't too bad we had sort of beds and I was excited because we were off to the beach and hopefully to do some diving.
The biggest thing I notice in Siem reap is the level of child poverty and the amount of them begging for food, money or for me to buy stuff. Again they used common quotes as used in Bangkok but this time they looked like they needed to next dollar. Some of the children were very good, they would ask where am I from - I would say England - they instantly come out with the capital, followed by the queens name, by the population and the president - I don't think all the children in England can name all of those things at 10 years old. Also they can count in a lot of languages - check out the video of one of the girls.
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