Cambodia

The morning we left for the Cambodian border we got up early and got a taxi. The taxi ended up taking up to the wrong bus terminal and we ended up trying to race to the right one so we could get the bus in time. We managed to get the bus which took five hours to reach the border. At the border we were taken to the official entry point at Poipet and then had a horrendous couple of hours of queuing and filling out forms. Cambodia uses US dollars and their own currency Riel alongside one another. It cost us $20 to enter the country. We then caught a bus to Siem Reap on the other side which we were told would take 3 hours but took around 5. During that time they stopped off for a break and I was swarmed by children trying to take all my jewellery and ask for money.  Crossing over into Cambodia, it is immediately obvious that it is much poorer than Thailand. They have a horrific history and it was only a few years ago that they were liberated from the Khmer Rouge and it's leader Pol Pot. However, the Khmers are a really lovely people and  we found them so friendly. Siem Reap is a very small city but we really liked it there. We also met some lovely people, one of these was our Turkish friend Aslan who we rented out bicycles out with. I couldn't remember the last time I got on a bicycle but we ended up cycling around 100km over three days around Angkor Wat, which is 8km outside Siem Reap and what many people call the 8th Wonder of the World. It consists of about 60 ancient temples which are over 1000 years old. Unlike England which would have everything sealed off with ropes and fences you can climb all over them. Jake's bike chain snapped whilst we were out in the middle of nowhere at the temples but luckily we found some Khmers that were happy to help and we were surrounded by a massive crowd all trying to do what they thought was best. Luckily we sorted it out a 4 dollars later and it didn't end too badly!

During our time in Siem Reap we also met Emily and so we spent Christmas day with her and Aslam. We spent the day going to the floating markets in Siem Reap where the people live in houses on the river and there are shops, schools and churches all floating on the water. The kids float around in mini bath tubs with snakes wrapped around their necks asking for 'Dollar' if you take pictures of them, they literally follow you everywhere. We also went to a crocodile and fish farm whilst we were there and we saw where they had skinned the crocodiles for leather. In the evening we had a very traditional Khmer dinner, I was planning to get a Christmas dinner as I had been fantasising about roast potatoes and gravy for about 3 weeks but they were all about $15 and consisted of mashed potatoe and cauliflower cheese.

On Boxing Day Jake and I decided to treat ourselves by buying a day pass to one of the luxury hotel pools in Siem Reap. It was so nice to do nothing and sunbathe after all the cycling and sight seeing! Especially as the next day would be spent on a 27 hour bus journey.