Angkor Wat

Our next stop was Siem Reap, Cambodia. To get there from Koh Kood we took a taxi, a ferry, a taxi, 2 buses, a taxi, and finally a tuc tuc. Only 14 hours in total which wasn't bad. We did managed to get scammed out of 20 dollars at the border however, which was highly frustrating but another lesson learnt.

Siem Reap had a great night life on 'pub street', but as Henry still couldn't drink because of of his antibiotics, we didn't really experience it. I thought it was a lovely city with a great traveller vibe, nice markets and plenty to do. We met up with a Danish guy, Robert, who we had met in Bangkok and visited the landmine museum. This was really eye opening to the horrendous

situation Cambodia faces regarding landmines, and the yearly casualties it still suffers. The museum was also an orphanage and was run by a Cambodian with an amazing story. He was recruited as a child soldier and was made to plant hundreds of land mines for the Khmer Rouge. At 14 he defected to the Vietnamese army and has since spent his entire life removing the land mines, some of which he planted, often with only a hammer and his bare hands.

The next day we hired a tuc tuc to take us around Ankor Wat and the surrounding temples. They were all amazing in their own way. Ankor Wat was massive (and we saw loads of monkeys), Bayon had huge heads carved everywhere, but Ta Thom was my favourite. It was where Tomb Raider was filmed and you can see why. There are giant old trees engulfing the walls and growing from all angles. It was incredible and I could have spent all day there if it hadn't begun throwing it down. We actually managed to get lost during

the rain and ended up in all the restricted areas of the temple, which was awesome but we were lucky to get back on the path before we were seen.

On the way back from the temples our tuc tuc driver invited us to his friends house to eat and drink. We accepted and went to buy a chicken, a 'bird' and some rice whiskey. We spent the next 2 hours chatting, drinking and eating with 3 Cambodia men very far off the beaten track. They were great guys and it was an awesome experience. The young tuc tuc driver had 3 girlfriends, one of which was a 40 year old Russian. The old guy was ex khmer rouge and was still wearing his combats, which was slightly scary, and and the last guy spoke no English. After being forced to drink 6 shots, and and being assured the special whiskey blend has healing powers, we headed back.
We ate, drank and watched football before catching our first night bus to Phnom Penh.