Phnom Penh hits Siem Reap!!!

So Friday the 7th of March brought the start of our first adventure out of Phnom Penh to the distant lands of Siem Reap. It also brought an 8 hour bus journey. The company offered wifi throughout the trip, which is theory is great. In practice not so much, yes it was connected to the bus's wifi but not to much more than that!

Quadbiking

After meeting up with the girls from Siem Reap we went for a 'Sunset Quadbiking Tour' which was simply amazing. We had to have a 'driving test' which consisted driving a few hundred metres down a track, completing a series of turns then voilaaaa! The tour brought us through the backroads of Siem Reap so we could take in the landscape, pass by horrendously skinny cattle and wave back at all the children who ran out of their homes to see the passing 'Barang'. Finally we stopped in a field where we and clients from what seemed to be a few other tour companies took in the beautiful Cambodian sunset!

It was definitely a fun experience and I would do it again without a quim!

We love Cambodia!!!!

We went out on the Sunday to watch the Wales v England match in the six nations. Much to Gwen's dismay England won the match however the English people sitting beside us were absolutely over the moon!!!!!  We then went out with the Siem Reap girls and bumping into a few rugby friends along the way heading back to the Mad Monkey at 1. Ready to rise at 4 for Angkor Wat!

Cinema

As a relaxing activity on Sunday afternoon we went to the cinema, Cambodian style. Where you chose a film and watch it in a private booth. Someone definitely needs to bring this idea back home!!!

Temples
I was awoken at 3.45 to the sight of Gwen and the guy in the bunk below mine trying to turn over someone who was snoring - with varying levels of success. Eventually the snoring ceased and Gwen and I began to pack for the day ahead.
We had rented bicycles for $3 the day before intending to cycle round the temples rather than pay $15 for a tuktuk, as we left the hostel and headed towards the gate we bumped into two complete strangers, (fellow travellers) who couldn't sleep. One of whom decided to hop on the back of my back and come to Angkor Wat with us, the more the merrier!!)
The road soon turned pitch black, with Gwen leading the way we could hardly see what was in front of us until a Cambodian man riding a bike came behind us and we decided to follow him instead.
Upon arriving at the entrance we were asked for our tickets, which we hadn't purchased. This then turned into a $3 moto ride each to the ticket office - whoooops! Turned out we'd cycled down the wrong road which would have led us there on the way.

We arrived for sunrise, which wasn't that spectacular as it was cloudy in the morning which made it great weather for actually walking and exploring the temples. Our favourite temple was Bayon as there was so much to it and different places to explore. We then cycled along the 'long' route around the temples complex around 26 km in total. By this stage it was warm, very warm in fact and the wind was blowing against our direction of travel which didn't help. Many of the tuk-tuk drivers that were going past shouted encouraging messages of support in their best English applauding their efforts, others just laughed at the two red, sweaty white girls cycling through the country.

We were back at the hostel by 12 our check out time and spent most of the afternoon sleeping on the sofas upstairs or chatting with people!

Site of Meditation

Spot the Statue

Night Bus!

We had slight apprehensions about the night bus as we were due to arrive in PP at 6am and head straight back to Group Home for a day of work right after.  We desperately needed some sleep! And, to our surprise, sleep is most certainly what we got.  For a cross country bus, driving along cross country roads, our journey back was one of comfort and pleasure, to say the least.  We slept through 6 and a half hours and, to be frank, would happily have stayed on the comfy beds that made up the night bus a lot longer.