My first stop as a solo traveller was the beautiful city of Siem Reap. This meant an early morning start to catch the bargain train to the border (less than a quid for a 6 hour train!) I was surprised that the train station wasn't heaving with backpackers and even more shocked to find that there was only two of us on the train, me and a charming Gentleman from Holland who caused great amusement bringing his bike on the train and then preceding to break not just one but two of the carriage's benches! The views from the train were stunning and it was the first I caught sight of the well talked about flood damage. Telephone poles and electrical wires hovered inches above the water level and people were boating/tubing and swimming to their houses, a sight that would become fairly common in Cambodia!
The border crossing was surprisingly quick and easy but incredibly busy, probably due to the 2 huge casinos stood just on Cambodian land, a massive middle finger to Thai gambling laws! We were taken to a tourist only bus headed for Siem Reap and my introduction to the somewhat unreliable Cambodian roads was fairly easy going, apart from the driver's apparent love of playing chicken with whoever and whatever was in the oncoming traffic! Once in Siem Reap we were dropped at a "bus station" which was actually a group of tuk-tuk drivers ready to overcharge and claiming that every guesthouse and hostel apart from their friends was flooded! I'd already booked ahead and the amazing owner, Hak, sent out a driver to pick me up. It seemed the tuk-tuk drivers were partly telling the truth, the floods had reached the city and at some parts the water was knee deep! It didn't seem to put anyone off though and streams of tuk-tuks, motorcycles and bicycles battled not just the water but the unknown roads beneath - a gravelly pot-holed affair. Several ladies tipped their bikes and lost the days shopping but still it was smiles all round!
Hak's was a really homely type place with big sofas and a dvd player, a perfect place to sit out the nightly storms. Most of my time in Siem Reap was spent, not watching TV, honest! But exploring the world famous temples built there hundred of years ago. I saw sunrise at the Angkor Wat, climbed literally hundreds of eroded stone steps, fought of tiny entrepreneurs at every corner, one of which suggested buying a bracelet for my brother with his name sewn on, explaining that he was 26 and Northern didn't make the little guy hold back! On the third day I was joined by two of the girls who'd just moved in to Hak's. We spent the day exploring the less visited temples - one of which was a series of strange carvings glimpsed through a waterfall! In the afternoon our lovely driver, Vanner, treated us to some local fun. He took us to a Khmer hang out spot - a local lake, we split a crate of beers and had an easy afternoon.
After the temple tour I stayed on another couple of days to enjoy the shopping, the Khmer people make you feel like an expert haggle and it all got a bit addictive, needless to say my rucksack is now bulging! The extra couple of days also gave me chance to try out the nightlife. A group of us headed to the aptly named 'Pub Street', beers were 50 cents, music was loud and for such a sacred city it seemed everyone was up for a party! It also gave me a little more time to appreciate the food in Cambodia! The french influence was obvious in the delicious baguettes and tasty pastries - something the Thai just can't quite get right. The actual Khmer food was amazing too, lovely lok lak and morish amok all washed down with the local Angkor beer. Yum!
On my last day I was given a (free!!) packed breakfast and sent on my way to Sihanoukville, Cambodia's most talked about beach and the place I would spend my birthday!
Prepare for lots of updates this week as I'm spending my time on the sleepy 4000 Islands of Laos working on recovering some of that lost tan! : )
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