Our journey to Cambodia took us from Phuket to Bangkok and then on to Siem Reap. Flying with Air Asia again, our short flights with them were much better than our long haul one a couple of weeks earlier.
Arriving into Siem Reap we were met at the airport by our driver for the free transfer to our hostel. Gone were our air conditioned cars, we were in Cambodia now and we had a tuk tuk awaiting us!
Our thirty minute ride in the tuk tuk was certainly an experience. The roads were dusty and with the temperature in the high thirties even the breeze created as we drove did nothing to cool us. Apart from passing a couple of road side shacks selling petrol in glass bottles alongside cold drinks and snacks there wasn’t much to see apart from green fields, dirt track roads and people riding around on motorbikes and scooters.
We loved our introduction to Cambodia and it didn’t take long for the realisation to set in that we were in a third world country.
Whether rules and regulations exist in Cambodia I don’t know, but if they do then they aren’t followed much. No one sticks to driving on one side of the road, all too often we would come face to face with an oncoming vehicle. Rich’s anxiety levels were sky high at times because of this.
Our tuk tuk driver obviously knew how much space we needed but at times it felt like we just weren’t going to fit through the tiny piece of road ahead available to us. Thankfully we did.
People rode around on scooters and motorbikes without helmets and in shorts and t-shirts. They would also fit more people onto a motorbike than you would ever think possible. We frequently saw families on one bike, two adults and two children all wearing no helmets.
We saw police at the side of the road stop people randomly to check their licences. On one occasion I saw two motorbike riders show their licences and drive on while a third rider opened his wallet and appeared to pay money to the official before driving on. Corruption is huge problem in Cambodia it seems.
Being in a hot, sweaty, dusty, crazy country like Cambodia was exciting and we couldn’t wait to explore it. With a very early start planned for our first full day, Rich and I chilled out at our hostel for the afternoon, leaving the craziness outside for a while.
We ventured out in the evening to Marum, a restaurant recommended by my little sister Samantha. On our walk to the restaurant we saw the crazy bamboo scaffolding system that they use which really didn’t look all that safe!
Pedestrian crossings don’t seem to exist in Cambodia and every road crossing was undertaken with held breath as scooters and cars hurtled around us. We soon realised that the best thing to do was just walk in a straight line without dithering. That way traffic seemed to flow around us as we walked. Any hesitation on our part and we would have found ourselves and the traffic at loggerheads.
We had a gorgeous meal at Marum, a little idyll on an otherwise ramshackled road. You would never stumble across this restaurant, you have to go and find it! The restaurant is a training centre for kids who previously lived on the streets to get experience of working in a restaurant. While the prices were somewhat over our planned budget, we dined in the knowledge that we were helping local people by eating there. The food was delicious as well so we had no complaints!
We were up at half past four the following morning and on the road in our tuk tuk by five o’clock, heading to Angkor Wat to watch the sunrise. If riding in a tuk tuk was an experience the day before, riding in one in the pitch black with traffic all around us was certainly another!
Our early start didn’t mean that we were all alone once we got to Angkor Wat, there were hundreds of other people gathered there to watch the sunrise over the world famous temple.
After the horn blowing, pitch black tuk tuk ride, the peace and quiet of Angkor Wat was divine with everyone sat or stood in silence. With the sky glowing orange and pink as the sun rose above the ancient stone temple we knew we were in a very special place, watching something very beautiful.
Eventually we pulled ourselves away from watching the sun rise to head inside the temple before the mass of people around us did the same. I was amazed by the huge size of Angkor Wat but despite it’s scale, the attention to detail was still very impressive.
Walls were carved with elaborate embellishments, patterns, motifs and depictions of people and stories. I can’t even comprehend how much stone we saw that had been so carefully decorated.
We walked around in amazement for hours.
Angkor Wat was the first temple we saw and after a stop to eat some breakfast we continued on to see Bayon and The Royal Palace in the ancient city of Angkor Thom before continuing on to Thommanon, Chau Say Tevoda and Ta Phrom Temples.
We spent seven hours wandering around these magnificent ancient temples and if it hadn’t of been for the stifling forty degree heat we would have stayed for longer. At lunch time we had to get out of the sun and headed back to our hostel.
As we ventured out for dinner, we decided to try the local street food; noodles, chicken, vegetables and sweet chilli sauce. For only one US dollar each we had a tray full of the most scrumcious food we had eaten while in Asia. Bargain!
The next day Rich and I spent time walking around the streets of Siem Reap. Once accustomed to the craziness of Cambodia, we found ourselves relaxed and happy to be wondering along streets where motorbikes mounted pavements and pedestrian alley ways, where horn blowing was commonplace and crossing the road a risky manoeuvre.
Being people who like peace and quiet, order and cleanliness, I’d have thought we would not like the craziness of Cambodia. Despite everything being the opposite of what we like, the place had something that made us love it.
At the Old Market we saw the reality of locals selling and buying with colourful fruit and veg stalls, meat stalls where chickens still have their feet attached and dried meats hung in abundance, fish stalls with bowls of ice trying desperately to keep the fish fresh in the scorching heat and noodle stalls where women sit amongst the bags of noodles they are selling.
Turning a corner from all of this we were then walking through hairdressing stalls, stalls making clothes and doing alterations and stalls set up as nail salons! After visiting the Old Market and seeing local people go about their daily lives we were excited to visit the night market later in the day.
Unfortunately this was the market for tourists, where we saw stall after stall selling the same things, knick knacks and cheaply made clothes that none of the locals wear. After a disappointing visit to the night market we cheered ourselves up with another dinner of delicious noodle street food, followed by a banana and chocolate crepe and a fresh fruit milkshake (both also only one dollar).
We became very accustomed to street food sellers only charging one dollar for what can only be described as great sized portions of delicious and tasty food and refreshing ice cold milkshakes!
We loved Siem Reap, the ancient temples we explored, experiencing their way of life and dining on one dollar deliciousness! Three nights and two days were enough for us to get a good feel for the place and we were looking forward to seeing what our next stop, Phnom Penh, had in store for us. All that lay between us and Phnom Penh was a good nights sleep and an eight hour bus journey the following day.
Lambs on the loose 
What an experience! I don’t think I’d be brave enough to venture there. Although it looks fascinating I think I’ll have to stick to Greece or Spain! xxxx
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