Monday 3rd May - Phnom Penh to Siem Reap
Bus left at 7 .30am. 1 1/2 hours into the journey the bus stops for the driver (and us if we desire) to have his breakfast. At 11.30am we stop again for lunch. The bus drives off. we don't know where it's going or how long it will be gone so we just sit and wait. 1 hour and 20 mins later it returns and we continue our journey. Whilst sitting on the plastic chairs waiting for the bus the stools on which Derek was sitting collapsed under his body weight, twice in the space of 10 minutes - no kidding! The locals just stared - Derek just felt heavy!
Mad driving again - the drivers don't seem to know the concept of slowing up, just slamming on the brakes at the last minute. At one point he didn't slam on the brakes in time so that was the end of one poor dog. He also removed a passing truck's wing mirror too.Arrived at Siem Reap at 2.30pm and get tuk tuk to our guest house which is very nice and on the river. It's very hot so we don't venture out of our aircon room until 5pm when we head off to have a look around and find somewhere for drinks and dinner .

Tuesday 4th May - Siem Reap - Angkor Wat

Booked tuk tuk and guide for the day through our guest house. Up at 4.45am to meet guide at 5am to go off tt Angkor Wat to see the sun rise. The guide turns up at 5.30am. The guest house had told him the wrong time. But not to worry he's very nice and called Joe Top. As we said earlier he fought the Khmer Rouge with an AK 47 from 1989 - 1991!
It was quite cloudy so no sun rise to be seen but at least it wasn't so hot. There are many temples to see which can take up to a week but we chose to just see the main ones on a one day visit.
First stop Angkor Thom, built at the end of 12th, beginning of the 13th Century. This was the biggest which contained the Royal Palace (although only the foundations of the Palace remain as the living areas were made of wood only the temples were stone). The Royal Temple, Bayon, houses large four sided pillars and on each side of the pillar is a face. Also the Terrace of elephants from where the King would watch the dancers and processions .
Next stop Ta Prohm constructed mid 12th century, early 13th century. This has intentially been left unrestored and only partially cleared of jungle so visitors can how the trees etc grew up through the temples when left neglected. Many trees are growing with their large roots exposed. The site was used in the filming of the Tomb Raider film.
In the middle of the day it gets very hot and as there is little shelter at the temples we returned to the hotel for a shower and lunch. The guide and tuc tuc came back at 2.30pm to take us to the main attraction, Angkor Wat. Constructed early to mid 12th century its a massive 3 tierd pyramid crowned by five beehive like towers raising 65 meters from ground level. This is by far the most impressive temple. The carvings on the outer walls are still in great condition. Each wall tells a story (this is when it's great to have a guide or else you wouldn't have a clue what all the carvings were about).
It was possible to climb up the beehive towers however we chickened out because the steps were very, very narrow and very, very steep. We watched many people get half way up only to gingerly turn back. It made Sue's stomach turn just watching them. The guide did say that a Japanese tourist fell and died a couple of years ago - glad we didn't attempt it.
As usual ended the day with a lovely meal (in the restaurant next door to our Guest House).