My hostel booking was with king ankor villa which had quite nice pictures but my tuk tuk driver took me to home sweet home which was a bit downmarket. I was confused as he had my name at the airport so they must have my reservation. I later found out the owner has three guesthouses but uses the nicer king ankor villa photos for bookings and reservations then moves people around.

I asked about booking my ticket to Phnom Penh which I was told was $6. Now they claimed it was $10 because of chinese new year and may be sold out. I decided to reserve it right away at $10 anyway as I couldnt afford to be thrown off my schedule. They also had bikes available for rent for $1 which I could ride all over the ankor wat park.

At first they put me in a room with three beds and said the people in my room hadnt checked out. Why, it was already 9pm?? If I waited half an hour they could move me which was fine. I guess people stay to see the sunrise/sunset at ankor wat so they have odd check in/out times.

The room was a bit more basic but at only $6 shouldnt complain too much. It had a really good tv package with every international channel (CNN, BBC, Rai, NHK, DW, Russian, Indian, TV5, TVE, Dutch, CCTV, KBS, Australia, YTN, Discovery, National Geographic, History). I wish I had this package back home!

Water had dirt mixed in it and yellow when I flushed the toilet. Shower was cold water only. I later found out the rooms only come with cold water unless you pay extra but it was ok as weather was over 30 degrees daily. As there was no night light I slept with the tv on but muted as I'm paranoid about creatures coming out in the night and there were small lizards moving on the walls outside.

Free breakfast was included of an omelette and baguette. I then tried out different bikes and chose a good one that felt comfortable and rode well. I asked them to oil the chain which was dry but either they didnt understand or said it didnt need any. They also sell large 1.5L water bottles for .50 cents.

The maps of siem reap are deceptive and look like you can walk to the ankor wat park. It is in fact 6km just to ankor wat and the other ankors are a few kms more inside so no way you could walk that in this heat. I had left early at 8am to try to beat the sun as much as possible, although I dont think the park closes for those doing the sunrise/sunset.

Driving was easy as there was only one road going to the park. There was a parade of buses and tuk tuks backed up along the road as I was able to speed thru on my bike. Occasionally a bus would ride on the dirt shoulder to overtake plowing past the bicycles and blowing dirt in our faces.

There were several hana tour korean buses something that would become common today with many korean tour groups. Entrance fee was $20 for a day pass but they also have 3 and 5 day passes. One day was enough for me and all I had time for. They also take your photo and print it onto your ticket.

As I finally reached Ankor Wat I had to park my bike outside. No bikes or tuk tuks are allowed in so everyone had to go by foot. My feet were still bad from bangkok so I was trying not to walk too much.

Ankor Wat is a three squared design. The outer square is ringed by a moat and you walk across a foot bridge to enter. The middle square is an enclosed walkway you can walk around all four sides with wall carvings depicting battles and other stories. In certain crossways there were also decorated buddha shrines.

The inner square was more like a pyramid with steps leading to climb up. I wasnt up to it and the lines were too long to get up. There was an annoying man that wanted to take pictures of me taking pictures so I had to signal him to buzz off.

Back by my bicycle (which came with a lock so was safe this time), I bought a whole pineapple for $1 to keep me going thru the day.