It was great to reach Siem Reap in North Western Cambodia, not only as I planned a few days relaxing before tackling its famous plethora of temples, but also I was meeting Sonja Ciccaglione. Sonja was the vet at Amazoonico in Ecuador, where I worked as a volunteer in 2009. She was now the full-time vet at the ACCB project some 40 mins north of Siem Reap working with a whole host of Cambodian wildlife.


We spent the next couple of days catching up and enjoying Siem Reap which involved many visits to its cafes, restaurants plus some retail therapy . Siem Reap is the city next to Angkor Wat and has grown from a small village into a major city in just over a decade or so. However, despite its size, it is friendly and has everything a traveller could want.


We treated ourselves to several excellent meals at local restaurants, including the stunning Touich, run by a large family serving some of the best food I have had as a traveller in their family house behind an old Wat (Pagoda). Khmer food is their speciality and a majority of their most recipes had been handed down to children by their grandmother. With reservations recommended and a guesthouse pick up service, it was great and cemented my new love of Cambodian food. Banana leaf salad, baked red snapper, fish Amok (coconut curry) and very fresh seafood was on the menu. We also found L’Oasi Italiana, a restaurant run by an Italian man, who made his own cheese, sausage and pasta. Sonja was overjoyed at finding such a good Italian . The Osso Buco was sensational.


We checked out several restaurants and cafes which donated their profits to charitable causes such as orphaned children, abused women and land mine victims. The government here seems to ignore these unfortunate people and consequently begging is rife, especially from the land mine victims. However, these cafes and restaurants do offer a way of giving something back and Siem Reap is full of such organisations, which are generally run by a large number of ex-patriots.


The central market also had several visits from Sonja and myself. Mostly for mangosteens (my new favourite fruit), plus some clothing and various other essentials. It is really one big iron roofed shed in the centre of town with a host of vendors all crammed inside and some pretty extreme temperatures. Fun anyway. I had chosen to stay at Rosy’s Guesthouse on the riverfront . This was comfortable, very friendly but somewhat unusual in that it served as a bar for the expat community and as a guesthouse for backpackers. Generally I usually find the two do not mix. Nevertheless, I was in a small room with a fan, which was very hot during the day and early part of night. It also had a DVD player in each room, which made me realize how times had changed since I first lifted my back pack. All for eight dollars.


I also managed to squeeze in a trip to the Angkor Private Cinema. Sixteens screens were on offer with a maximum capacity of four people, together with a largish screen and comfy chairs, this was a treat. I watched the Killing Fields, which I though was appropriate and had not seen since it was in the cinema. Unfortunately adequate sound proofing was obviously not completely understood and next door a local couple were watching some loud crash bang wallop Hollywood thing which continually interrupted my viewing . Yet I enjoyed the Killing Fields and relished the air con.


I also met an Englishman living in Tasmania. Norm had travelled for many years all over the world either working on ships or as a backpacker and soon I was asking him if he was interested in joining me on a trip to Prasat Preah Vihear. Sonja unfortunately had to return to her wildlife project that weekend. I had already investigated this 200Km journey to the northern Thai boarder to see this remote world heritage temple and was wondering if I could afford it on my own. But now as Norm was on board, things started looking up.


Through Sonja’s contacts I met Smiley, who was working at Rosy’s, and soon had a taxi driver was lined up who only wanted 60 USD pp instead of the $240 for the trip I had initially been quoted. After double checking the safety situation, we set off.


This is considered a somewhat dangerous journey due to the proliferation of land mines in the area (as it was the Khmer Rouge stronghold) and because several boarder skirmishes have occurred, the last as recently as 2010 between Cambodia and Thailand. Now it was considered safe and in 2011 a new road was opened replacing the narrowed potholed dirt track and it was pretty much plain sailing.


Johnny was the driver that Smiley organized. He was in his early thirties, quite pushy but basically a nice guy. He did though believe that only he knew what tourists would enjoy and appeared little interested in soliciting other opinions. His Toyota was relatively new and despite a few starting hiccups seemed pretty reliable. The closer we got to the temple, the more concentrated the Cambodian army presence became. Army camps and new bungalows littered the country side as we approached. It took us close to four hours to reach the foot of the mountain on the new road and it was here where we transferred to a 4X4 for the steep mountain ascent.


Prasat Preah Vihear (PVV) is stunning located on this disputed boarder mountain. The views were sensational and the temple, Norm assured me, was unlike anything he had so far seen at Angkor. By this stage Norm had taken to referring to me as Bert Newton (Aussies will know who that is). It was the situation of the temple perched on the highest point of Dangkrek Mountain which was so dramatic. The complex was 800m long, built by the major Khmer King responsible for some of Angkor’s most stunning temples and it stretched from the western ascent right up to the summit. With the Thai boarder control clearly visible a few hundred meters away, the temple offered awe inspiring views of the surrounding flat countryside in both countries. Completed around the 12th century PVV was one long processional walkway with five “Gopuras” erected along the route enabling those ancient pilgrims a place to take a break. At the summit was the “Central Sanctuary” within which was a working Buddhist shrine.


This was fabulous, and as we ventured along the processional walk, the clouds cleared up and the sun dropped making the scene stunning. It was reminiscent of Machu Picchu we both agreed.


After several hours exploration we returned down the mountain to meet Johnny. After a little issue with the car not starting (which he resolved with a prayer on the steering wheel - hardly confidence building) we returned to the local town.


This was an archetypal boarder town, mostly seemly set up for catering to the soldiers, it took us a while to find a guesthouse that was clean. Johnny left us to settle in and we arranged to meet him in the restaurant opposite. As Norm and I ventured across the road towards the restaurant some 40 minutes later, we were surprised to see Johnny seated with a girl having dinner. As we entered the restaurant, all seemed a little unusual. The staff (all women) hobbled around in tight skirts and enormous rubber platform shoes, the menu appeared amateurish and Johnny sat there with a huge grin on his face. It quickly dawned on me what this place was, but it was Norm who added the final clarification. “He has brought us to a bloody Bordello!”


We ended up having a pretty below standard meal and asking for the bill quickly. The girl talking to Johnny phoned her colleague for the bill, even though she was sitting some 20m away from her. Johnny reluctantly left with us and it took us some 20 mins to explain that this was really just for the soldiers. After that conversation he did become more cooperative.


Th next morning we departed back towards ACCB to see Sonja’s new place of work. Sonja had been here for some five months and was working with Gibbons, Langurs, Macaques, Civets, Cats, Pangolins, Cranes and Storks amongst others. She gave me and Norm a private tour which was great.


In the evening all three of us returned to Siem Reap ready for Angkor Wat, yet already - somewhat exhausted.