Siem Reap, Cambodia

Hello everyone!

Hope you're all well at home and enjoying the summer sunshine and Wimbledon :-) so at the moment we are in siem reap. Since my last email we had one more day in Phnom Penh which was quite eventful! We ended up in a temple which turned out to be Cambodia's centre of Buddhism and chatted to 3 monks for an hour! They were so cool! So so interesting I could have sat there all day. They were all doing degrees and one of them was doing two along with being a monk! It was a fabulous last day, probably one of the best of the whole trip. We ended it going for dinner with lots of people from our hostel who were so nice and there were a couple of Scottish girls from Edinburgh who said we must visit and they would show us around which is very kind! But enough about our last day in Phnom Penh!

So we arrived at Siem Reap Thursday afternoon and our hostel was very nice. Its a small house like building with a lovely leafy veranda with comfy chairs. Its down a small road so you feel out of the town which is a nice change. The hotel opposite also has a gorgeous pool which we can use so that's a bonus! We decided we would get up early on Friday to see the sunrise so we arranged that with the tuk tuk driver, Nean. That meant getting up at 330am yikes! We were quite sleepy but the sun rise at Angkor wat was incredible! (Photo attached) there were a lot of people there which was annoying but we managed to find a nice quiet spot. After sunrise we visited the other temples on the 'grand tour'. These were Angkor wat, Preah Khan, Neak poan, ta som , east mebon and sras srang. My favourite was preah khan as its in the jungle and just beautiful! Neak poan was lovely too, its a small temple in the middle of a lake and you need to walk on a long boardwalk through the mangroves to get there. As we had started so early we got back about 12 had lunch and a nap and then a nice swim :-) today we decided to do the 'small circuit' temples and to take advantage of the free bikes at the hotel. We got given two very rusty precarious looking bikes without brakes but they were the only ones without flat tyres. We met a guy the other night called Phil, and he was from Barnsley! (His accent made me feel right at home!) We saw him whilst we were having breakfast and he hasn't seen the temples yet so we invited him to come and hr looked so thrilled. He is cycling across Asia taking 18 weeks and doing 60 miles per day! Now that is an adventure! He looked around mid 50s and explained he had taken a break from work to do this as it was on his bucket list, although apparently his wife wasn't too happy about it! As we got chatting throughout the day he was so interesting and I really admired him for going out and doing something he wanted to do. Anyway, Chrissie, Phil and I  set off. Needless to say, cycling through the town was very scary as the traffic is crazy! I just hoped the vehicles woild avoid us. Once we got out of town it was stunning and at most points all I could hear was the chattering cicadas and the jingling of my rusty bike. We cycled leisurely and visited lots more temples including one called Bayon which has lots of large heads carved into it, and Ta Prohm which has beautiful trees that are very old and the roots are growing in the stones of the temple. This one and preah Khan were my favourites. The way back was a little scary as it was rush hour and we were losing day light. It also started to rain. But we made it back unscathed! I did take a tumble but while we were stationary (don't ask) so doesn't really count. I think Phil really was a life saver as he held us together through the nervous moments in traffic and stayed back with me when my bike was making scary noises. He was a bit grumbly at having to do 'tourist things' after being off the beaten track for so long but think he also had a lovely day too really :-) we also had fun comparing our knowledge of northern words- he definitely knew more than me!

So we've just dragged our sore bums out for a well earned dinner and now relaxing before we go to see more temples tomorrow. These ones are further out of town so we will take the tuk tuk again. There are some very adorable children around here we've seen a few fishing and playing. There is another side to it with lots also trying to sell you things, one particularly insistent one today almost brought me to tears with how insistent he was so I had to say sorry and ride off. Its very hard. On returning I'm going to look at a good Cambodian charity to support. We are here for two more days before we head to Bangkok on Tuesday. We will stay there 3 days and then go to Chaing Mai in the north. Cambodia has completely won my heart over and despite the difficulty of seeing such poverty the beautiful smiley people and stunning landscapes make me want to never leave. I would definitely recommend it to anyone. I do hope everyone is keeping well at home and enjoying the good weather that's finally arrived! Missing you all lots but still enjoying every minute. Lots of love xxxx