From the 4000 Islands we made our way (slowly) to Siem Reap. We got up early in the morning on Thursday and dutifully headed towards the boarder just 20km away... that took almost 3 hours. By 11am most of us had made it through immigration. Leighton and I had to pay $27 all up to get through, but everyone else on our bus paid $28. Ha! Thanks to Leah we knew that the "health check" at the border was actually a scam. They wanted us to fill out a sheet of paper and pay $1. Leighton was a pro! He kept asking what is was for and all they said was "health check." He said we didn't need a health check and we started to walk off with their little paper and they made us give it back! They must want to save money by not printing new ones!
Anyway... we sat for almost an hour waiting for more people to get to the border and then, at noon, we finally boarded the bus and took off. Two hours late!
Around 7:15pm we pulled into a little bus station about 75km from Phnom Penn to change to a different bus that was coming from the capital and headed to Siem Reap. Our bus company cleverly forgot to tell us that people headed to PP and SR would share a bus, taking us almost 5 hours out of our way. It may be that the road doesn't exist, but I think it has more to do with a profit margin. Oh well...
We booked our hotel in advance (another bit of GREAT advice from Leah) and they had a tuk-tuk driver waiting for us at the bus station- we tipped him because he had been waiting almost 2 hours for us!
The hotel is really great. It's by far the fanciest one we've been in and has free wifi in the room and two free computers to use in the lobby (where I am now). It's about 5 minutes from the "pub street" but very quiet at night with staff on round the clock to keep out the rif-raf.
Despite going to bed after 1am we woke up pretty early and kept our appointment with our tuk-tuk man, Kot, to take us to and around Ankor! The temples were stunning! We did the "great loop" that would have been WAY more biking than we thought. Thank God for motorized transport. He was really helpful and, along with our free guide book, we felt pretty informed about most of the temples we saw. We are saving the really great ones for days 2 and 3 of our 3-day tickets. After about 5 hours of temples we decided to head home.
We had an early dinner then shared a bottle of wine ($4) in our hotel. Between those two things we did some lifting in the rooftop gym! Wailed on our pecs... So happy to have a gym to use. I've been eating pretty healthy and spending a lot of time walking or biking, but I need some lifting to balance me out! Surprising coming from me, isn't it???Anyway... we sat for almost an hour waiting for more people to get to the border and then, at noon, we finally boarded the bus and took off. Two hours late!
Around 7:15pm we pulled into a little bus station about 75km from Phnom Penn to change to a different bus that was coming from the capital and headed to Siem Reap. Our bus company cleverly forgot to tell us that people headed to PP and SR would share a bus, taking us almost 5 hours out of our way. It may be that the road doesn't exist, but I think it has more to do with a profit margin. Oh well...
We booked our hotel in advance (another bit of GREAT advice from Leah) and they had a tuk-tuk driver waiting for us at the bus station- we tipped him because he had been waiting almost 2 hours for us!
The hotel is really great. It's by far the fanciest one we've been in and has free wifi in the room and two free computers to use in the lobby (where I am now). It's about 5 minutes from the "pub street" but very quiet at night with staff on round the clock to keep out the rif-raf.
Despite going to bed after 1am we woke up pretty early and kept our appointment with our tuk-tuk man, Kot, to take us to and around Ankor! The temples were stunning! We did the "great loop" that would have been WAY more biking than we thought. Thank God for motorized transport. He was really helpful and, along with our free guide book, we felt pretty informed about most of the temples we saw. We are saving the really great ones for days 2 and 3 of our 3-day tickets. After about 5 hours of temples we decided to head home.
Around 10 we went out to a bar for a drink (expensive) then bought some cans of beer from the convenience store and drank on the street with a million people. It was loud and exciting and fun. We went back to the expensive bar for midnight and ended up with a free champagne toast! The night ended at a dance club shortly after midnight and then back to the hotel for some much needed rest.
This morning we slept in and then had a lazy breakfast. We spent some time walking around the city and then had a delicious lunch at a little Mexican place. It's the only one in town and I can pretty much guarantee that Angelina ate there at least once while she was in the area. Exciting to be walking in her footsteps!
Tomorrow and the day after we'll finish our temple tour on bikes and then have another lazy day in Siem Reap, I assume. Then it's on to Phnom Penn.
Hope everyone had a great New Years!
This morning we slept in and then had a lazy breakfast. We spent some time walking around the city and then had a delicious lunch at a little Mexican place. It's the only one in town and I can pretty much guarantee that Angelina ate there at least once while she was in the area. Exciting to be walking in her footsteps!
Tomorrow and the day after we'll finish our temple tour on bikes and then have another lazy day in Siem Reap, I assume. Then it's on to Phnom Penn.
Hope everyone had a great New Years!
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