Johm riab sua!

So here we went again taking a bus from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap. It seemed we were on a local bus, stopping now and then to take some locals on the bus or letting them off on the middle of the road. It was interesting to see that the bus was completely full. Not only with the baggage everybody brought along, but also the amount of people. Every single seat was taken, people even sat on the steps and the corridor was full too. To make sure all of them could sit down though there were small plastic chairs in the middle, quite an unusual sight for us Europeans! Apart from the usual stops here and then to let people on or off the bus, we made a longer stop at some point. The motor was off and soon the temperature in the bus started to rise. Seen our previous experience with the bus we started getting suspicious. You can imagine the feeling, thinking ?oh no, please don?t tell me the bus has broken down again??! As usual we were given no information, so Franjo decided to get off the bus to check what was happening. Of course our feeling was right, the bus had broken down, more specifically the distribution belt had burst. Luckily this company had been aware of the age of the bus and the possibility of hazards though, so this bus had some spare parts. The problem was fixed in half an hour, so this time due to several stops and the little hazard we only got into town with one hour delay!

Siem Reap is a busy little town mainly for one reason; the temples of Angkor. The temples daily attract thousands of tourists, and Siem Reap is the nearest town that provides every tourist with their basic needs; accommodation, food and souvenirs of course. As we arrived our goal was clear, finding out the best way to get to the temples to next day. We had a few options, like taking a guided tour, renting a bike or hiring a tuk-tuk driver for the day. We preferred not doing a tour as we like to be able to do things at our own pace and to be able to choose our own itinerary. As temperatures are really high now in South-East Asia (between 35 and 40 degrees) and the temples of Angkor are spread over several kilometers we figured a tuk-tuk would be our best fit. So at night we found ourselves a nice English speaking driver and agreed on an acceptable price. Next day at 9am we were Angkor bound!

We were both very excited to explore these ancient temples that have been built over a thousand years ago during the early Khmer empire. Apparently Angkor has been identified as the largest urban agglomeration prior to the industrial revolution when it comes to size. The temples are spread over an area of 1.000 km². The best known temple of the area is Angkor Wat, the world?s largest religious monument. So to keep the best for last, we decided to visit some of the other temples first, such as Ta Phrom which was used in the movie ?Tomb Raider? with Angelina Jolie. There is so much to see and to discover that one day is certainly not enough, so we drove around with Rara (our tuk-tuk driver) for two days, exploring the amazing temples this region has to offer. Climbing the steep steps of the temples and walking around them taking in the grandeur and beauty of them was enough of a work-out for us. We were surely glad we had not rented a bike. As usual we have tried capturing some of the best things on photo, in order to share another great experience with all of you!

Lia suhn hao-y!
Charlotte and Franjo