Seein' em weep in Siem Reap!

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  Siem Reap, Cambodia
Wednesday, October 12, 2005

Arrived in Siem Reap yesterday after probably the worst bus journey of our short travelling life. We had been warned well in advance about the Bangkok to Siem Reap bus journey. It's supposedly the "worst road" a back packer has to endure on any round the world trip. Its hard to know where to start, a good place would probably be the dictionary for the definition of a road. If it says anything close to " a mucky, uneven, sometimes completely flooded strip of stones and rubble, only there because people keep driving lorries through it, that links one place to another" then it could be called the road to Siem Reap. Add one beat out 18 seater bus (fresh from Cuba's elite) 30 tired people 35oc heat and humidity, a team of professional scam artists and your nearly there. After four hours bumbling and bumping along at 15km an hour and we clapped eyes on our first sign post...Siem Reap 105km, great we were only a third of the way there!! I dont think we need to go on too much more, but the basic scam was; Take a few detours along the way, dont go anywhere near the new roads, stop off at a few restaurants that had paid for your hungry bellies to be brought there which double the prices when you arrive, and dont forget to get the bus washed and let some children on to beg, all of this makes what is normally a 4 1/2 hour bus trip turn in to anything between a 9-12 hour trip

Angkor Wat

. You are so tired and sore that by the time you reach "their" guesthouse late at night you feel too intimated to leave. But not us!!! Mairead burst off the bus like a bull, went straight for the ring leader of the scam. We felt it was our duty to inform the rest of the bus just what exactly was going on. Yeah lets not allow them to get any money from us. Once we told everyone we lead the way and marched off into the night. A revolution! No chance, this bus was full of dumb yanks. They were actually thanking the driver for safely delivering them to a guesthouse!! Fortunately, three Canadian women with a bit of sense stood up and walked with us, fair play to them, they were the oldest people on the bus but obviously had a bot of sense and made our fight worthwhile. Anyway, we got a hotel in the end for half the price. It was just the principle of thew whole thing that annoyed us, we felt a sense of satisfaction and the cold Angkor beer tasted twice as sweet that night as we knocked them back.

Today we went to see the world's largest religious building Angkor Wat. It was built in the 9th century by the Emperor of the Khmer kingdom. We decided to hire push bikes for the day. The bikes looked like they had been stolen from a museum. No joking, these things were bad. Flat tyres, baskets on the front, the lot. We just laughed and drove off towards the Temples. But the bikes would have the last laugh

Another one of Angkor Wat

. We returned 6 hours and 40 km later. Backs as bent as crow bars, legs like spaghetti and walking like John Wayne, but it was well worth it. Angkor Wat is amazing. A collection of ancient Temples, some were falling apart but others were in great condition taking their age into account. Incredible structures with amazing detail. You might have seen the Temples without even knowing it, the Tomb Raider movies were filmed there. That will pick out the Angelina fans amongst you!!

Tonight we tried our best to watch Ireland fail to reach the World Cup. Thankfully, we did not get to see the match, and have decided to adopt any country we are in at the time to support in the finals. There are two main reasons for this; 1. We can enjoy the craic with the locals. 2. It will stop us getting a beating.

We were really surprised by Cambodia. Coming from Thailand it feels like stepping back 50 years. Its poor country but not on the scale of India. The people are different also probably due to what has happened here over the last 25 years.

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Conor at Angkor Wat	Conor at Bayon Temple	Mairead Wat?	The Bayon Temple

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