I would definitiely recommend the Mekong Express if you are travelling in Cambodia. Once again the bus trip was a breeze, it left on time and got me into town earlier than planned. It is sort of like being on a plane. You have a hostess and they give you something to eat and drink. Part of the speil the hostess gave when we left was, "we hope you enjoy your trip and will continue to travel with us for ever" which got a few chuckles out of the passengers. I think it relates to the Buddhist belief in reincarnation.
After having some hassles with an over eager Tuk Tuk driver I found a clean and spacious room right in the middle of town with Aircon cable TV and a hot shower for $12 US a night. After deciding after the forst night that the aircon wasn't really needed they agreed to turn my aircon of at the switchboard, gave me a potable fan and dropped the price to $8 US a night(Its called the "Heart of Ankor" if you're thinking about coming).
I got a three day pass to see the temples of Ankor which cost $40 US. On the first day I decided that I would travel via pushbike as the temples aren't really that far out of town. The first stop was Ankor Wat which is obviously very impressive and the most famous of the temples. I found however as I explored the area further that there is so much more to see, much of it equally, if not more impressive than Ankor Wat. The "Major Tour" as they call it is a 28 km round trip from Siem Reap with temples most of the way along it. I am not one for wandering around a temple for hours and I only managed to get half way through the "Majot Tour" on the first day. Althought the road is pretty flat around the temples the riding, along with the walking around the temples, makes for a pretty big day. There is so much to see it is out of control with the temples being in a varying state of ruin. I finished the "Major Tour" by Tuk Tuk on the second day and looked at the Roulos group of temples to the South of town on the final day. If you really wanted to see everything and not be rushed at all I would recommend the 7 day pass bit I was pretty well "templed out" by the end of third day.
As has been well documented the impact of the millions of tourists that come here every year has been having an impact on the temples. It is encouraging though to see that they are in the process of constructing wooden walkways to keep the human traffic off the actual surfaces of the structures. A predictable side effect of the massive number of tourists here is the corresponding explosion in the number of people (a lot of them kids) selling anything and eveything and often relentlessly hassling the tourists. I find my usual technique of not acknowledging these people and walking past at full speed works a treat. I have also found that luckily (for me) the Japanese and Korean tourists seem to be a more popular target. I had a laugh today when I saw a group of local kids hassling some Japanese tourists in Japanese!
I was hoping to cross into the South of Laos overland from Cambodia next but it has all turned out to be a bit too difficult, the main problem being that I should have got my Laos Visa in advance as the Laos-Cambodia border crossing is one of the few entries into Laos where they won't give you a visa on arrival. I could get it in Siem Riep but that will mean hanging around for another 5 days. I have decided to blow the budget and am flying out for Vientiane tomorrow morning. More thumbnails ...
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