Day 34

Bangkok > Siem Reap

We woke up nice and early (this is becoming a habit now) and checked in for our bus. After filling out our immigration slips we went to 7-11 for a super healthy breakfast of a toastie and chocolate, with some snacks in the reserve. Our host / stewardess / whatever you call it was a lovely girl called Alex who was very clear about what the process of the day was gonna look like, especially with the border crossing & VISAs.

It was about 10am by the time that we stopped at our first stop to pick up lunch - way too early for it but we met someone on our bus who just so happened to have graduated from Uni of Bath last year. What are the chances of that? We board back on and on the way to the border Alfie points out a couple "armed vehicles" going the opposite way (they were definitely tanks). When we get there the process was super simple - we were even given a lanyard with a map on. We get stamped out of Thailand, wait a bit in international waters before getting stamped into Cambodia with our eVISAs.

Back on the bus, we make our way towards Siem Reap and arrive a few hours later. It was quite a long journey but that bus had free WiFi so I kept myself pretty occupied on YouTube for the whole journey. When we arrive, we hop off and head 10 minutes towards our hostel - being offered about 1 million TukTuks on the way. We check in and pay the ridiculously cheap rates for a bed (less than 4 pounds!?), sort our stuff and go out and about for a quick explore.

We were a tad early for the night markets and some dude started chatted to me whilst Alfie was getting food. Turns out he ran a school for underprivileged kids and I ended up not having a choice but donating. Not really understanding the new currencies (they used both Riel and US Dollars) I ended up giving him 20,000 Riel which might sound like alot but was less than 4 Pounds. I brought some more suncream after being robbed at the airport, and we head to "Pub Street" and grab a 75 cents glass of Cambodian beer before heading back to our hostel.

Alfie ends up calling his mum by the pool, where I head out and down the river for a "quick" Mother's Day call. 2 hours later I call my sister and we catch up before I grab some dinner. For some reason the Riverside Market has loads of cheap food but the chairs and tables are made for toddlers. Feeling like a giant I ate my first Cambodian meal and thoroughly enjoyed it.

I head back to the hostel, shower, shave, and try to sleep whilst 2 Spanish girls (probably thinking they were being quiet) chatted away at a normal volume at midnight a couple beds away.Lue lisää