Cambodia

It's time to move on to our 3rd country in approx 6 weeks. The Laos- Cambodia border is also known as Scambodia. Throughout our time in Laos we have heard absolute horror stories of how people have been scammed at the border or had to wait for hours if they didn't just pay up the scam etc. Let's just say we have not been looking forward to today! We booked our bus from the Cambodian border to take us to Siem Reap so all we need to do is take a boat to the main island and then tuk tuk to the border for 10:30am for the bus pick up... Simple. We decided to leave at the crack of dawn to give plenty of time incase of any scams or holdups.

Firstly we jumped on the boat off Don Khon to go to Bangkok Nakasang on the mainland. Destination 1 Complete.

We arrived on the mainland with sooo many tuk tuks offering a lift to the border for 20,000 Kip, approx £20. Outrageous, so we confidently declined. We were told we should pay between 50-70,000 kip. We hadn't had breakfast and had no snacks for our long journey so grabbed some fresh steamed dumplings, a doughnut, fruit and snacks. We walked to the bus station to find it closed. A tuk tuk driver came and told us the bus and tuk tuks no longer go to the border as there is now a fine of $20 per traveller on the tuk tuk which has been enforced by the mafia Laos police in the last couple of days. For the first time we actually felt sorry for the tuk tuk drivers as they are now completely out of business! In the end he offered to take us 4km from the border and then said we can walk the rest of the way. It wasn't the ideal situation but suited us fine. We actually felt happy to have found an honest tuk tuk!! So first he took us to the money exchange and then off we go in our tiny lawnmower tuk tuk.

All was going so well for the first 15 mins, super happy we hadn't been scammed yet and on our way to check point two. However, all of a sudden he stopped the tuk tuk and said he can't go any further and would only take us to the waterfall which was about 11km from the border, approx 3 hour walk, for $20 each... We were outraged and stood our ground. I think he realised we were not going to budge, literally, so he happily carried on to our agreed destination without any further hassle. Although he tried that initial scam we were happy with his general honesty and he was very apologetic about not being able to take us to the border, he genuinely seemed quite scared of the police to be honest. So Destination 2,the border, not quite complete.

We then began our 50 min walk. To be honest it wasn't that bad, it was still coolish as it was only 8:30am and as we are pretty quick we got there in 40 mins. Destination 2 Complete!

Next stop, making our way through the border scam free... Now this was supposed to be the more difficult bit... but as it was so early we were the only tourists there and although very nervous we got through in no time and didn't pay a single penny more than we were expected! The one eventful happening was when Will had to give his fingerprints. Bless him, the fingerprint scanner couldn't detect any fingerprints on any of his fingers. The guys at the immigration were trying to push his fingers down to make it work. Eventually he just laughed at waved him on. Destination 3 Complete!

We found our bus driver straight away that and said the bus will leave at 11:45am. We had a good hour and half to just chill out, drink a pineapple shake and eat some lunch before heading to Siem Reap on the bus.

Just a side note, before I came here I didn't really like pineapples, I'm now obsessed, a day without a pineapple shake is like being on holiday without having an ice cream! Criminal!

So now to complete the journey to our final destination. The ticket we bought was specifically a ticket for the bus that uses the newly built road which shaves off a couple of hours off the travel time. Oh my god what a dream! OK sure it felt like we were constantly melting and the minivan wasn't the comfiest but the road, oh the road!! It was sooo smooth!!! We were on our first normal road in 6 weeks and we'd forgotten that its not normal to constantly be thrown out of your seat due to gravel and pot holes. OK so I wrote the above paragraph a couple of hours ago... I'm now sadly having to update our perfect trip. So we are supposed to arrive at 7pm and it's now 5:30pm. I'm not sure if the driver is running late for dinner or needs a wee but he's suddenly driving like a maniac!! He is not stopping for anyone, constantly beeping to tell people to move out the way and overtaking everything even if there's oncoming traffic. The last hour and half of the journey so pretty rough! But hey we got to Siem Reap safe and sound and the bus company organise personal tuk tuks to your hostel which was great!

For dinner we had a quick look on Google and we saw the Bug Cafe. Well when in SEA! If intrigued look up bug cafe, Siem Reap on Google. So we read reviews, looked at all the crazy looking pictures and psyched ourselves up for some crazy food. We got to the cafe and it was closed! Disaster, but we ended up at a really lovely Khmer restaurant and ate yummy, not so crazy, food.

The next day Will had a tummy bug again so we had a slow day of replenishing our stock of toiletries and clothes and planning the next couple of days and how we would do Angkor Wat. With quite a tight budget it took us a bit longer to organise Angkor Wat but eventually with the help of social media we were recommended a tuk tuk driver who would take us the route we wanted in one day for the price we could afford! We have to wait till Saturday but I really can't wait! In the evening we went to the night Market and I got 2 new tops, a skirt and my third pair of sunglasses. Hopefully they last longer this time! If you've never been to the night market, in particular in Siem Reap, the shop assistants constantly ask "do you want tshirt, do you want skirt, do you want trousers, do you want... " and follow you in your face round the market. I'm not really one for people following me and constantly talking to me when shopping and there was one stall in particular where she wouldn't leave me alone and I cracked and said very politely" actually I just want to be left alone". The woman went ballistic... And told me to get out. Well let's just say I didn't buy anything from her. But it was a very successful day and we bought everything we needed to get. Towards the end of the day Will was feeling pretty rough so we went back to the hostel and I bought a margherita pizza, corn on the cob and a Angkor Beer and he was soon better 😊 The beer was actually for me!

The next day was a slow day starting with my first poached eggs in 2 months! We then went to visit the War museum. The museum, although quite small, was really heart wrenching. A war veteran who went to war from the age of 9 and nearly died over 9 times, also known as the Cat. He had been injured by an array of weapons including an RPG and AK47. He showed us his wounds, ball bearings and shrapnel that is still under his skin. He told us stories about the number of people in his village that had died due to UXO including children just running in the fields or adults gathering food. It was so sad to hear and see the pictures of people to this day that are still dying due to UXO. The museum is a definite must if you are in Siem Reap. For the rest of the day we just relaxed, ate a late lunch and planned our next steps after Siem Reap.

Today, 1st March, was full of various chores and planning for Angkor Wat and for our sleeper bus and also finishing off our Siem Reap bucket list.

Firstly with the chores, we finally found a super cheap laundry service that uses hot, I repeat hot water! You have no idea what a luxury this is so we threw our entire 5kg worth of clothes into the wash. Job 1 done.

For once we have been planning a bit ahead and we've realised our wonderful Chiang Mai family are now in the southern islands off Cambodia and our next stop is there! It will be great to have a mini reunion. However having looked at price of accomodation it is pretty steep... So we are hoping to find something when we get there... If not guess what we decided to purchase. A HAMMOCK!! One of the guys Charlie felt the accomodation was also too steep so he has spent the last couple of days in his own hammock, so we decided why not try it haha Job 2 done.

After a late lunch we went to see the beautiful Angkor Wat at sunset. For those that haven't been you can either get a one day or 3 day pass. The full site is 400 acres of land, it is unbelievably epic! Of you get time please read or watch a documentary about it, just astounding! We decided to get the one day as you can get it at 4:30pm the day before and then the full day after. So we decided to go crazy and try and do it one day, well the main sites anyway. Having watched the documentary the other day I knew that the site was big and I suppose I knew what it looked like but wowee. When you actually see it. It's just breath taking. As we only had an hour and half before closure we basically ran round the whole place to make the most of our pass and we decided not to go tomorrow and go to others instead. By the end we were being escorted and whistled off the premises with a couple of others hanging on to the dear end. But we saw everything we wanted to see and it was just epic. We then waited till sunset which was also lovely. I am so unbelievably excited for our day tomorrow.

When we got back as it was our last proper evening we decided to try the bug cafe again. We ordered the tasting plate which has water beetle, crickets, silk worms, scorpion, tarantula and ants. When the plate came although yes it looked odd it didn't look as scary as in the pics and actually they were very easy to eat! Water beetle and silk worm were the nicest to eat and scorpion was very bitter with a slight liver texture. Well at least I can say when insects become the future for protein I'm ready!Read more