We arrived in Siem Reap last night after a nasty bus ride from Saigon. It's not so easy to fly here as we thought. BTW - when booking bus travel in Vietnam, be assured that EVERYBODY LIES! We know for a fact that sleeper buses exist because we've seen them, but we have no idea how to book one. We weren't really shocked when the sleeper bus didn't appear, nor the bus with the promised extra legroom. And we felt better when we realized that everyone else on the bus had been sold the same bill of goods. The more experienced travellers took it in stride. We thought who cares? It's only an 8 hour bus trip.

The drivers tried to scam us at the Cambodia border but we were a pretty desperate-looking group by that time. They had a closer look at our pissed off, sweaty, stinky mob and just took us to Siem Reap.

So. 18 hours after leaving Saigon, we rolled into Siem Reap. Oh, did I mention that the air conditioning barely worked on the bus? We were dropped off at this dusty little place behind another dusty little place and after a few minutes a tuktuk rolled up. The young Cambodian driver (Jan, pron. Jame) had our names printed on a card. We have hired him as our driver for the balance of our stay.

Our hotel, the Bopha Angkor, looked like an oasis. The hotel was recommended by Donna and Ron, and we are so grateful for the info as we would never have found it on our own. The grounds as well as the rooms are elegant. The pool is beautiful and has a bar! We arrived tired, sweaty, and dusty and with backpacks full of dirty clothes. The only clean shirt I had left was the hand-painted CBC t-shirt that Dan got me for Christmas a couple of years ago. Not really proper attire for this swanky little place. We dug around our packs to find our least dirty clothes and chose a table in a dark corner of the hotel's restaurant. We had a lovely dinner c/w a carafe of good white wine.

I think most of you know that I am a white wino (ha! in more ways than one!) but the only affordable white wine in VN is made in Dalat and it could also be used, in a pinch, to take the finish off your furniture. So, I’ve been drinking lots of Coke Light and even a beer or three but I’ve been missing my Vino Blanca. Anyway, we splurged last night, and I don’t think a glass of wine ever tasted so good.

This morning Jan was waiting for us and tuktuked us out to Angkor Wat. There are a tonne of temples here but I told Greg that we had to see AW first just in case I fell off a tuktuk and broke my leg. I wanted to have Angkor Wat, if nothing else, under my belt.

We have watched the documentaries and read the Lonely Planet descriptions but I don’t think either of us was prepared for the reality of AW. I got quite emotional walking across the sandstone causeway onto the temple grounds. This was truly a dream come true for me.

It was very easy to imagine the people working on that very spot in the 12th century, digging the moat, putting the building blocks into place and completing the endless carvings. Apparently, it is one of the few temples that has always been inhabited and in use. We walked around, reading the stories in LP and playing “Where’s Waldo”, trying to find the objects described among the intricate carvings.

There were a lot of people there but it didn’t feel crowded because the site is so large. I’m still processing the experience.

We made our way back to the tuktuk parking lot and Jan met us before we were mobbed by all the people selling trinkets. We asked him to take us to a good restaurant, so he drove us about 50 meters to a little place just in front of the temple. We made it to 2 more temples before finding our way home.

We met a young German man on the bus yesterday who was very focused and efficient in his temple-viewing methodology. We ran into him this afternoon and he gave us the 411 on some of the other temples so, using our LP and his advice, we will make our way back out tomorrow at 8:00.

Oh yeah!! We saw monkeys on the side of the road on our way home! Mamas with babies. So cute.

Note: Greg found a Mexican restaurant in Cambodia. Then he made me drink a margarita and then he made me stick my feet into a fish tank with a kazillion little fish. They were nibbling on our feet and legs and it felt really weird. I kinda forgot that I had bug dope on so I probably killed a bunch of those poor little guys.

At the end of the day though I can't believe what a follower I am! First the deep-fried crickets, then bouldering to the waterfall, then a fish pedicure! Where will this end??