Cambodia

Awake early. Today’s the day. The Big Kahunas, I keep saying. Angkor Thom, Bayon and Angkor Wat. It feels an appropriate way to end our epic sightseeing tour in Cambodia.  Flash Angkor passes again, and break away from the rolling masses heading for Angkor Wat. We’re heading for the ancient city of Angkor Thom first. […]

All hail the rest day. Legs, feet and brain are all grateful for a lazy morning. A late start, a late breakfast. A morning of housekeeping; pick up our washing from the lady across the street, buy more underwear, visit the bank and post the postcards. The holiday version of “adulting”? Walking around the Old […]

Arrived home last night about 8pm. The night passed in a flurry of Mexican food, fruit smoothies and straight to bed. On the road this morning by 8am. We join the rolling masses, flashing our Angkor passes as we enter the archaeological park once more. We pass the busy carpark near Angkor Wat, heading for […]

Make tracks for Koh Ker. Another two and a bit hours of bone rattling roads. I doze off occasionally, but am shaken awake by the car bouncing through pot holes. Give up, and watch the countryside whizz past. Terrain has changed from dry baked dust, to dry scrub land. Neat, rectangular huts on stilts are […]

Up and out by 8am. Hitting the road today, to the Cambodian-Thai border. To disputed lands. Devid asks us to take our passports, in case something happens and we need to prove our nationality. Sounds ominous. As we drive, Devid and Patrick discuss the history of Preah Vihear, the border dispute and the claims from […]

A sleep in! After three full on days in Singapore, and a 4am start yesterday, the later start is blissful. No plans for the day, except to cut some laps around the Old Market area of town. Maybe tend to the aching legs and feet.  The Old Market is a squeezy block of brick stalls, […]

Leaving the swarm at Angkor Wat, we make tracks for Ta Prohm, the temple made famous in pop culture by Angelina Jolie. It’s almost deserted – all hail the guide who “gets it”! Slow, methodical restoration works are occuring here, and given the way the banyan tree roots have taken over the sandstone structures, I […]

Fitful sleep – both of us kept waking throughout the night to check the clock, thinking we’d slept through the alarm. Up at 4am. Showered and cameras armed, ready to go at 4.40am. Meet our guide for the week, Devid, who is unbelievably chatty at this ungodly hour. Whisked off to the tourist office to […]

We hit Cambodian soil at 3.10pm. The sky is a murky red-grey colour, painted with dust and smoke; this is the hot season after all. Short walk across the tarmac under the blazing sun. Siem Reap International Airport is surprisingly small for the number of visitors it welcomes. Breeze through immigration with our eVisas; we’ve […]