It's a Holiday in Cambodia! 20.0713 - 23.07.13

Nakhon Sawan to Bangkok to Aranyaprathet to Poipet to Siem Reap to Angkor Wat!
BEST EXPERIENCE OF MY LIFE. UNESCO! 

SATURDAY  20TH JULY
Actually had a decent nights sleep even though I was on a floor, the Air con was just right and I had a double blanket, however my alarm didn’t go off, Thankfully Chongrak awoke me at 6.45 so I quickly got dressed, handy the van station is 2 seconds from her house. Dressed and had a 3 in 1 Nescafe coffee, was actually alright, Ofc she sent me with food lol. Van ticket cost 170B pretty direct from 7am arriving at 10.30, the station/stop had clothes of clothes vendors, shops and stalls and a nearby shopping centre, will definitely have to look again! Got a butterscotch late which was beaut at the start and then just tasted like really rank coffee. Realised that after all my texts to make sure the guys had photos and their passports id forgotten mine ffs! So went to the MBK shopping centre, they took absolute ages to find it and my stomach started being a gimp when I did find it the photo was awful and although it was only 100b it would take an hour ffs!, like I was fine wandering around and nosing at the shops but the stupid pregnant Thai woman took her time and by the time I was leaving in a taxi it was 12.30 and the guys were already at the station, the train leaves at 5 past ffs! Thankfully through sheer luck I arrived on time, the others had got my ticket which was 40 B. it was after an hour before we got a seat but there was only one so we alternating on sharing it. Spent ages chatting, seems like the trip is going to be find, both are so dead on, Robin is so random it’s great, going to the toilet was an expedition and a half, though I’d die every time it was so bouncing and it didn’t have the most pleasant smell either haha! The train ride was a long one, we all got seats as many people began to get off, lots of rice fields etc. but it was nearing an hour and a half late, we started to brick it as some other westerners said they’d heard a rumour that the border was shutting earlier as it was low season or because it was a holiday this weekend, closing at 6pm rather than 8 =/ decided to chance it, and when we got off the Tuktuk took us straight to the border prep area, was a bit cautious at first as I’d read so many tales on fakes etc, but thankfully it was the real deal and others turned up. The Visa was 1300B for Cambodia and the taxi to the border and to our hotel was 800B each, changed 4000B which I got from an ATM and received 420,000KHR crossing the border was weird, like literally changing countries, the contrast was quite stark, In Poipet Casino’s greeted us upon entry, lots of lights etc. so strange particularly when Aranyaprathet where the station was, seemed so empty and vast.
I'm officially in country Number 5 of this trip, my 3rd eastern country :O visa number 3 in my passport ;) arrived in Siem Reap around 10.30/11,

 dinner in a tuktuk

tuktuk no.2

 a whoopie cushion toad is the only way to describe it

IM RICH RICH I TELLS YA! 

actually not its about 4000b, £80. but with everything being so cheap anyway i guess it will go far!

SUNDAY 21ST JULY

Alarm went off around half 4, a frigging rooster started too! Luckily someone was there for us, I insisted on paying half as I didn’t want us getting scammed, however it was the guy from last night, it was a guy with a tuktuk who didn’t really speak any English. Was so weird being in the dark still, all I’ve seen of Cambodia has been in the dark! We arrived at Angkor Wat soon enough, it wasn’t far, had to pay an extra 80,000 or £20 to go in. I had thought that was all included when we paid the guy last night…hmmm, the tickets were cool though, they had our pictures on them! Our First glimpse of the main building of Angkor Wat was still in darkness, so strange, im sure it would even have been eerie if there wasn’t as many people there, so many for such an early time. The Complex open 5.30am-5.30pm nuts! Got a mocha to try and perk myself up and we made our way across a short ancient bridge to the building, or gatehouse of Angkor Wat. 

Got a book on Angkor Wat that in itself acts as a tour guide as the tuktuk driver appears to only be chauffeuring us around different areas and not acting as tour ffs. Haggled it down from $27 to $10. They use dollar or KMR here, sat down on what they think is a Library building to await the sunrise. Met a Chinese couple so got to speak a bit of mandarin, was hard though, I keep getting confused with the Thai ffs! The guy spoke excellent English, he was from Singapore and worked for STA travel, his gf’s English wasn’t the best but she tried, she was very friendly, telling me she loved my hair, think she said it was her favourite colour maybe? 

Unfortunately there was too much cloud cover, a slight overcast,  so we didn’t really get to see the sunrise, but it was still interesting seeing the building come out of the darkness from murky grey to clear. The guys got some lovely art works that apparently are all hand made, haggled a bit for them, once they got the idea they too started to, all before we actually got to the main temple area of Angkor Wat. Angkor Wat is actually just one temple of several of the Kilmer ancient complex, its really the first you get to so I presume that’s why its known collectively as that. You can do like 3 day tours of the place, we’re only doing one though but guess it leaves it open to return, particularly with Rebecca!

The temple is Astounding! Weathered and tumble down in places you can sense that the bricks are enriched with a staunch sense of past, building blocks of a culture, a strong nation (which of course it was a great nation at the time, influencing Thailand, and Cambodia and part of Laos I believe maybe even more) being able to read about it while we walked along and took in the vastness really helped create a sense of purpose, of skill and understanding of beliefs and concepts which led to the creation of it.

Some people were at the very top highest most point temple that obviously hadn’t crumbled or became unapproachable like some of the others, the steps up and down the different sections could be very steep but the ones to the towers seemed nearly vertical and the steps themselves were half the length of my feet, what size were these people?? We saw the people come down being met by a guy in a jacket who helped them over the wire and stepped onto and down a chair to the ground, obviously an underhand thing but still AWESOME. Tom went up to the guy to find out about it and paid him a few dollars to let us up over the barrier, he let us go alone for 10 minutes, though tbh we were more than that!! It was ASTOUNDING!

 Could see everything, all of  the Angkor Wat complex, how small everyone seemed, I could understand why the head was the tallest point, why the buildings were so ornate and designed in the head fashion of the Buddha, I felt like Queen of the world, a god, looking over my supreme empire, I think I could safely say it was one of the utmost profound moments of my life, I felt part of a secret world, like a relic hunter discovering this gem of history for the first time as we were isolated, maybe this was how it felt upon discovering the tomb of Tutankhamen, perhaps maybe only a slight idea but it was astonishing, I felt so alive, so at one with the history, culture and moment, words cannot describe accurately the emotions and thoughts I felt during these 10 isolated minutes at the highest peak of Angkor Wat that only a selected number have witnessed for themselves, they joyful profound feelings and fascinations of the discoveries of this ancient tower, this ancient world, was intoxicating. However the spell was soon broken, the guy came up, he lead us down an opposite way and took a photo of us 3, superb.

 I found 19th century graffiti on one of the pillars, the only graffiti I will ever admire I believe, it was around the time of discovery of Angkor Wat, so one of the first few people to have visited after the 2-3centuries it had been abandoned left his mark forever more on this great monument, I was witnessing an ancient civilisation that was appreciated by another civilisation and country just as I was doing now in the present, This is why I love history, it effects everyone and always will, every action has a reaction however small or large, it will be witnessed or felt by someone to maybe the point were a 20year old girl who has went to Thailand to go to Cambodia is witnessing and standing in the same spot that once a young French man stood, what were his reasons for going here, were they similar to mine? And again it was the same spot that someone once stood, just as we both had, admiring the superiority of the finished design of Angkor Wat in the 11th century. I felt connected to the world and different cultures, era’s and felt alive with the moment and history like never before at one with an interconnected world, interconnecting lives of thousands of people for over hundreds and hundreds of years.

I could see so much life and activity from this point, some people were getting a hot air balloon of Angkor Wat, that would be amazing im sure, to see so much, appreciating from up high just like the god’s were meant to but the mortals and civilisation of that time could only imagine and produce for, along with of course the functional purpose of a buttress of protection against the chams and as a working civilisation and city.  There was so much buzz in the area, current activity, the traces of the ancient activity, so much history and the surrounding landscape was like nothing I had witnessed before, it seemed like a rainforest, though not mountainous like south America [which has its similarities I felt to the complex but flat, like a jungle, adding to the lost ancient world atmosphere the temple possessed about it. I could understand why the Ancient Khmer’s choose this place and the design, to water the vast forest and fertile area, the people could be at one with nature like the Hindu and Buddha teachings and create great tall designs whichever way they wished with the unlimited resources. Able to create a place for a king, a ruler, a man above the people, nearly God like.

 The guy took us down some of the original steps, it was so steep it was slightly scary! But I felt like a Khmer, or one of the original archaeologists, I had access to a sacred part of this temple, I was able to discover the remains of an ancient civilisation and walk in the same places people and civilisations of centuries passed have done before. I don’t believe I’ve ever had a more profound experience in my life, my only regret is that Rebecca couldn’t have been there with my to experience it in particular.

 just some monks, chillin, doing their monk thang

 the South side of Angkor Wat, Beautiful!

Next we went to TA PHROM KEL which was a hospital chapel a part of Angkor, its weird to think that that these ancient people had a health system of their own, though im sure there were stark contrasts to our practises of course! There was lots of rubble bits inside and Robin had the great idea of stealing some as mementos, so I took two haha, ridged bits rather than just plain, one for me and one for Rebecca, like relic hunter, I felt like Sidney Fox and Robin and Tom were my Nigel, officially process part of Angkor Wat, Unesseco :P. 

Went back to the tuktuk and he took us to a restaurant area, we passed wild monkeys and elephants with people riding them!!! So excited and awed, you’d think I was more impressed at the animals than the ancient ruins for a minute :L Tom and robin got something to eat while I tried a delicious freshly made Mango shake, love how everything is made so quick from scratch and all so fresh in Asian countries,

Then we went through the  ANGKOR THOM gates,
 it was a capital city a couple times through different monarch reigns and they had just added to it each time, then into the BAYON it had huge pits in it, hopefully not sacrificial? Seeing as the majority of the time they were Hindu or Buddhist…I hope.

 the Bayon

 Nellyphants!!

 step climb! be careful, need to "Walk like an Egyptian" or should i say "Khmer" to get up and down

 What do you want slave? you are interupting my thoughts!

 Army on elephants

 peek-a-boo i see you!

 pillars pillars everywhere!

 Like a maze!

 a guy behind sneakily joined in too haha!

 just being a Hindu Goddess, typical day in the life of kelly

 amazing artists at work, just like me eh?> JE SUIS UNE ARTISTE!!

 at one with our relics of the ancient world

 We walked on and took a rest as Tom felt a bit iffy, so relaxed near a bridge beside ELEPHANT TERRACE and BAPUON. Saw an amazing red and black butterfly that when it fluttered looked like a bird! So beautiful! Robin and I went on to the BAPUON temple which is designed like a pyramid, it reminded me strongly of the Aztecs, similar styles but so far apart! Amazing! Upon trying to enter the temple, I firstly forgot my ticket and had to return to Tom, then my cardigan as they were funny about dress code, but they STILL weren’t happy with me, nor were they with some people in shorts ffs! Robin got in fine though! I’d even tied my skirt split with a hair bobble and another tourist said I looked fine, ffs! Cambodians! Security for an old temple, there wasn’t even monks! .

 I decided I’d look round the outside at least and explore, I found a side entrance, sort of, it was partially boarded up, but you know me, I’d never forgive myself if I’d been to the place but not been allowed in as they’re dicks….so, I waited until the coast was clear, Ofc! And scaled up over the boards that were vertically sealing the steps, like a treasure hunter, I was in fact Lara Croft (part of the film and the game are actually based here after all!)

 "creeping up the backstairs"

  Robin spotted me when I got up haha casual as always, thankfully there was no security up here :P he thought I was a right legend, felt like it a bit, always doing bad things due to my dress in foreign countries, just trying to defeat being arrested, first in Dubai now Cambodia haha. He’d just been up to the top and said it was a right climb, but I made him go again haha. It was so steep! And even the new steps for the tourist were tiny, how small were the ancient people and the current nation’s feet?!?!  We didn’t go as far as the summit it was sealed off and I’d done illegal activities for one temple :P  the temple stone design, placement and overall atmosphere really reminded me of the Aztec’s along with what seemed a tropical rainforest setting and the ponds and surrounding moat, I completely  felt like I was in another world and another time, it was truly amazing. The temple pyramid designed again had this resurging idea I felt, of the kings and the people trying to be closer to god, to happiness, to peace and love, close to the sky that brings rain, sun, moon, stars and life to the world, a vantage point on high to see the kingdom and be at one with the world and god. we messed about at the back and I showed him were I scaled up..Huge ants started climbing over us and biting our legs, bloody painful, what the F?!?!

 my Lara Croft, fighting stance on top of Bapuon

 yes that's right, i fitted IN a tree!

we then got attacked by ants...painful!!

Next was elephant walk decorated with elaborate carvings of elephants and monkeys and men, with edges carved and sculpted into feature edges, originally a pleasure walk/pavilion for the king. Back near the restaurants I got some amazing close ups of the gibbons, I originally thought they were baboons some were so huge, but I was mistaken.

Next on our cooling Tuktuk ride we were dropped off in eastern Angkor at TA PROHM a temple built in honour of the kings mother, so even back then, the Asian all have a strong sense of family, so unlike our culture unfortunately, some people would sell their mother for a tenner im sure.
All the deity’s of the temple in which there are hundreds of them and more were later added, 260 in total to begin with, they are all meant to be based on, or represent his mother, such was his love and respect for her, perhaps it was also to suggest that if his mother was a goddess then he was most certainly a god king? Possibly? This one was definitely the best, it was partially fixed and left so much as to look like it had just been discovered in the 19th century, the most damage had been done due to the trees randomly growing out of the ruins, a Thai fir tree and a silk tree I think, vine like and twisted, definitely like something discovered in a jungle, think Lara Croft was in fact filmed in this section! I truly felt like Indiana Jones, with all the fines, plants and trees randomly growing out of the buildings and rubble, got some fantastic pictures! I felt romanticised by the Amazonian wild jungle ,ancient civilisation/lost world atmosphere the temple had, with so many ruins and rubble Robin and I started to climb, even Tom joined in, felt like kids and explorers, much more fascinating than just looking around, I was exploring, I was feeling, living, it was exhilarating. Felt even more like a relic hunter, I didn’t feel myself, I felt like another person in another world, it was just so unreal, unbelievable, such a fantastic feeling and experience! Particularly since no-one else but the 3 amigos, ourselves were doing it, reminding me of earlier at Angkor Wat, doing something a bit naughty to achieve something worthwhile, just like the adventurers and explorers that found it! I felt so alive, my only thoughts were, how can I get higher to get a better view, what could I climb? I felt at one with my ancient surroundings, wondering if this was how the ancient people felt at the wonder and glory of the temple or did it just become background to them, like the landmarks in my own life? A city hall or university? I wondered how the explorers felt when they found it, did they feel exhilarated like me? Unable to contain the excitement or the new found possibilities the temple presented? Leaving a huge imprint on them for the rest of their lives?!

 Royal Gaga wave

 climbing the vines, more like tarzan and jane now!

 Xena warrior princess?

 Got some AMAZING, panoramic pictures, thank goodness I lent Rebecca’s camera, got some funny ones too before my battery died, disaster! Thankfully tom could take the rest on his Iphone and was willing to do so, phew

Exited out through the south gate of Angkor Thom, not as well kept as the northern gate, the 4 heads on the main pillar wasn’t as frightening as they’d mainly faded or fallen apart, the faces are to point north/south/east and west, perhaps they are meant to be daunting to ward off invaders against attacking the city? Amazing that they could easily tell things like this with no compass, all natural human basic skills I guess, much better than relying on technology which could easily break.

Next we looked at SRAH SHRANG the lake, for every strong town there needs to be water, a lake, river, sea or reservoir, and the Khmers understood that, they’d have lakes and make reservoirs. The vendors here were pushing strongly for drinks, there were even children doing it, one girl kept trying to force Robin to buy something but he wouldn’t respond, in which she then told him that: his mother was bad as she no teach her son to speak haha. We were definitely sweating it out at this stage, it was around 1 or 2 pm and the sun was definitely up at this point!  Needed a shower for sure! Everything is way too overpriced here because of all the tourists, not fair! Tom said my sandals reminded him of Xena warrior princess, guess they do haha. 

The last temple we visited was BANTAY KDEI across from the river Shrah Shrang, we were so hot and tired by this point and ready to murder the majority of the vendors this was perhaps the least enjoyable, though still amazing all the same! It was in the worst state of repair, they had made half hearted attempts at repair, makeshift wall held up with a pole and bricks held together with cord, health and safety would have a field day with this one! Health and safety say what?!?! Haha lots of Naga images again repeated throughout, the “snake god” this is a Hindu god/reference, though its still used today in conjunction with Buddha, think maybe there’s a story with that or its used as a bridge between the two religions’ By this point Robin has decided on a new tact for the vendors, I was using French for mine, when offered a painting I loudly proclaimed “NON. JE SUIS UNE ARTISTE” to which they stopped trying and looked slightly terrified, I was surprised at my outburst myself, Tom and Robin however found it amazing and took to fits of laughter! Robin was pretending to be mute, it was a weak attempt, the vendors still harassed him but eventually left him alone. I kept pretending I was interested then openly slagging the thing to the guy in English, “that creature they’re selling is utterly terrifying, no sure I do not want it, it would terrify and small children in my house, it makes me feel ill” haha I did haggle for a somewhat lovely rice paper sketch and got it down for the price I wanted but I decided against it, the woman and her friend kept trying to follow me and call me back but it wasn’t for happening. There was more amazing artwork, painted pieces on canvas, absolutely beautiful, I tried to haggle but she wasn’t for letting me have it, even when I told her that the materials for it were cheap, I know, I AM ARTISTE but it didn’t work…I was very hot and perhaps starting to get sunburnt as I had not remembered to bring any lotion with me so when we met our driver we asked him to take us for some food., we went to a nearby restaurant and had our first taste of Khmer cuisine, the boys got coconuts curries, it was brought in a coconut, amazing! I had a Khmer noodle veg dish, only ate half to asked to take the other bit away, it’ll do tomorrow.

We’d been up nearly 12hours and were all shattered so the driver took us back to Siem Reap, we wanted a cheap massage and he started deliberately trying to take us for a dearer one at $7, so got him to stop, we booked our bus back to Bangkok and then got a massage is a nearby parlour 30minutes for $5. Robin got as fish pedicure (ewww) Tom; a shoulder, head and back massage and I went for a full body massage. Got to kept our clothes on, always a good sign haha, Tom and I went into the back but the kept the curtain in between us open  (weird) the girl got on top of Tom, and the other on me, definitely not like a Chinese massage! She then told me, whilst on top of me, that I was very beautiful…and then asked if Tom was my boyfriend, in which I replied No ofc, Tom masseur looked happy when her friend told her. To make matters worse, Tom kept giggling when she was touching some part of his back as it was tickly, then she started giggling, by the end of it, I had them in a sordid romance haha. Got all of my body massaged, head, feet, legs, arms, neck, was great. She cracked my back, hands and feet too which was amazing! Similar and yet so different to Chinese massages, the head massage was weird though, she got behind me and put my head actually in her lap… no wonder people can make these things seem so dirty haha, im sure its worse in Thailand! The head massage was weird, but when she started to massage my chest that shit got weirder!!!!  I could get over that okay, expect that when I was leaving she learnt over and whispered something in my ear…im glad I didn’t head or understand!! We then made our own way to our hotel, looking around the shops nearby as we went, I got 3 magnets for $1, pretty decent haggling if I do say so myself :D drink is dirt cheap here! In dollars 10 glass of flavoured Smirnoff was like £8, I’d be an alcoholic if Lauren and I lived here haha. Back at the hotel we all chilled and got are highly desired showers, cleaning of the dust and sweat of the day and then charged my camera for a bit, hurrah! We walked to the night market and began our haggling and purchases for ourselves and our families. I got a bed runner in wine and gold of Angkor Wat, which was firstly bought for mum, but I felt I should have some memento’s. Got an Angkor beer t-shirt too, for an impressive $1.50. We went to another part of the market, across the road near the famous Pub Street in which they appeared to be giving free fish pedicures so we all stuck our feet in. terrifying, absolutely terrifying, how will I deal with sharks?!! All the Cambodia people kept laughing at me and my squeals, basically ALL the fish came over and attached my feet, they either sense my fear, or as Mark had said the other night about myself and my Mosquito bites, they could sense my hot female blood…these bad boys weren’t small like they were at home, were my feet that disgusting, dusty and covered in dead flesh? They swarmed to me, huge things, about the size of our big goldfish, these fish bite and eat your skin, its no Foot spa,  the Khmers found my reaction to this, the faces and the noises, hilarious, so did the lads, good for them, to make matters worse some of the gigantic pale ones came over, they were half the size of my foot, if I ignored it I was okay, but Robin kept bloody pointing out that it was attacking my foot :O traumatic, but I think my feet were a bit better for it, lets hope I don’t get some horrid disease from the fish who’s been eating goodness knows who!

Night Market

 Robn's afternoon fish pedicure with complimetary drink

 traumatic fish pedicure at the night market!!

After we had finished we had a frigging argument with the owner, we’d thought it was free due to the wording of the sign but they were crafty we bastard, “If fish cant make you happy you no pay” I tried to argue that I was obviously traumatised but they said I was laughing…ffs. She wanted a dollar each from us, in the end I gave her my scrap saying it was all I had lol, like 50kmr which is something like £0.079 :P we went back to the hotel after that, Robin had tried to buy shorts but the man in the shop wouldn’t lower the price and Robin was convinced they’d be used, ewww. Went on the free computers back in the hall of the hotel, having taken my shoes off of course! The lads all voiced their strong dislike of Sarah Crumbe* lets say lol.  According to Robin she looks like a troll, or the evil sea witch Ursula from the Little mermaid haha, all she wants to do is get drunk and get it on with people, charming. I hate when people don’t take opportunities like this seriously! She met her newest mentor (as she’s complained about 2 or 3 accommodations…I don’t have a shower!!) having only slept 2 hours and still utterly wasted, what an impression. Total hours of being awake today 19-20 NUTS!

MONDAY 22ND-TUESDAY 23RD JULY

What a two day melt, definitely not as good as my first day in Cambodia! Where to begin?
I got woken up an hour earlier by the stupid rooster that lives beside us ffs! When we did finally get up and met the tuktuk driver it seemed like it was going to rain, he took us out of Siem Reap and through the worst road ever! So many potholes so bumpy and dusty, thought we were going to die!past loads of poor looking houses all on sticks, was diffently different from the tourist area, poverty was obvious! He dropped us off near some buses having told us the ticket for our boat ride was $20, I asked him about the waterfall and he said it was too far and something about the boat…having paid the 20 2 western girls came up and said if people group together it’d be $8...raging!!

Thought we’d be with lots of others, but Tom, Robin and I got a boat to ourselves. The “tour” guide was very talkative, telling us about the Lake, being the 3rd biggest in the world after one in Canada, its one of the biggest floating villages in the world with maybe 1million+ people spread out, known as Tonle sap and recognised as an ecological hot spot by Unesco It has some Vietnamese people too as they decided,  to stay after the war. There were floating basketball courts which was weird, a floating pig pen, lots of “houses” all with hammocks or “play” in Thai. There were a few schools too, charity ran and mainly for orphans that then lives on the schools as many lost parents to the lake in bad weather. During the rain season in October, the lake rises a further 10m or something wild! Hence why even the houses in the nearby town were on stilts. We lay at the front of the boat and Tom even had a go at driving, such a weird way of life the Cambodia people live at this floating village,

. We got to the mouth of the lake and the driver let us jump out and have a swim, even though the water was brown, luckily I had already stuck on a bikini, still was pretty sundering with two guys there though…but the water was nice, was deep and even though it was brown and opaque it was pleasant, the current was quite strong and top kept clinging onto the boat but Robin and I enjoyed it, we climbed back on and sort of dried off before it started to rain slightly, we moved on to the crocodile and fish farm, that was on a “floating” shop area, the there were so many crocodiles and you could even feed the big scary cat fish! Had some info about the lake and then you could climb to the top and look out, apart from the water and the floating homes there were lots of water lilies growing, I wonder if the people can eat them? I saw the Chinese couple from Angkor Wat, the girl was very excited to see me lol.

 Crocodiles

 How needs dollars when you can have a fish?

 Cambodian flag

 Cambodia

School children using the nearby embankment as their playground

Went to a floating market were the tried to persuade everyone to buy stuff for the school, we then went to one, the kids all wore hand me downs and the classrooms were basic, there were no tables or chairs in their canteen, so strange and other worldly, and this was the well off school as there was charity, pretty shocking! We then returned back to base, such a strange and unusual trip, im not sure if I really enjoyed it tbh. When we got in our tuktuk we asked again about the waterfall but again he said it was too far, we suggested a temple and he said no as he’d only been agreed and told the boat ride today..da fuckk and we’d only paid half, when he finally dropped us off at the hotel we had a huge argument with him, refusing to pay the rest of the money as we didn’t get a tour guide round Angkor Wat or go to the waterfall, argued for ages and he started to get angry, he rang his boss and the guy from the first night and even conceded he’d take us to the temple. He started to get angry so in the end we agreed to pay him half of what we owed him, therefore the tuktuk for the 2 days only cost $15 each, not too bad I guess? We chilled for a bit after that ordeal before going for a dander to find the nearest temple, we get lost and found another market before eventually finding the temple it, it was quite different from the usual ones in Thailand, lots more statues of animals etc, we went the direction of the palace too but didn’t really find it, back to the hotel to chill, tom blocked the toilet so we had to move ffs, had my leftovers earlier not so bad but we got ready and then headed out again round 6.

Got a cheaper massage at the market, $2 for half hour, tom had a guy at the front this time lol, app it wasn’t as sensual :L and Robin’s foot massage turned cannibalistic apparently…da fuck hahaha. My woman didntgo for the boobs this time but did massage my ass quite a bit…awkward. By the time I was out it was down pouring ffs! We got food, great value and sat in the lovely bar area under canopy, tom got battered mushrooms for $2, the plate was piled high!! I got thai green curry and rice, sublime! We did the markets for a bit and got eh last bits and bobs. before conceding that we did definelty need a tuktuk back as we were SOAKED!! Got a shower in our new room and watched some telly, ghost ship had just come on and was settling down to watch it when the frigging electric went out due to the weather. Fmlll. Thankfully it came on after and we just decided to have an early one as we were to get up at 7am for the bus. But ofc even that was a disaster! As it hadn’t arrived by 7.20 we decided we must have togo to the place where we got the tickets but when we finally arrived there it wasn’t open. Got a tuktuk back to the hotel and the owner grumpily rang, he wasn’t much help he also made us pay a bit earlier when I thought it was paid all online…well need to check. Some French girls were waiting for there’s too,. Ours had been and went so was really starting to panic!! Thankfully a tuktuk driver with the company took us to the station area but the next one didn’t leave until half 9! We didn’t arrive at the border until after 12 and then the border took near 2 hours,,,AND THE GUY DIDN’T GIVE US OUR RE-ENTRY FML we only have a 15day one, shittt.we’re gona hafta do more border runs and all, a woman olive from the British council is gona help, stupid Thai people not understanding my English at the border ffs!! Pretty sure I saw 2 lady boys at the border cross haha. May have to do Laos after all…and when Tom talked to Oil she said that if we didn’t have enough time we’d need to get a 30day to cover it and that would entitle a flight and border… awkward and pricy. We got on a van with the bus ticket after the border and were told we’d have 1 stop and get step down at Khao San road and be there road 6, tx my mentor finally since I was back in Thailand…but did the van driver only stop once?? NO. he stopped repeatedly! Around 6 he stopped again after the last one 10minutes before at another garage and as it began to rain monsoon style we waited for a fucking hour! And the only English word he could understand was ok, and he didn’t even understand it ffs!! We thought we were in Bangkok round 7 or 8 but after 2 hours and still not arrived we realised he was FUCKING LOST!! An American girl ended up having too give him a map. FML was going to actually kill him!! Still raining and felt like I had trench foot, least I wasn’t suffocating from the heat anymore as there aircon didn’t work for the trip down so thought I was going to die, his driving was reckless and nearly kept head butting the ceiling. WORST DRIVER EVER. Who the fuck would employ you if you didn’t know where you were going?!?! Tom realised that he’d not only left his glasses but he’d also left behind his presents in Cambodia, more disaster. His phone died so we went to a hostel/restaurant to charge, kept getting calls from Jongrak wondering what was happening, as Tom was worrying so much he ordered a taxi to Nakhon Sdawan and then his, 3000b but id pay 1000 as its closest, Robin was much further and would need a diff taxi so he just stayed. Got in it about 11. Slept very uncomfortably in the back freezing as the aircon was on full, then about 2 hours in, I had to get the guy to stop as I had the shits. NOTMY FUCKING DAY.held in and finally got to Nakhon Sawan, got a shower at Jongraks and then napped before leaving 2 hours later at 4 with Ding and Wat who had arrived late back from Bangkok as well to drive to the school, we both ko’d in the back and then dropped them off at their respected places. Another 2 hours in my house for sleep then up for school.eughhh feel bad for Jongrak having been up so much. Such a disastrous journey!!