We arrive in Siem Reap after our six hour day bus and got dropped off in the rural cambodia with absolutely no street signs anywhere. After trying to find which direction to go in we thumbed a lift from a tuk-tuk with two people WITH backpacks already in it. The driver then assured us we could fit in....he was right but we were both hanging out of it for the three km journey. We wandered around Siem Reap and after taking the advice from a random local bicycle rider of 'CHEAP ROOM THATAWAY' he was pretty much spot on! The room cost 4 quid for air con and a fan private bathroom hot water tv for the both of us! After checking in we headed down 'Pub Street' for scoff and beers. We met our Ozzy friend from tubing and had a few beers and caught up on each others travels. We called it a night and got some much needed rest.
We started our day by getting up at 4:30am! Hired two bikes and rode the 6km in the dark to the biggest religious monument in the world. The ride was pretty nice despite getting up so early and when the sun rose over the Temple it was definately worth it. We visitied a few temples such as Angkor Thom and Ta Prohm also know as 'The tomb raider temple'. We think we cycled around 25km and 5km into it Gem got a flat tyre and carried on riding through the day on it! We decided we'd taken enough photos and done enough sightseeing to warrant ourselves a tuk-tuk ride home so Gem could take it easy. Some street food and beers and we were in bed before we knew it.
Today we visited the Landmine Museum ran by a ex-khmer rouge child soldier turned bomb removal expert called Aki Ra. He was known as a local hero who we cannot begin to explain what he has done for his country so here website have a look at it for more info : http://www.cambodialandminemuseum.org/
The Museum was heartbreaking Gem cried the whole time we were there but with good reason lol. Behind the museum is a orphanage which houses the children whose lives have been affected by devastating landmine accidents usually losing limbs. After watching a short film on Aki Ra's life and his works we met a Californian who has also dedicated his life to the cause. We bought some t-shirts and other merchandise and headed back to our hotel once again not realising how lucky we are to come from such a carefree country. We reluctantly booked our bus out of Siem Reap to Bangkok that night and looked back on how little time we spent in such a brilliant country with possibly the friendliest people we have ever came across! We decided one day we will go back to Cambodia!
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