25th June - Ko Phangan, Thailand

So going back to the 15th of June now we arrived in Siem Reap and headed to our couple of chosen guest houses, one which was full and one which was dirty. We then headed to a place call Garden Village which was recommended to us by some travellers on Phnom Penh. we checked out two of their rooms, refused a bungalow that was falling down and went for a very shabby and basic room instead but at least it had a fan and toilet even if not furniture or hot water and the sink was not plumbed in so when you brushed your teeth you had to be careful you didn't spit on your feet! It had a really nice bar/cafe upstairs where we had a great curry, cheap beer, football on the big screen and met some really nice people. It doesn't matter so much that the room sucks if it's cheap and there is somewhere else nice to sit in, until i started getting bitten. there must have been bugs in all the wicker chairs as I had 6 bites in about 30 minutes on my back and arms. everyone else had the same so it must have been the furniture. I then heard two seperate groups of people talking of bedbugs which made me very paranoid about sleeping there but there wasn't a choice, so I had plenty of beer so i could pass out without laying awake worrying about it. lo and behold I had only been asleep an hour and i woke up with my face burning (my face and hands were the only parts of me actually showing as i was fully clothed in bed (with socks!) just in case) the bastards had bitten me 5 times on the face and all over my wrists and were running rife all over the bed and in the pillows. woke Sam up, packed and at 1am they put us in another room which was so dirty - really horrible. but at that time we wouldn't have been able to move to another room as everywhere closes up for the night. Got out of there first thing the next morning!! headed to a different hotel who were just perfect! lovely balcony to watch the sunset with a cold Angkor beer. They said they would do a Thai Visa run for us and have a 3 month visa back to us in 48 hours for 30 USD each. Awesome. and they sorted us out a tuk-tuk to take us to see the temples the next day for a good price.

Now to the highlight and actually, real reason for going to Cambodia. The temples of Angkor. sounds mystical and amazing right? well, it is. truly deserving of the title 'one of the eight wonders of the ancient world' these temples were built by the rulers of Angkor over a thousand years ago. The temples span over a massive space and each temple was built by a different ruler in a different time period. In terms of history and culture it really was the most awesome structures i have ever seen. How they managed to build these temples 1000 years ago and make the carvings they made, transport the stone and create mathematically perfect symmetry between all the building is just amazing. We decided to get up at 4am and get there for sunrise as the views of Angkor Wat (one of the largest and most famous temples) are supposed to be amazing. Speeding along in the tuk-tuk at 5am to the gates with a very groggy Sam and we reached Angkor Wat. i was surprised how many people were about especially as it was low season but i suppose there were about 200 watching the sunrise just at this one temple. One thing i loved about the temples was that it was so hands on! hardly any ropes or 'don't climb this' signs unless its dangerous. Yuo really can walk through all the banquet halls, touch everything, climb on everything. you could really imagine what it was like. There was only 5 other people we saw inside Angkor Wat at 6am (most people watch the sunrise and explore it later when the light is better but we wanted to explore is deserted) so it was really special. We spent the whole day exploring the temples. Bayon was incredible too. 32 stone towers with Buddha faces - I can't even really explain it. you will have to wait for the pictures. : )

We managed about 12 hours until we had to leave. A day in the heat was just such hard work. By 8:30am you couldn't stop the sweat pouring off you and the heat makes your breath all shallow, its weird! We paid the tuk-tuk driver some extra money to drive us out of Angkor for an hour to a lesser known temple and to visit the landmine museum, which is run by a guy called Aki Ra, he was a child soldier for the Kmer Rouge and has himself laid hundreds of thousands of mines. He tells stories of the horrific killings he did when he was only 11. laying mines and leaving poison magazines of bullets for the enemy. when they found them and tried to use them the poison would be released and they would die. also putting explosives in the middle of cigarettes, the first half would smoke ok but then the enemy would have their head blown off ore at least their hand. As he got older Aki Ra realised the damage he was doing to his country and now safely deactivates land mines all over Cambodia (approx 4 million still active) for free and also runs the museum and a school for children who have lost limbs from land mines.

We left Siem Reap the next day for Ko Tao. This involved a bus to the Thai border to be officially stamped out of Cambodia and into Thailand. We were told we would have a bus to take us, but the guy running it said we would have to jump in a car (to the bus station we thought) or we would miss out bus the other side of the border. So he crammed 6 backpackers in one taxi. a couple in the front seat next to the driver and four of us in the back. For two hours we drove manically, with no seatbelts. crazy stuff. you may think as you read this we are being foolish and unsafe, but this is literally the way things work here. It's a very different culture! once the hellish car ride was over we crossed the border all fine and there was a much comfier minibus (with a whole seat each woohoo!) waiting for us. Met some really cool people on the bus, a polish girl called marie who came out for 3 weeks in feb and was still going! she ended up training to be a Laos nun for a month. Random. also a guy called Monk who works as a DJ on Ko Tao. So at about 7pm we get dropped off back at Koh San Road. It felt so weird being back in Bangkok - this was where we were 7 weeks earlier and when we hadn't travelled at all. You feel so much more savvy and comfortable. so it was quite fun to be back and we went back to a bar we loved with our big rucksacks for a few hours while we waited for our night train. Jo and Matt who we met in Hanoi, North Vietnam happened to wander past our table in Bangkok and stopped to have a beer with us. They were waiting for their Indonesian visas to come back so were stuck there for a few days. It's really weird how you keep bumping into people you saw in a different country a few weeks ago! Got a taxi to the station (after alot of bargaining. 200 baht (4 pounds) down to 60 baht (1.20)) and picked up our pre-booked tickets from the nice man waiting for us! Caught the night train to Chumpon (7 hours of agony as the woman in front was crushing me and i couldn't sleep!) and then a connecting bus to the ferry port and 3 hour ferry ride and we arrive in Ko Tao!

A woman accosted me on the pier offering fan rooms for 300 baht (6 pounds) and said we could have a free lift and if we didn't like it we still didn't pay for the lift. Sam and I jumped on the back of her truck with a nice swiss girl and headed off to take a look. It was basic but bug proof so we took it! 5 minutes walk from the action but so much cheaper (accommodation on Ko Tao is pretty expensive if you are not diving) Ko Tao certifies more divers than any other place every year, so with Sam and I unable to dive this did mean we were set apart from the action a little, but we still loved Ko Tao. Sairee beach was so nice, the first proper powder white soft sand and awesome sunsets we have seen. We had some great food, watched a lot of the football and chilled out for 5 days. first time we have properly stopped for weeks. We also rented our first motorbike (the way every tourist gets around on the islands) and explored. Found a great cafe right at the top of a mountain with some amazing views. Although the bike couldn't get up the hill with two of us on so muggins here had to walk to 60% gradient hill. Sam did offer to walk but i didn't fancy dying as i tried to handle the bike.

We arrived on Ko Phangan yesterday and to our hotel. The boat ride over was so beautiful, dangling legs over the edge of the boat, watching the waves and clouds while blasting tune son the ipod, really good. Our hotel is ok. Pretty darn expensive to eat or get washing done. (All the Thai islands are pretty much western prices. 4 pounds for some nachos / 3 pounds for a beer cocktail) which pretty much sucks. so we are going to be well over budget here whether we like it or not! Just about to go and rent a bike to explore the island and check out some cool beaches, waterfalls and temples. Full moon party tomorrow - 26th June. It may take a little of the pain out of not being at Glasto....but not all of it!


Map followers:

Hoi An - Nha Trang - 12 hours
Nha - Trang - Ho Chi Minh City - 12 hours
Ho Chi Minh City - Phnom Penh - 6 hours
Phnom Penh - Siem Reap - 6 hours
Siem Reap - Ko Tao - 22 hours (2 hour taxi, 1 hour border cross, 5 hours minivan, 3 hours wait, 7 hours train, 1 hour wait, 3 hours ferry)