We had a pretty lazy start after our early start the day before. I was sharing a room with Charles and was impressed that he got up to go for a run around town. Having seen the crazy motorcycle and tuk tuk drivers the day before I decided this was a bit risky for me (a good excuse to stay in bed also!).
We eventually made it down for breakfast just before they stopped serving. We discussed our plans for the day. After our experience the day before at the genocide museum we were looking for something a bit less depressing and thought that it might be good to go on an architecture tour of the city. First though Priscilla and I headed out to get cash from the ATM down the street. The USD is king here, so much so that the ATMs issue greenbacks not the local currency. Everything is priced in dollars also, fortunately most things cost a fraction of what you would pay back in the States.
On our way back from the ATM we passed a travel agent so we went in to inquire about getting tickets to fly from siem reap (our next stop) to hanoi in vietnam. We quickly discovered that our original schedule wasn't going to be feasible as the flights for that day were sold out. This left us in a bit of a dilemma - we could either extend our stay in siem reap and catch the flight a day later or cut our stay in phnom penh and catch the flight a day earlier. After a bit of back and forth we decided the latter option was probably best as we did not have a lot more planned for phnom penh in any case. This meant Priscilla and I had to catch a bus to siem reap that afternoon at 2pm for $6. Charles and Steph had decided to fly for $100 to siem reap instead of roughing it on the 6 hour bus trip.
Fortunately the hotel were also ok with this change of plan so we quickly packed our stuff and checked out before heading out to grab something to eat before the bus ride. We wandered for a while before we came across a chinese restaurant by the market. I was a bit skeptical at first but Priscilla was encouraged by the tables of chinese people eating there. We ordered vegetables, noodles and pork dishes and had a feast for around $6 for two. It was surprisingly good, so much so that I was reluctant to leave before finishing it in order to catch our bus in time.
We collected our bags from the hotel and jumped in a tuk tuk to head to the bus station. We only had about 15 minutes until the bus was scheduled to leave by this stage and were a bit worried when the tuk tuk failed to start. The driver seemed less concerned, but after numerous attempts to start and a few minutes later I decided it was best to try another tuk tuk. Of course right at that moment the tuk tuk started and we were on our way. Unfortunately on our way was only at a pace slightly faster than a snail and we started to get more and more nervous that we would make it in time. Seemingly the tuk tuk was on its last legs, but eventually we pulled in to a bus station. However there was no sight of a bus to siem reap - it was the wrong bus station. It seemed that we had been doubly unlucky to get the worst tuk tuk in the city driven by the worst tuk tuk driver. At this point (5 minutes to scheduled departure) we decided enough was enough and jumped in to another tuk tuk. Fortunately this one worked and knew where to go and we were to relieved to arrive at the bus station a couple of minutes later and see the bus to siem reap.
Of course after all this stress the bus did not leave until 230!
The bus ride was pretty uneventful, but comfortable. We passed through some pretty interesting countryside scenery, lots of rice paddies. At one point the bus stopped by what looked like some great scenery. Priscilla decided to take some photos until I pointed out to her that it was just a scenic toilet break and she would have been capturing all the men who got off the bus to relieve themselves.
We eventually arrived at siem reap at around 9pm. We were pleased to see that there was a tuk tuk there to take us to our hotel. Our hotel is called Hotel Borann. We have a pretty neat room with its own balcony. We were surprised to find a massive pot of water in our bathroom by the shower. I later discovered that this was for taking a Khmer style shower. Personally I think I will stick to western style hot showers (I know - no sense of adventure!).
We had a quick dinner at the hotel. I ordered spring rolls which Priscilla was excited to see were just like vietnamese summer rolls. Cambodian cuisine seems to share similar influences as Vietnam and Thailand. We also had a beef dish and lemon grass chicken with coconut milk. It was all very good and affordable.
We had already negotiated a 5am pickup with our tuk tuk driver for the next day in order to catch the sunrise at Angkor Wat. Therefore we decided to get an early nights sleep so we would be ready for a full day of temple gazing the next day.
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