We are up at 5:15 and ready for the bus just before 7 and we waited and waited. The ticket envelope had a number to call if no one shows up by 7:20, so at 7:22 we asked the hotel desk to call the number and she said not, the bus would come and get us sometime by 8 or 8:30. A bit peeved I went down the street to the internet shop, but it is not o...

I expected Siem Reap to be an ugly town next to the most beautiful breathtaking temples, a bit like Agra next to ther Taj... and I found Siem Reap to be a really nice place. To fully feel the vibes of this huge site, I've decided to rent a bicycle for the 2 and 1/2 days of visits. That was a good choice because the real deal of Angkor (for me an...

Oh, where to begin... Siem Reap, the closest city to the temples, is a fast little town completely made over for tourism. They have a Pub Street and Alley Street where all the restaurants and bars are, a market for cheap textiles and goods and thousands upon thousands of tuk-tuks and touts vying for your attention and money. We met a girl in Lua...

I would definitiely recommend the Mekong Express if you are travelling in Cambodia.  Once again the bus trip was a breeze, it left on time and got me into town earlier than planned. It is sort of like being on a plane.  You have a hostess and they give you something to eat and drink.  Part of the speil the hostess gave when we left was, "we hope...

When I decided to come back to Siem Reap a couple of months ago, it was not only to reconnect with the community I'd fallen in love with and the wonderful friends I'd met here, but also to get myself re-involved with NGO work and get back into working on something that I've found more fulfilling than any of my corporate background at home. After...

What is a Wot? The Red eye from Darwin to Singapore was uneventful but I was worried about the 2 hour change of flight and having to clear immigration. Got to give credit to the Singapore airport, I made my flight with half an hour to spare. Arrival at Siem Reap airport and as it happened I was the second last person to get my visa and pass thro...

More pics here. And a short video here. Since the early planning stage of this trip I hoped to fit in some motorcycling somewhere. In South Africa it was a close call. We stopped at the BMW dealer at the Cape Town waterfront; I drooled over a few brand new R1200GS and asked for rental rates. Unfortunately we just did not have enough time... In S...

November 21, 2007 After walking, shopping, and eating our way through Siem Reap for 4 days, we FINALLY went to the Angkor Wat temples. Most people (myself included!) think of Angkor Wat as one large temple, beautiful as it is. In reality, there are dozens and dozens of temples spread out over hundreds of kilometers. My first reaction when we arr...

We move guesthouses this morning as ours is full. A few doors down, is a new guesthouse where they are keen to welcome us and speak English. Our $13 room includes AC, tv, shower and coffee and bananas for breakfast as well as free Internet (Carl's eyes lit up!) We are back at Angkor for loger exploration. The 'bas reliefs' are amazingly preserve...

Siem Reap literally translates to "Thailand Defeated" and is a town named in honor of the last instance when Cambodia ousted the Thais from their country. The town is also the closest center of civilization to the ancient city of Angkor, where the legendary temples of Angkor Wat and the like still stand. Almost every traveler and travel guide I'...