Friday 30th August – Sunday 1st September 2024

After my fun packed day of cashpoints and SIM cards I decided to go out for dinner, and also to have a celebratory Margarita or cocktail in honour of my friend Stretch’s good news! 

I ended up getting a Tuk Tuk and I asked them to drop me at a restaurant that I’d seen recommended, a small local one. 

It was still early so the place was empty, I opted to go for a drink first then come back. Rather handily there was a Mexican Tequila place across the road! 😍

It looked fab so I took a seat and ordered a Margarita on the rocks not frozen, as I was ordering I got chatting to the manager, a great guy called Adam from Australia. He said that the drinks were quite sweet so I ordered mine with 1/2 sugar syrup, it was absolutely amazing!! 😋 it also came with a little snack sized chips and dip!! 

Adam and I chatted some more and he has given me some brilliant ideas for places to see in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap. He and his ex also own a coffee shop in town, which I promised to visit. I ended up having another Margarita and to be honest could have easily had a third, but I was sensible and left to go back to the restaurant for some dinner, I was already feeling the effects of the drinks 😜 I’ve become a bit of a lightweight! 

Dinner was good, I sat up on the 2nd floor, which had a view and a refreshing breeze, it did however require climbing an almost vertical staircase (so glad I didn’t have a 3rd Margarita! 😳) 

For my first full day of exploring I am going to visit the Museum and also a place called APOPO. This had been recommended by Tracey & Jaques and also by Adam last night. 

So, APOPO is an organisation that is working in Cambodia and other places around the world to clear land mines and other un exploded ordnance. The fantastic thing about APOPO is that they use specially trained Hero Rats to detect the mines! 

It is a simply fantastic organisation. I found the tour, talk and demonstration incredibly interesting and moving. 

There are believed to be approximately 6 million land mines and unexploded ordnance in Cambodia. These have been left by the Khmer Rouge and others during the civil war. There is also unexploded ordnance dropped by the USA during the Vietnam war. They kill or injure significant numbers of people especially children. 

The Rats, which are African pouched rats from Tanzania, have an incredible sense of smell and are light enough not to set of the mines. They are trained and then used to detect the mines, which are then dug up and deactivated. Using the Hero Rats means that larger areas can be checked and made safe much more quickly. 

I’ll pop in a photo of the what they have achieved for just the last year. It’s incredible. 

We also got to hold the rats, which were huge but very cute, unfortunately the pic of me holding the rat is hideous, so I’m not sharing! 

I’m also going to pop in my blog a QR code, which takes you to the website, and if anyone would like to donate a few quid, that would be awesome, if not it’s a great way to find out more about this awesome organisation. ❤️❤️

After this fabulous start my next stop was the Angkor National Museum. The museum was really good, once I got to grips with the audio equipment! 😁

The museum was useful to find out more about the history before my visit to the Temples. 

From the museum I had a nice walk back along the river, dodging the torrential downpour! And not killing my self on the slippery bloody pavement! 

I stopped on the way at the Adam’s Coffee Shop, Little Red Fox. It had such a great vibe. It’s in a little street of independent shops called, Kandall Village. 

I also visited a stunning new gallery opened a week ago by a British artist called, Tamara. She was super friendly and helpful giving me more tips on places to visit while I’m here. Her work is stunning. 

If you’re in Siem Reap check her out. Her website is: http://www.tamaravenn.com

The rest of my day was spent chilling by the pool in the shade and getting an early night ready for my 5am departure to watch the sunrise at Angkor Watt! 

I managed to get a pretty decent nights sleep and was up and ready to go at 4.45. 

Mr Rattana, my lovely Tuk Tuk driver was waiting and we set off through the dark empty streets of Siem Reap. 

I arrived at Angkor Watt in darkness, it was busy but not rammed. I needed my torch app to see where I was going! 

Cory & Charlotte had said to not go down by the lake, go instead to the 2nd point, which I did. Such a great idea, far less people. 

It is incredibly atmospheric walking towards the Temple, which you can just see outlined against the sky, then slowly it appears from the darkness, Wow! I’m afraid my pics don’t do it justice. We weren’t lucky enough to get a red sunrise, but it was till fabulous. 

Being at the 2nd point also meant that we were the first people to enter the Temple. This meant that it was empty, quiet and peaceful. I was leaving as it was starting to get busier. 

It’s difficult to put into words how magnificent these Temples and the whole Angkor Archeological complex is. It covers an area of over 400 km2 including forested area. It holds the remains of the different capitals of the Khmer Empire from the 9th – 15th century. 

I left Angkor Watt and met back up with Mr Rattana and a welcome cold water! We then made our way to Angkor Thom and Bayon Temple. It was still only 7am.

Bayon Temple looks stunning and it was almost empty of visitors. This temple was a little different and involved a lot of stairs, which is not a huge issue but it was hot work! There were also a few monkeys around, I had a little panic when one grabbed hold of my trouser leg, I simply continued walking and he eventually let go!🐒🙊

I bumped into the guy I’d been chatting with on the bus from Bangkok, Lucas, from Chile. It was lovely and strange seeing someone you recognise! 😁

After Bayon I visited the Temples nearby, my favourite being Baphuon, it was incredibly peaceful. 

I adored this section. It was a little more shady, again super quiet. I was simply wandering around stunning ancient monuments surrounded by greenery and so many beautiful butterflies of all colours and sizes, birds, crickets. It was truly magical. 

My feet were starting to ache a little, but I had another Temple to visit first. 

This was the incredible, Ta Phrom or The Tomb Raider Temple. 

This Temple complex was different again, not as many steps and more broken. The surrounding jungle has tried to devour it, roots of strangler figs, kapok and banyan trees are everywhere. It makes it very otherworldly. 

There was one small section, a tall square kind of room with a plinth that used to house a statue of a female, the surrounding walls were full of holes which I heard a guide explaining would have been filled with gold, silver, bronze and precious stones so that when the sun shone down through the open roof it would be colourful & dazzling! Like an an ancient disco ball 🪩! How fabulous. ❤️❤️

Ta Phrom was beautiful and once away from the growing number of people, still peaceful. 

After Ta Phrom Mr Rattana and I took a leisurely drive back to Siem Reap, stopping on the way for a much needed iced caramel macchiato and a cinnamon bun!! 

I arrived back at the hotel at 10.30 am. I had visited 5/6 temple sites and walked just under 10 miles! No wonder my feet were aching. 😳😍

I have a 3 day pass for Angkor Watt, my next visit will be on Tuesday when I’ll be visiting some of the sites a bit further out, then catching the sunset at one of the Temples, the name of which escapes me right now. 

Tomorrow I’ll be having a little rest but visiting other fun or interesting places in Siem Reap. 

For now, that’s it from me. 

I’ll try not to overload you with Temple pics!! 😂

No new books, I’m still reading the next one. 

Have a great week everyone, good luck to all those heading back to School!! 😘❤️