Don't Mess With My Tuk Tuk!

On the road again. 

So, here we are in Cambodia. It's good to finally hit the backpacker trail again after six weeks of being spoilt by friends and family in the civilised world.

Like Major Willard, we had gone soft waiting for a mission* but now we're in South East Asia proper, we can start planning Mekong Delta boat rides and Vietnam hill treks and the like.

Night Market

First up is Siem Reap, the jumping-up off point for the Angkor Wat and all the little Wats.

The "Tomb Raider" one.

We took a tuk tuk with our man Chonly, who for three days drove us round all these magnificently-wrought and delicately-carved religious marvels on his little moped/trailer combination, with a nice butterfly farm thrown in at the end.

As usual I'll hold back on the hyperbole. Have a look at the photos here instead.

Angkor Wat sunrise.

Chonly was a smashing fella, funny and laid back, who guided us expertly round the sites.

We aren't sure he didn't set up once, though. As he stopped for a toilet break, we were stormed by four cute kids bearing gifts for "one dollar". Everything is "one dollar", fridge magnets, postcards, guidebooks, etc.

Chonly didn't seem surprised when he came back, just negotiated a little on our behalf - Hmmm. Anyway, we bought some fish mobiles for a dollar...

Oh-oh, here comes trouble...

The Chinese tourist buses were out in force again, and it was a struggle to find quiet areas of the sites to reflect on and enjoy the architecture.

They really do seem to think this is their own personal film set and their noisiness and lack of respect for personal space is something to behold. We're fingers crossed they won't be there when we do our tekking - they could never get their bloody big buses up the trails.

Posing in wedding dresses, ffs. Any chance of us
taking a photo of the actual temple there, mate?

The butterfly farm was a tranquil arbour before heading back to our Jasmine Family hostel in town.

(Butterflies to come)

The town itself is fun. Bustly and colourful, with some great night markets, cheap eats, bars, feet-eating fish and massages, I have been offered a happy ending twice so far, oddly when Kim is off looking at something.

...ET

We are going to the circus tonight (Wednesday, 19 November), then off to the coast at Sihanoukville tomorrow night, for a bit of beach after all this exertion...

* I'll try and keep the Apocalypse, Now references to a minimum, but I have been seeing these lands through a 'war movie' prism for the past 30+ years. After three months "in-country", I'm sure I'll have a different perspective.