Cambodia: Tuk Tuks,Temples and Thunderstorms

We are back from Siem Reap, Cambodia and loved it all. Siem Reap was quite beautiful. Vast ancient temples in the jungle, floating villages, friendly people, very friendly children trying to sell things and some great Asian cuisine. A highlight for the girls was catching frogs outside our room every night.

Alice and Felicity were delighted when we were met at the airport by a Tuk Tuk driver and all four of us and our luggage were loaded into the back. We were taken past all the grand hotels, through town, over the canal and down a dirt alley way to a very pleasant guest house called the Golden Banana. (We were upgraded to the superior room because our basic rooms were being renovated). With the girls tucked safely into bed, Matt and I went downstairs by the pool for a drink and a quiet bite to eat. It didn't stay quiet for long as a thunderstorm blew in and then blew all the light out. Matt went and rescued the girls as we didn't like the idea of them being frightened and stumbling around in the pitch black. So it ended up being a midnight feast for all the family.

Next morning we hired a tut tuk and a English-speaking guide name Sim and headed to the temples. We decide not to get templed out and chose to visit just three temples - Ankor Wat, Bayon and the Ta Prohm temple - but you could spend weeks exploring all the temples. They are amazingly well-preserved for being almost a thousand years old and are just magnificient. In the evening we headed for the night market and shopped and bartered, had massages and a lovely dinner which included some rather yummy curry and fish amok which was fish baked in banana leaves.

Our next day we took a tuk tuk and then a boat to visit the floating villages. The senses were whirring as we took in the sights, the smells and the sounds of village life. It was more shopping and massages in the afternoon and in the evening we went to a Cambodian Dance show for dinner which will give the girls inspiration for many performances. Our last day in Siem Reap we took it slow with a lovely morning tea at a French style bakery - the Blue Pumpkin - then some more shopping and lunch at a butterfly garden.

It was only a short holiday but a fantastic one and I agree with Felicity when she reckons Singapore should have tuk tuks instead of taxis. I'd like to be able to say "took a tuk tuk" more often.