Cambodia

We arrived at Phnom Penh by bus it cost us $10 but took about 5-6 hours, we were gonna get the boat but it cost $25 for the same length of time but there was a risk that we may have to get out and push as the water levels were very low..
Bus was grand though and we arrived at our acomodation the Bright lotus hotel no bother.. tuk tuks once more all over the place and on one of the days i counted 27 times i got asked did i want to avail of their services... intel wants to get those boys on the payroll for efficiency!

We headed first to the Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda - well they were right outside our hotel we could see them from our balcony so it wasnt much of a hike to get to..but yes you guessed it the ladies had to cover up once more... getting tedious at this stage! So myself and Jane had to "borrow" a tshirt and very flattering skirt from the offices and leave a fiver deposit in case we stole them... hilarious, the skirt alone i could have wrapped round myself and Ger twice..

The palace itself was gorgeous gold everywhere and even a few disco buddhas knocking about in the temples and altars around it - no photos were allowed but it was a buddha with a kaleidascope headress, neon lights and looked ike something out of Jamie and his magic torch or the magic roundabout...lol

We headed out for dinner that night to a place called Friends - was well cool as it is actually run by street kids who have been brought in and trained in skills to help them get jobs etc, food was super though and highly recommend it!

Day 2 in Phnom Penh was a very somber one as we visited the Tuol Sleng S-21 detention facility and the killing Fields used by the Kymer Rouge. Tuol Sleng used to be a primary school before it was taken over and housed 17000 prisoners who were tortured and beaten and eventually ended up being brought to the killing fields (Choeung Ek) as their final resting place.. so sad and extremely moving especially knowing that this all happened in our lifetime from 1975 and only 7 people survived out of the 17000...

Day 3 we went across the road again from our rooms to the national museum, this was grand but to be honest it was more of a relief to get out of the heat in the afternoon, happy hour didnt start til 5 so we had to kill some time..i started getting creative with my new camera i bought (canon IOS 400D) in the grounds thinking i was on report for the National Geographic what you reckon, i love the close up feature - sad eh!

The local was called the FCC (Foreign Correspondents Club) and it was a great spot right on the riverfront and the cocktails were fab..even Andy succumb to a few long island ice tea ( posh del boy lol)

Along the riverfront you could also spot sambo the elephant who got taken out for his daily walk each evening into the busy traffic for an aul stretch of the legs!

On our visist to the national museum we had been told that the commotion outside our hotel all day was because the king was coming to visit as it was the start/festival for ploughing - how cool was that he arrived right outside our door the following morning, along with 50 odd ambassadors of other coutries and countless security men... we went out on our balcony to take photos but in about 5 secs flat there were guards hollering from below and coming up the stairs after us to put us back in our appt! but we still mananged to sneak some...well it was the king of Cambodia after all..heehee

The weather had been roasting but a storm had been threatening for a few hours and eventually it arrived.. just about the same time me and Ger decided to head out to see the markets and for a bit of a stroll! It was class though, pink lightening was seen - not sure if thats real but we were told it was.. and lads on the back of motorbikes were water skiing down the roads in their flip flops because the roads had flooded so quickly..mind you there was a few lads not happy that still had to work as usually when it rians its an excuse to close up and go party in the rain! This dude was obviously on call!

We headed straight for the FCC happy hour after our soaking to meet up with my friends sister Bronagh living out there and proceeded to stay there til the wee hours - fellas fault though as the liverpool match only started at 11 so we had no choice really!
So you can imagine hangovers from hell the following day - myself and Bernice took ourselves off to a posh hotel to sit by their pool and try and sleep it off while the lads watched more footie..
We had booked our flight back to Bangkok for the monday night then and stay there for a night again before we headed away to Singapore. But i have to say Cambodia was my favourite place so far the people are so friendly and have the irish craic about them - would definitely recommend it..

Flew to Cambodia with all the lads and had arranged to stay at the golden banana - guys were well chuffed obviously... especially since Ger had just got his hair shaved and we slagged the boys it was the sister hostel to the blue oyster! weather was roasting but rianed at nighttime - tropical wet season but apparently this thunder etc and the guard dog nature of the pets at the hostel, sent them crazy and the dogs barked all night..so we were well rested for our first day of tours around the temples..
We arranged with the hostel to book out 2 tuk tuks for the 3 days we were there to drive us all about for $13 a day per tuk tuk... pretty good seeing Ger decided to help the lads "driver 125" out for the day...

We headed to the Bayon first up through the south gate of Angkor Thom, this was the temple known as faces in the forest and it was amazing...

And yes we went for another album cover shot inside the Bayon..

On day 2 we headed away to see Angkor Wat followed by Ta Phrom..
Angkor Wat is apparently the worlds largest religious building and it is well impressive..you can walk around it, climb up and spend hours just getting lost in it, fab place for hunt or hide and seek!

We even managed to get the monkey shot for you Paula here.. haha

The place is full of steps, fab views and Ger even managed to conquer his fear of heights... we reckon he must have been touched by the hand of Buddha to get up and down...

After lunch we headed for Ta Phrom - the tomb raider temple.. which has been left to nature and become overrun by the forest and trees..

I tried to help ....

In tomb raider apparently Angelina goes through a doorway followed by white butterflies?? i had Ger running around most of the afternoon after the white butterflies to get a photo of them but he didnt have his nike air on..did get the tree used though in the movie..

And everywhere you looked all you could see was Big Roots!!!!

And blue T-shirts!

We headed back for the sunset with the other 5 thousand camera enthusiasts! Really gorgeous place though just to chill out for an hour or 2 and the locals will even sell you a beer at the top.. class!

Day 3 started with sunrise at Angkor Wat at 5.15am but it was well worth it as the reflection is creates on the lake in front of Angkor Wqat was beautiful..

Camera crazy that morning - was funny watching everyone trying to beat each others zoom lens!

Headed out into the country more to see some temples called Banteay Srei which were like Ta Phrom but with a lot more carving detail and well cool - even though the girls tuk tuk broke down and we ended up in a cambodians family home being offered a drink first and then a mechanics garage next!

Sun was heading down so after we seen the temple we headed back for another fab sunset and managed to see the Terrace of Elephants and the Temple of the Leper King as well on the way..

Myself and Jane went shopping as well today - surprise surprise and got loads of fab stuff for the house - so cheap and it was well worth it if you can carry it!
The Golden Banana arranged our transport then from Siem reap to Phnom Penh for the following day so all 6 of us headed south...

Stay Tuned...