tagged as khétt siĕm réab tag leader scott

So Rob and I go from eating chicken, beef and pork in Thailand, to frog on the first night of our stay in Cambodia. Maybe a bit of snake tomorrow, who knows?!

Siĕmréab, Khétt Siĕm Réab, Cambodia at 10:15am ICT.

Siĕmréab, Khétt Siĕm Réab, Cambodia at 7:04am ICT.

Golden Temple Hotel, Siem Reap, Cambodia at 10:58am ICT in Siĕmréab, Khétt Siĕm Réab, Cambodia.

Siĕmréab, Khétt Siĕm Réab, Cambodia at 8:22pm ICT.

After a 6:30 am wake up on Friday, we were picked up by a van for tickets we bought to Siem Reap, Cambodia. The tickets were a little over 400 baht (about $12 USD) and included pick up from our hotel, ride to the ferry, the ferry from Koh Chang to the mainland, a 6 hour ride on the van to the Thailand-Cambodia border and (supposedly) a ride across and another 4 hours to Siem Reap. Well, they let us out at a restaurant a little ways before the border and told us they were with the consulate and had us fill out visa papers. Since they wanted almost twice the amount the visa should actually cost and none of them were in uniform, we decided we were definitely being scammed and had them drive us to the border. They said they would give us one hour to try to get our visas and then they would pick us up on the other side. We left, knowing we probably would never see them again and plotting ways to destroy this tour company. They took us to the "fake border" so we walked 100 meters to the real one and waited in very minimal lines. We paid our $20 USD and the Cambodian guards asked for another 100 Thai baht (which they passed around amongst themselves-the corruption here is uncanny) and got our visas! We thankfully were approached by some government volunteers (who are tuk tuk drivers throughout the week) who helped us get on the bus we were supposed to be on even though any proof we had bought tickets had been taken away from us by the awful tour company.
Long story short, we made it to Siem Reap at 9pm and found a nice/cheap hotel with a pool and took a refreshing dip and then walk around town. We really like the vibe here and the markets are pretty cool. We changed hotels and then spent most of Saturday hanging out by the pool to beat the heat and walked around the markets in the evening.
Today, Sunday, we left at 5 am to go to Angkor Wat and many other surrounding ancient temples and ruins. The sunrise over Angkor Wat was beautiful and our tuk tuk driver for the day, Pirom (one of the government volunteers who helped us get on the bus at the border), was fun and helpful. We saw so much beauty and took far too many pictures, while battling the heat and loud Chinese tourists.
Emily will leave tomorrow with her cousin and a some of her cousins friends from school, so we will miss her company but have really enjoyed getting to spend almost a week together!

Departed from Siĕmréab, Khétt Siĕm Réab, Cambodia at 11:08am ICT. Arrived at Siĕmréab, Khétt Siĕm Réab, Cambodia at 5:19pm ICT.

Siĕmréab, Khétt Siĕm Réab, Cambodia at 11:05am ICT.

Siĕmréab, Khétt Siĕm Réab, Cambodia at 10:58am ICT.

Siĕmréab, Khétt Siĕm Réab, Cambodia at 10:49am ICT.

Siĕmréab, Khétt Siĕm Réab, Cambodia at 10:29am ICT.

Siĕmréab, Khétt Siĕm Réab, Cambodia at 10:05am ICT.

Siĕmréab, Khétt Siĕm Réab, Cambodia at 9:51am ICT.

Siĕmréab, Khétt Siĕm Réab, Cambodia at 8:22am ICT.

Siĕmréab, Khétt Siĕm Réab, Cambodia from 8:04am to 8:15am ICT (10 mins).

Siĕmréab, Khétt Siĕm Réab, Cambodia at 8:02am ICT.

Siĕmréab, Khétt Siĕm Réab, Cambodia at 7:56am ICT.

Siĕmréab, Khétt Siĕm Réab, Cambodia at 7:51am ICT.

Siĕmréab, Khétt Siĕm Réab, Cambodia at 7:06am ICT.

Siĕmréab, Khétt Siĕm Réab, Cambodia from 6:47am to 7:00am ICT (12 mins).