OUR JOURNEY

 16th Dec 2019 / Cambodia

Day 43 - Siem Reap, gateway to Angkor Wat

Photo: Our welcome message on the bed.

We ordered a Tuk Tuk via the Grab app and arrived at the bus station in plenty of time. The bus left 25 minutes late.

The bus was advertised as having air conditioning. All that come out of the overhead fans was hot air. I asked the conductor and he said it was as cold as it gets.

There was WiFi on the bus, so I made the most of it and sent an email to the company complaining about the lack of AC.

We stopped for a 30 minute lunch break outside a new looking restaurant with outside seating (note. 34 deg temps), everyone piled off the bus to eat. The restaurant probably gives a comission to the bus company or the driver as they will stop at the same place every day. Their food prices were expensive for Cambodia. Gaby and I walked to the restaurant next door and had an excellent meal for a third of the price in a nice air conditioned restaurant.

Shortly after setting off after lunch, the conductor came up to me and said he had opened the ceiling vent at the back of the bus and invited me to sit in the warm breeze. It was a lot better than the overhead fan vents. I don't know if it was the email I sent or just the earlier comment that prompted the invitation but it was appreciated.

Our hotel provided a free pickup from the bus station, we had to wait a while for our driver who said he went to the airport to pick us up by mistake.

We walked into the hotel to the front desk and it was quite dark. As we approached, the lights were suddenly turned on and there were 5 staff members stood behind the desk all looking at us with a welcoming smile. The same think happened on a couple of occasions when I went back to ask a question later. It's a bit off-putting and I was confused as to who I was supposed to speak to. Each time I just looked at one of them randomly and asked my question. Neither time was the question answered by the person I asked.

Gaby had managed to book the most expensive room in the hotel; a studio with balcony and pool view. It was very spacious and nicely decorated. They even had a welcome sign on the bed using grass/reeds to spell out Gaby's name. I artistically added mine.

After cooling off in the pool we walked the few blocks to the town center for some dinner (street food) and to buy supplies for our trip to Angkor Wat the next day.