After the physically and emotionally draining journey from Laos to Cambodia (and a 12 hour sleep) I was ready to explore my first stop, Siem Reap. The city seemed pretty developed in comparison to Laos, and it almost felt like I was getting back to civilisation. I spent the day wondering around the markets, getting a massage and managed to get a manicure and pedicure for $5 - the cheapest I've found in SE Asia! My first day was pretty chilled as I was still completely knackered.
The second day I booked myself into a hostel, where I made friends with some Tunisian medical students (my first ever Tunisian friends?!) and decided to tag along with them to visit a floating village. When travelling alone you just have to put yourself out there, otherwise you could go days without doing anything with anyone! Rarely will someone say no you can't come, well, unless they're weird, or you're weird.
The floating village was pretty surreal and really really sweaty. My Tunisian mates kept forgetting I was English, so there was a little language barrier but they were really sweet. It's good to meet people you wouldn't normally speak to and I think they liked practising their English with me. After this we went to a temple... my first of many in Siem Reap.
That night I split from my new Tunisian mates and went out for dinner with an English girl from my hostel and friends she had made in Thailand. It turned out that her friends would be who I'd do most of my travelling with in Cambodia!
I moved to a hostel with a pool the next day, and then had a night out with people from my dorm. I woke up hanging but also with a free t-shirt which made my state more worthwhile. I can't seem to handle hangovers like I could when I was 18, so the next night I had a night in only to be woken up by the girl next to me shagging and vomming at 3am. Living the hostel dream.
The most cultural day probably of all my travelling was spent at the Angkor Wat Temples. I rented a pushbike for a dollar instead of a tuk tuk. Some boy (who was a bit weird) wanted to share one with me, but that would mean I would have been stuck with him all day around the temples. So I sneakily biked at 7am. Maybe a bit cruel. But the the other joy of travelling solo is that you can do whatever you want.
The temples were unreal! I biked to three different ones, including one that featured in Tomb Raider. I got some pretty cool pictures.
It was then time to leave Siem Reap to get a 12 hour night bus down to Sihanoukville on the south coast of Cambodia. I mean, I don't mind buses. I've been on a lot. But this one was fucking grim! Trying to sleep when things are crawling over you isn't the one. I also had to share a bed again, but this time with a coughing French man. Wicked.
I arrived in Sihanoukville at 6am where the worlds heaviest suitcase fitted on a motorbike taxi. This was pretty sketchy, but having had no sleep it seemed like a sensible decision. Turns out the girls I went for dinner with in Siem Reap, Sasha, Anna and Hannah, were staying at the same hostel as me!
That night we had a BBQ on the beach followed by drinks out. Sihanoukville seamed pretty seedy. Full of old western men looking for prozzos. So I didn't rate it, but it was a funny night out.
The girls and I then planned to stay together on Koh Rong, a Cambodian island just to the south of the country. To be honest, we were looking forward to getting out of Sihanoukville ASAP.
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