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From Phnom Penh we took a bus up to Siem Reap and managed to score ‘business class’ seats so the six hour journey flew by. Famous for the Angkor Wat complex of temples, Siem Reap is major tourist destination and seems a world apart from Phnom Penh in the South. Along with thousands of extra tourists this meant it was easy street for a few days with a pattern of temples in the morning then lounging by the pool until happy hour started on Bar Street for 50 cent beers. We stayed at the ‘Golden Banana’, perhaps the gayest hotel in S.E Asia and certainly one of the nicer places we’ve stayed on our trip. Perhaps this should be a new criteria when trying to decide upon a guest house?

The temples were amazing and by getting up super early we managed to get them to ourselves for a few hours until the hordes of tour groups arrived. Tomb Raider was filmed on location at Ta Promh, a temple being slowly swallowed by the surrounding jungle, and it feels like the land time forgot. Whistling the theme to tune to Indiana Jones and armed with our trusty torch we scoured the walls for a hidden switch to the secret treasure chamber. Most of the child shop keepers are trying to sell dodgy temple replicas and t-shirts but would do so much better if they offered whips and Fedora hats.

For an interlude to our adventuring and to escape the punishing heat for a day we signed up for a cookery course to learn some of the secrets of the delicious Cambodian food. After a trip to the market for ingredients we got down to business and created a small feast then gorged ourselves till the noise on Bar Street signalled it was time for happy hour.