If there's one thing we've learnt about sleeper buses in South East Asia it's that they involve very little actual sleeping. For our journey from Sihanoukville to Siem Reap we forked out a few extra dollars for a 'hotel bus' which was supposed to come with all sorts of luxuries such as wifi, a power socket and a fully sized bed. Of course when it arrived it had none of these. The two of us were squished together on a top bunk which was narrower than a normal sized single. Cosy doesn't even cut it but we were just so thankful that we were next to one another and didn't have to half-spoon a random Cambodian man for fourteen hours.
The journey was so bumpy that it felt like we'd travelled from town to city via a dirt track and each time we swerved or hit a pot hole we had to cling to the sides to avoid being thrown across the aisle - not the most relaxing of night tasks. However, just incase anyone on board could sleep through all of that the driver decided to beep his horn loudly each time we stopped for a toilet break (which seemed like every hour!)
All in all it was a nightmare but it made arriving in Siem Reap seem even more exciting. Our hostel was buzzing with backpackers, had a swimming pool at the centre and served $2 Pimms at the bar. We felt like we'd died (overnight, presumably) and gone to heaven.
The biggest attraction in Siem Reap is the Angkor Wat Temple which is widely considered as one of the Wonders of the World. It's best viewed at sunrise so we planned to wake up at 4am the next morning to go and see it in all its glory. However, a few Pimms and vodkas later, we'd been persuaded to go out and as it approached midnight the idea of getting up in a few hours seemed less and less attractive. Ironically the bar we ended up in at 4am was called Angkor Wat? but it isn't quite so spectacular as the original so the second evening we vowed to stay in and do the temple tour properly the next morning.
It was still pitch black when we climbed into a tuk tuk and even after an early night we were shattered. We arrived feeling pretty sorry for ourselves but as soon as we set eyes on Angkor Wat it was all forgotten. Even in the dim light the view was breathtaking and as the sun crept up behind the towers it became more and more beautiful. In the space of an hour the sky transformed from dark purples to lilacs tinted with pinks, before finally being taken over by a blinding golden ray which contrasts against the dark silhouette of the temple. A small pool of water situated on the green in front creates a reflection of this colourful scene, making it doubly as exquisite.
After taking a million and one photographs we entered the temple to take a look from the inside. Much of it is now ruins having been built in the early twelfth century but is nevertheless very impressive. Angkor Wat is surrounded by a number of smaller temples so we jumped back into our tuk tuk for a tour around those. We managed around six hours of staring at stone before tiredness won us over and we went back to our hostel to sleep.
Cambodia has been our favourite country so far so we're really sad to be leaving already and this is only made worse by the fact that our journey out is via another 'sleeper' bus. It's making me tired just thinking about it!
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