Siem Reap, Cambodia

After our morning flight from Ho Chi Minh City we arrived in Siem Reap, Cambodia. We are met by our very colourful guide Ly Heang (or as some Australian tourists nicknamed him - John). Strangely enough he too took an immediate liking to Will, who is 3 months older than his own son. Accompanying him was our driver, the quiet but lovely Mr Ang.

After a quick check in to our hotel - The Royal Empire we were off on our half day tour of Siem Reap. Our guide Toung in Vietnam had taken the time to warn us about the Cambodians, in particular their penchant for deep fried crickets, scorpions and tarantulas. John told us this was not on our itinerary as such but if we wanted to swing by a local village he could certainly arrange something. Will was definitely up for it.......NOT.

The contrasts between Vietnam and Cambodia were discernible. The cyclo was replaced by the tuk tuk, which worked better for us as this meant we sat in a carriage pulled by a motorbike, not by pedalling man. Motorcycles were still a major feature of the landscape but the roads were perhaps not as empathic to the western derrière.

What did strike us though was the significantly greater poverty. We drove from the comfort of our beautiful hotel along a river where rundown shacks sat side by side. In one part John told us that the government is progressing to Phase 2 of moving the slums away from the city centre.

The single storey shacks subtly changed to being on stilts as we approached Tonle Sap Lake - the largest inland lake in Asia.

This lake swells 10 times in size each year and though we were visiting as it was receding the main road was still underwater.

We again took to the waters and went through the floating villages which included a floating school and Catholic Church. A large number of people live on the lake moving around as the waters fluctuate.

After managing to miss the rain, we headed back to Siem Reap and visited an artisan school where students learned traditional skills such as silk embroidery, lacquer and silver work, wood and stone carving.

That night we enjoyed a buffet dinner and traditional dance (Apsara) show. The dancers were remarkable with many different moods being created from fighting to playful flirting. Celie loved having her photo taken with the dancers at the end of the show!