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We took the "scam bus" from Bangkok knowing the scam ahead of time. Knowing that, we never gave them an opportunity to scam us and just got a cheap and easy bus. the only trade off was having to pay for a 1 dollar tuk-tuk to the hotel we chose. Anyways... we made it to Siem Reap and took the next day to see Angkor Wat. The temple was as awesome as ever, I really didn't mind a repeat. I was quite befuddled trying get my bearing from the last time I was there. The town has become much bigger and much more developed. I guess finally getting a good paved road to you really helps that.
We left after a few nights to Phnom Penh and then on to Kampot on the south coast. We had just missed the last bus from Phnom Penh to Kampot, so we opted for a share taxi. We somehow crammed 9 people and luggage into a Toyota Camry, including 2 in the drivers seat. After that journey Klotz and I really wanted a drink. We hung out wwith a few european expats at a local bar. We were offered a ride back to our hostel for the outrageous price of 2 dollars. , Against the expats advice, we decided to walk. We soon discovered that the path to our hostel was a gauntlet of loose guard dogs and no lights. We both had headlights, but they were just bright enough to makee it really creepy. Looking up the road to see a half-a-dozen yellow and green eyes peering back at you is not comforting when you are still trying to stare down the small pack of dogs still encroaching behind you. All that and then we get back to our hostel and the gate was locked. It took about 10 minutes to finally stir the gate guy sleeeping only a few feet from the entrance. After a good lie-in, we rented motor bikes and just roamed around, taking in the beach, some caves and some rural scenery. By rural scenery, I mean we got lost, but it was our favorite part of the ride. We had a few other snags on the ride, including Klotz having a blowout and me having to let (what I previously thought was) my iron stomach battle with breakfast. Don't get me wrong, it was a wonderful day.
We booked a tour and saw Bokor hill national park the next day. The old buildings were amazing with the orange and green moss. Lunchtime included a story from our guide about how his parents were killed in front of him for eating some food that he stole for them. It felt a bit ironic/akward when no one finished their lunch. We tried to save a few bucks on the ride back to Phnom Penh, and took a local minibus, crammed with 16 people and probably a few hundred pounds of Durians, the fruit that smells like rotting garbage. Surprisingly, we broke something on the way there. The driver had to run back to retrieve a rather large metal rod that had twisted and broken off. No worries, though, he found a few flip-flops and some rope (maybe some bubble gum) on the side of the road and we were back on our way in less than 20 minutes... quite impressive! We left straight away to Battambang to stay a night and head back to Bangkok for the flight back to Hong Kong. Apparently something got confused on the bus we're on now; Klotz and I are sitting on some tiny little plastic stools in the aisle of the bus while Sophie holds her big backpack in her lap. Maybe it's the suped up Red Bull talking, but I really do love this stuff.
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...or To see the slideshow with the GPS locations click here:
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