Our bus to Siem Reap was so nice in comparison to others. It had a toilet and wifi- it felt like first class. We got in late at night and a Tuk Tuk drove us to the hostel we had booked based off Mikes recommendation. Jack, our Tuk Tuk driver, asked if he could be our driver for our trip to Angkor Wat the following night. We agreed.
The next day we walked around Siem Reap not doing much. We went to Dr. Fish, a small tank of water and fish. You put your feet in and the fish eat the dead skin off your feet. It's very popular in Korea too, but I had never tried it. It was hilarious and so ticklish.
That night we went to see the beautiful temples of Angkor Wat. The place is just huge, and Angkor is only one of the massive temples. A "day pass" includes a sunset tour and a half day tour starting at sunrise the following morning. Jack drove us there around 5 and we explored for an hour or two Angkor Wat while the sunset. After a delicious Mexican meal we went to bed. We had to be up bright and early the next day.
The following morning (my birthday) Jack picked us up promptly at 4:30am. Even that early in the morning, Cambodia is hot! We drove back to the temples and got to watch the sunrise for an hour. It was so beautiful. I haven't seen many sunrises in my life, but I'll bet this will be the best one I'll ever see. The temple is so big with so many parts and buildings on this one ground. There were so many tourists there too, but it was still breathtaking. I don't think my pictures do it justice.
For the rest of the morning Jack drove us all around to different grounds and different temples. Each one had special features. My favorite was a temple famous for all faces carved into the sides. We saw a temple that was featured in the Tomb Raider movie. My one complaint is that in every temple there are people (and children) trying to sell you things. Books, postcards, tshirts, magnets- whatever. That definitely took away from the sights and pleasure of it all. But by now in my travels I have learned that these people are just part of it all. I did my best to ignore them.
We went back to the Mexican restaurant for lunch and then went back for a well needed nap. There was only one other thing I wanted to do on my birthday and that was get a massage. After a few hours of sleep we walked around and came across a nice looking spa. We had amazing massages, in a nice, clean spot- $13 for each massage, which is expensive for SE Asia. But I was a diva and wanted a nice one for my bday.
Conor found a great, fancy spot for dinner. We had a romantic, delicious, 3 course meal. We headed back to the main tourist street (Pub Street), had some birthday drinks and then went back early. We were still exhausted from our early morning! It was a great birthday!
After one more day of relaxing, eating and hanging we decided to move on. We were heading back to Phnom Penh, but had one stop we wanted to make on the way.
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