Day 20 - Tuesday 19th September

Today we would be disembarking from the Scenic Spirit at the end of our cruise along the Mekong River. We had to put our big bags outside our room by 7am and so we set our alarm for 6am. The bus for our group wasn't due to leave until 8:15am and so we had plenty of time for breakfast.

When we left the boat, the staff were lined up to say goodbye to us. It was a large tourist bus and there were only 17 of us in the group and so we were able to spread out and make ourselves comfortable for the long journey to Siem Reap.

Lovy, our guide, managed to keep us entertained with commentary and humour for much of the trip. After two hours, we stopped for a ten minute leg stretch break followed by a comfort stop shortly afterwards at a hotel. About an hour later, we had a leg stretch break walking across an ancient bridge made of stone.

One of the towns we passed through was the place where Pol Pot was born. Lovy told us about Pol Pot's education in France and events that led to the formation of the Khmer Rouge. He said the Khmer Rouge murdered almost two million Cambodian people.

Furthermore he said that Cambodians are pleased that this dreadful time is behind them and, even though they are poor, they are happy with their lives because they now live in safety and peace.

A new guide, Siroun, took over from Lovy at the ancient bridge and escorted us for the final leg to Siem Reap.

We stopped for lunch at a very nice restaurant in Siem Reap (Chanrey Tree). It was a generous fixed menu with four or five courses. We had a choice either beer or soft drink. They were serving Angkor beer. Blokes had told me that the Angkor beer is very nice and they were right.

Originally the bus was supposed to drop us at the Park Hyatt Hotel but our guide arranged to drop us at our individual hotels. There was a shambles getting the right bags out of the bus at the first stop but they got it right in the end.

It was about 3:15pm by the time we reached our hotel, the Golden Temple. This hotel is not up market like the Park Hyatt but it has a lot of character. It had a wonderful traditional Cambodian atmosphere. The young lady who looked after our registration was very polite, helpful and informative. Just as a bonus, she was very pretty too.

Reception is right next to the pool and so Suzy went down for a swim after we'd settled into our room. She said it was very refreshing.

Our room is quite spacious and tastefully decorated. They'd even sprinkled flower petals on the bed. The WiFi speed is better than at most hotels - about 3 or 4 Mb/s in both directions. My mini WiFi is giving me about 30Mb/s download speed.

We met Yolanda, Peter and Maria in the hotel foyer at 6pm because we planned to go to the hotel's happy hour. Suzy and Yolanda made arrangements for our meals and excursions for the next couple of days that we're in Siem Reap.

The happy hour was held on the terrace overlooking the pool. Most hotels offer half price drinks at a happy hour. For this hotel, the drinks are free between 6pm and 7pm. And their drinks are generous. I had a red wine from Chile and the waiters gave me a proper glass rather just a splash at he bottom of the glass.

One of the waiters was clearly gay - he had very gay mannerisms. He was very personable and gave us great service. Clearly he recognised us as Australians because he said "G'Day Mate" and chanted "Aussie, Aussie, Aussie".

It was hot and humid on the open-air terrace - very sweaty. The sun set as we were sitting there but it remained hot and humid.

At 7pm, we headed off for the markets. Suzy and I walked while the other caught a tuk tuk. The "old market" is less less ten minutes walk away on the other side of the brightly-lit bridge across the river.

The girls went from one shop to another looking at clothing, jewelry, etc. At one stage, they stopped for a 20 minute foot and leg massage that only cost them $US3 each. After walking through the markets, we managed to cross the road and go to the night markets.

Each of the markets was busy but not as crowded as some other markets we've seen on our trip. As we walked along the street with all the other pedestrians, we had to watch out for motor bikes and cars edging their way through the people.

We couldn't find anywhere to eat that looked reliable and safe and so we decided to go back to the hotel for dinner. By this time it was 9pm and I was getting hungry. The tuk tuks only costed $US2 each.

Our tuk tuk driver originally took us to the wrong destination and I was starting to get worried that we were still going in the wrong direction when I saw Peter standing on the footpath waiting for us outside our hotel. It turned out that the are three places in town that are labelled "Golden Temple" - ours in the Golden Temple Hotel.

Yolanda and Peter decided that they didn't need dinner after such a big lunch and so they went to their room while Suzy, Maria and I went to the hotel restaurant which is in the open overlooking the pool. It's a delightful setting.

We were the only people in the restaurant and the waiters fussed over us - particularly the gay waiter. The food and wine were cheap - $US4 for a glass of wine and $US6 for main course. Their bread is excellent - among the best bread I've had.

Although the waiters told us the main meals would take about 20 minutes, it was more like 30 minutes but it was worth the wait. It was a very enjoyable meal. It was after 10pm before we left the restaurant.