The last of my major activities in Phnom Penh was a 4 hour quad bike tour of the Cambodian countryside. It was by and large a brilliant time, but the day I chose to do it was blisteringly hot and unpleasantly dusty. I later realised that every day was probably this dusty and polluted but I hadn’t noticed because any significant distances I’d previously travelled had been in a car, rather than on a tuk-tuk or quad bike. (The starting point of the tour was an hour from my hostel but the quad bike people sent a tuk-tuk to pick me up. An hour in a tuk-tuk wouldn’t have been so bad but the dusty, ridiculously pot holed road did not make for a pleasant journey).

There was one other guy in the tuk-tuk with me, Anton from Germany. He was only doing a one hour tour though (whereas I went for the half day option) so after we got started on the quad bikes, we only travelled together for about 20 minutes before our paths diverged. The Cambodian countryside was, as I had already found it to be in other places, absolutely beautiful. As the day wore on it became clear that the heat was a mixed blessing. I’ve told you before that I don’t deal with the heat well so I wasn’t loving it at first but the weather conditions that resulted from that heat made the visibility excellent. You could see out over the unspoilt Cambodian landscapes for as far as your eyes would let you. It was important for several reasons to take care when navigating the dirt roads we were on though. I had a guide leading the way on a motorbike so the paths he took around the sometimes massive holes and fractures were not necessarily the best ones for me to take, being on a four wheeled vehicle instead of a two wheeled one. There were also very sudden drop offs by the sides of a lot of these routes, sometimes leading into river, sometimes leading into a field or rice paddy. And also, just like with the horse riding I’d done in Siem Reap, our path took us past a number of long ‘residential roads’ (I’m not sure if I can actually call them that given that they look like they’re in the wilderness but they did have lots of houses on them and people living there). The people living in these houses often had young (and unspeakably cute) kids with them. When they heard the quad bike coming they’d run outside and start waving and saying hello, it was absolutely adorable and one of the cutest things I’ve ever seen. After seeing this and the dance I saw a few days earlier in that Siem Reap orphanage, I can see why Angelina Jolie felt so compelled to start her adoption spree here. Some of the slightly older kids that were already outside would stick their arms out as I went past so I could high-five them, it was really fun.

The heat wasn’t as bad as it could have been because on the clearer, child and pot hole free roads, I could cut lose a little and build up some real speed on the quad bike. As I was so close to the ground, the sense of speed was fantastic as the air rushed past me and the Cambodian scenery blurred by. It was nice that, unlike the horse I was riding a week earlier, the quad bike did not get tired or suffer from heat exhaustion.

About 2 hours after we started, my guide gestured that we stop for a light lunch. It was only a pack of crisps but the drinks he got us were very refreshing. He got us sugar cane juice mixed with mandarin orange juice and ice cold water. I was expecting not to like it because I don’t like things that are overly sweet but it was pretty good. After being in the Cambodian heat for so long it was just what I needed.

All the dust I’d surely eaten on the way there (and I’m guessing an element of heat exhaustion too) caused me to have brief spells of dizziness on the ride back. It wasn’t anything I couldn’t handle but it probably wasn’t the safest thing to be riding like that. I was fine, though I didn’t feel so good on the tuk-tuk ride back to the hostel. It was even dustier than the first time and the only way I could make it through was to pull my shirt up and cover my nose and mouth.

A while after being back at the hostel I perked back up and felt completely normal. Things perked up even more when I finally had a chance to speak to the people from my room. The first night I was in this hostel I had my 6 bed dorm completely to myself. This room was unusually big for a hostel dorm too (and the beds were huge) so it was a nice little treat having it to myself. After my first night, I headed out to do some stuff the next day (the Killing Fields etc.) and when I got back saw that all the remaining beds had now been taken. I also saw that they were probably all girls (my first and only required hint was all the bras laying around). The six of us and an American guy we’d met (Gordon, cool dude) ended up going out for a big night that evening. It was pretty epic but I’ve run out of space to tell you about it :)

Cambodia was brilliant, in the end Siem Reap ended up going exactly how I wanted it to and I ended up getting a nice little bonus in Phnom Penh meeting all those great people. Vietnam is going to be fantastic! Since it’s the only country on my journey where I’ll be with a tour group for the whole thing, I’m expecting to meet loads more great people over there :)

That something else ended up being horseback riding in the Cambodian countryside. I’d wanted to do a microlight flight over the Angkor temple region too but the guy running it said the runway was too saturated with water for the landings to be safe. I’d have to hope I had better luck with that another day.

I’d only really rode a horse once before, and that was very briefly, so I wasn’t sure how I’d do. I felt a little better though that I was in good hands when I got to the ranch. Even though I’m in such a deprived country, the ranch was beautiful and it was clear that all the horses there were very well cared for. It was a little strange being up there when I first climbed on to LA, my horse. Just like it was with the elephant though, I got used to it pretty quickly; I was going at a steady canter before long. One problem I realised I’d have early on was that the heat wasn’t just a bit much for me, it seemed to be affecting LA a fair bit too. He didn’t want to run at any sort of speed for very long and the couple of times I tried getting him to he almost threw me off! It was a good thing for both of us then that the areas we were riding through were so flooded. The water sloshing up provided some much needed relief from the heat (I’m going to pretend that I don’t know what was probably in that water).

When we started the 3 hour ride the dirt road we were on was really dry, there was plenty of water by the sides (we had some fantastic views of rice paddies and flooded farm land) but the path itself was high enough to avoid the water. We weren’t even at a trot yet with the horses so even if there had been water it wouldn’t have affected us much. Before long though, my guide, Yen, had us turn onto a narrow dirt road with small, make-shift looking, but almost certainly permanent, houses on either side. I’m guessing these people worked on the flooded fields we saw earlier. Their road had large sections that were flooded too. It was fun walking and trotting through it on horseback. I had a pretty good view from up there and the kids that lived in the houses were so happy to see us go by :) It was my first experience going through water on horseback too. On this flooded dirt road, Yen lead the way on his horse. With every step he took the horse was disturbing the dirt under the water. As he moved forward he left a trail of gradually expanding, circular mud blooms in place of each step. It looked really cool. The water wasn’t very deep (yet) but it came a fair way up LA’s legs. Going through was a bit of a struggle and I definitely was not confident enough to try and ride through at speed. There were loads of water buffalo and cattle just chilling there too. The road was really long so I could see them quite a far way off. Some of them were just laying down right in the middle of the road, as they were visible from so far away, I noticed that they weren’t moving for anyone, not even the couple of motorbikes that were passing through. Everyone had to go around them and get more wet than they otherwise would have. I was thinking it might be a problem since there wasn’t enough room for us on either of the sides of the road, Yen just calmly continued towards them without saying anything. When we got there I realised why, those buffalo couldn’t get out of the way quick enough. We didn’t even have to do anything. I guess they’re scared of horses. The same thing happened any other time we came across cattle (which on this long road, was quite a lot). Not all of these dirt roads we were on were flooded and none of them were without at least some dry sections but with the next one we turned on to, there were some sections that must have had almost 2 feet of water on them. It was cool passing through but it occurred to me that this water must have ruined a lot of people’s day when it first showed up.

We were on an actual road next. You’d think it would be nice with the lack of obstructions and flood water but the lack of something else made it more unpleasant than what we’d been riding through before. There were way less trees here than on the narrow back roads we’d just been on. We felt the full force of the mid-day sun and it was not pleasant. It was less visually interesting too because the thick vegetation and trees along the earlier dirt roads created a cool looking play of light and shadow, the way the leaves were breaking the sunlight was both refreshing and it made everything look better. LA didn’t even want to trot on that tarmac road so we went pretty slowly for most of it. Since it was such a long road too I wouldn’t be surprised if my skin got a full shade darker just while I was on this stretch of the ride. All the roads were pretty wide and open now, there were almost no trees on them, even the dirt road we were on next. LA got a second wind though so we managed to trot for almost all of it. As that road was finishing we came to a few flooded fields but I couldn’t see any roads leading in other directions. Where were we going to go? Through the flooded fields, that’s where! The water here was ridiculous, it came all the way up to LA’s belly and for sections of these fields, the water level was about a third of the way up my shins. It was pretty extreme but it felt weird too. Because of the baking heat, the water was all nice and warm, if it wasn’t for the myriad nasties swimming around in it, it might have been quite a relaxing experience. Riding that horse through such deep water will definitely be one of the things that I remember for a long time.

It was an early start to get to Siem Reap, apparently earlier than my body could manage. My train to the border town Aranyaprathet would be leaving at 5:55 and I could only buy a ticket for it on the day of departure. I thought a safe bet would be getting to the train station at 5, which meant checking out and leaving my hostel at 4:30. My alarm woke me up at 3:30 like it was supposed to, but in a flashback to how things are at home, the snooze button was not my friend. The next time I opened my eyes it was 4:50. “Oh shit!” I quickly brushed, got changed, packed the last remaining few things and rushed out the door as quick as I could. I found a taxi fairly quickly. One thing I didn’t factor in though, was how favourable the Bangkok traffic would be at 5:15 in the morning. I ended up getting to the train station by 5:30. I got my ticket with barely a queue in sight and there was still plenty of space on the train. I would have been sitting there with my thumb up my arse for one and a half hours (the train left the station late) if I’d got there when I wanted to!

As I’d previously read, the scenery during the ride was fantastic. There was so much varied, rarely seen (by me) greenery. There were massive mountains in the background and huge, sprawling rice paddies everywhere. Every now and then we’d see people tending to the fields and before long we’d see their houses. Each house was really far from the next but because the water they were built on was so deep, each of the houses was on large wooden support struts, sort of like stilts for a house. They looked pretty cool. It was more or less the same type of stuff for 6 hours but I couldn’t stop looking at it. It barely changed the whole time but it was beautiful.

There were several stages to this journey. I’d thoroughly researched the entire thing but it didn’t stop me feeling bewildered and utterly lost at the next stage. As soon as I stepped off the train I was mobbed by people offering to take me to the Thai border or helping me to get a Cambodian visa (which I didn’t need) or do any number of things for me but they all saw me as a target and were only after my money. I knew all this was coming but it still caught me off guard. About a minute after I’d been in this, a young woman walked past, locked eyes with me and simply said “don’t talk to anyone”. She kept walking and gestured for me to follow. Soon after, a tuk-tuk driver offered to take us both to the border for 60 baht. I was expecting it to cost me 100 solo so 30 was a great deal. I introduced myself to her on the short ride over but the wind was loudly rushing by the speeding tuk-tuk and I didn’t hear what she said when told me her name. Augusta? Augustina? When we got to the Thai border it was not clear where to go but we managed to figure it out. That was just the start though. I got through with no problem but she’d stayed in Thailand one day longer than she had been given permission for. She needed to pay a 500 baht fine but didn’t have it; she was distraught and disappeared without saying anything. I didn’t even realise she’d gone. I looked for her and waited for her to come back so I could help her out but she never showed. I couldn’t wait forever, I didn’t even know her name. I moved on.

There were a couple of hiccups as I cleared “customs” (I could have gone through wherever the hell I wanted and nobody would have known about it) on the Cambodian side but I managed to get through ok.

What I saw when I got to Siem Reap was not expected. A few days earlier in Bangkok, I’d been hearing about severe floods in northern Thailand, of particular interest was the fact that the flood waters were feeding rivers that flow south to Bangkok. The Prime Minister was insistent that Bangkok would be safe but it was clear that nobody was convinced. There were sand bags everywhere and people were even building small brick walls in front of their shops and places of business. I still haven’t checked whether Bangkok was actually hit by the floods in the end. I’d thought that since Siem Reap is further south than Bangkok that it would be fine. It wasn’t. There was massive flooding, enough that in places you could water-ski down the road if you wanted to. People were fishing practically in the middle of the street. Apparently, 250 people have died here because of the floods since September. Even the hostel I was staying in was badly hit but they managed to sort everything out a few days before I got there. I was told by someone that the entire street my hostel is on was flooded, it seriously freaked me out but I later realised that that guy was only trying to get me to stay in some other hostel instead. Arse.

I had an early start the next day. The tuk-tuk driver I’d chosen a day earlier picked me up at 8 and we set off for the first stop, the ticket office for the Angkor temple region. The Siem Reap administration knows that their USP is the astounding beauty of their temples. It’s a really good card to be able to play because Siem Reap is not that big. There is quite a lot to do here, but all the people running these events and activities wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for the temples. Since the local government knows how much people want to see these temples they charge a relatively high amount to see them. A one day pass to the region costs $20, this is almost definitely more than most people here earn in a day. And since dinner on any given evening won’t cost more than $3, 20 isn’t cheap. It is completely worth it though and anyone that sees these temples will have no regrets about spending the time or the money needed to do so.

Our first stop in the huge temple region was the most famous one, Angkor Wat. Even if people have never heard of this temple they’ll probably know what it looks like or have seen a picture of it at some point. This world heritage site is the crowning jewel of the many gifts that Cambodia has to offer. It’s stunning and the two and a half hours I spent walking around its grounds were an absolute pleasure. It’s quite big but there isn’t that much to it. The first two levels feature bas reliefs depicting various battles in Hindu and Buddhist mythology (the second also provides a better view of some of the towering gopuras) but the third level is where it’s at. It’s the inner chamber and being in there was very cool. Walking around, you get a really good look at the towers and through the viewing spots in the walls, because you’re so high up, you can see the entire Angkor Wat grounds, including the surrounding forests.

Next was Ta Prohm, 15km away (I mentioned that this area is big, right?) All of the temples I saw that day were amazing but this was definitely a highlight. The temple has huge trees that have grown either on or through the actual rock that the walls are made of. It looks like nothing else I’ve seen, like nature is trying to take it back. And when you actually get to the sheltered sections it’s like being in a maze, there are so many different routes to get to the same place. You can’t really get lost because this one is relatively small but it’s a lot of fun walking around.

We stopped for lunch after that. It was a really hot day and I was wearing jeans (I didn’t want a repeat of that episode in Bangkok) so I needed to recharge. Since the driver was doing such a good job so far I bought him his lunch too.

Onward to the largest complex of temples in the region, Angkor Thom. Angkor Thom is made up of a number of incredible temples but the one at the centre of it (if this was a music festival it would definitely be the headline act), is Bayon. Like Angkor Wat, it’s made up of three levels, the first 2 have bas reliefs (there’s 1km of reliefs at the temple) and the 3rd is the business end, it’s where all the best stuff is. It’s got these towers, each with four sides, all over the place. Every one of the towers has 4 large face carved into it, one for each side. It all looks very distinctive (and cool). Again, there’s sort of a maze-like feel to some areas of the temple but you can’t really lose your way. One thing I did almost lose though was my tuk-tuk driver. It started raining while I was in Bayon and since the rocks were pretty slippery with my flip-flops on I thought I’d better head to the next place. I walked towards where I thought he had gestured but he wasn’t there, then I walked to the next place I thought he might be but still nothing. In the end, I did 2 complete laps around the Bayon grounds, spending 30 minutes doing it but there was no sign of him. Since it was raining this whole time, the muddy roads were not doing me any favours. I had brown splashes and strange stains all over my jeans and t-shirt, I’d hoped (and kept telling myself) that they were just mud but really I knew there was other stuff in there too. The few times I had to walk through questionable looking water and mud (at times with my feet completely submerged in it) were not fun. I looked and smelled fantastic, I’m sure. It was not an easy day, with all the walking and climbing I did I must have gotten a pretty good workout. Also, it was tough helping the driver pull the tuk-tuk out when it got stuck in some really deep mud (the flooding must have caused large sections of the ground to reach their water saturation point). So anyway, since I couldn’t find my driver I just carried on to the next place hoping that since I told him where I was going I’d run into him at some point.

Baphuon was a temple that I had not planned on going to today. Since it was on my way to the next place though and also the fact that I didn’t realise what it was until I got inside, I thought I might as well give it a go. If I had known Baphuon, one of the major temples in Angkor Thom, was so close I would have headed there immediately. It definitely did not disappoint. There was a very long causeway raised high above the surrounding area, leading to the temple. It reminded me a lot of the Lord of the Rings films, especially the Helms Deep and Gondor stuff. Actually now that I think about it, a lot of the main temples in Siem Reap looked like something out of Gondor. I guess I know where those Kiwi filmmakers got their inspiration from. Anyway, this causeway was very impressive. When I actually got inside the temple it seemed ok, as nice as most of the others, but then I climbed a level and it really started to shine. I was beginning to see the point of this place. I climbed higher still, to the top level and the view was incredible. The surrounding forests looked great but the view of the causeway leading first into the main entrance and then into the temple itself was something else. The photos sort of give you an idea of what it was like but it’s difficult to convey the sheer sense of scale, this place was massive. Strangely (probably since we were so high up), there were dozens, maybe hundreds, of large dragonflies flying around above the temple. I’d hardly seen them anywhere else so I’m not sure what they were doing. I didn’t want to leave but it was 4pm and I really wanted to see sunset from the top of another temple. There was still other stuff to do as well so I got going.

Nearby, The Elephant Terrace, was an enjoyable climb and walk decorated with, you guessed it, elephants. It was cool, as was The Terrace of the Leper King. Just as I was making my speedy exit (there aren’t many people trying to sell you things in Angkor Thom but a bunch of them had set up here so I was trying to avoid them), I was looking for another tuk-tuk driver to take me to Phnom Bakheng, my last stop, when I ran into my actual driver. It turned out that he was waiting there for me the whole time because he knew where I’d end up. It’s a shame he didn’t tell me that before. When we got to that last temple at maybe 4:40 it wasn’t a particularly clear sky. I wasn’t hopeful of my chances to actually see sunset but I thought I’d give it a shot. As well as knowing that I wanted to see sunset from this temple, I knew that it was possible to ride an elephant to the top. I enjoyed it too much last time to say no to this. When I got to the top of the small mountain that the temple sits on though, I wished I had sad no. The elephants last time, the ones in Phuket, looked so happy and they were clearly very well treated. These ones didn’t look too lively but I’d just assumed it was because they were tired (I even saw one of them yawning, it was cute). When I was riding on the elephant though, I noticed that the handler had a short, pointy metal pole in his hand and was constantly using it prod the elephant on the top of his head. I wasn’t happy at all when I saw this, I was upset for the whole 20 minute ride up and got off as soon as I could.

The rest of my experience at the temple was much more pleasant. Just like the few other main temples I’ve mentioned, it looked amazing but since this was the highest one in the region, I knew I still had to climb higher to get the full effect. There were a few sections of stone steps, the first one wasn’t much steeper than the steps on the other temples, maybe it was at an angle of 65-70 degrees but the next set of steps was almost vertical. You couldn’t climb these steps without using your hands, it really was something seeing all those people clambering up those steps using both hands and feet to do so. It wasn’t as tough for me getting up as was for some of the others but it was still a bit of a challenge. The view from the top was totally worth it though. I could see for miles upon miles in every direction, the sky looked a lot brighter than it did at the bottom too. There were quite a few people up there that had the same idea as me for seeing sunset from the temple but that day it just wasn’t meant to be. The sky, despite looking brighter than it did at the bottom, was still not clearing quick enough. We got a bit of a peak at sunset but that’s all we got. It was enough for me, the view was amazing even without the sunset.

I headed back down to find my driver (much easier since he told me exactly where he’d be this time!) and we started on the way back to the hostel. It had been a long, tiring day and I was definitely ready to relax a bit. I’d planned on coming back to the temples the next day but since I’d already seen everything I wanted to there wasn’t any point. I’d find something else to do instead…