Day 5

Wake up incredibly early again. Can't seem to get those 3 hours that separate Vietnam and Australia together. Oh well gives me time to write this blog.

Breakfast time. With such a large smorgasbord to choose from I went for the corn flakes. Then I tried rice pastry, sugar toast and bits and pieces of other stuff. During the meal Mr. Tan from Tonkin Travel turned up with US dollars for us. We had overpaid on the trip!. Comes in handy for Cambodia.
Pack up then Remi and I go up to the 20th floor to check out HCMC one last time and play some Fusball. Same driver who brought us to the hotel picks us up and we're off to the airport.
No queue at the desk. Short wait for the plane and we're on our way to Cambodia. Touch down 45 minutes later and walk from the plane to the terminal at Siem Reap. It's a brand new building and it looks amazing. We seem to be the only ones with visas so we each go to our own desk to get checked. Hand prints and thumb prints and a photo taken. Never seen that before. And then we're out.
Stepping out into Cambodia seems a lot more relaxed and open than Vietnam. Our driver gives us a bit of history on the way into town. By the sound of it Cambodia feels the same way about the Vietnamese as they do about Americans. The French get a bit of a kicking too. I'm going to have to read up more on this areas history.

The rain starts to pour down heavily as we get to our hotel, The Ramadun Resort deluxe. It used to be the Big Banana Hotel but I think it wants to be more sophisticated. The staff are great and the rooms are Cambodian modern. The kids are on the other side of the pool but we can see their room from our balcony. We find the outside baths impressive but I'm not sure who'll be the first to take one. It's all very tropical and as the rain recedes we order some lunch. Liz and I have the rice and noodles but Ruby goes out on a limb and tries the cold tomato soup. Verdict: nothing like the canned soup at home. Luckily we ordered fries and her soup came with lots of bread.
After lunch we go for a quick explore of the town. Quite small and full of tourists. Exotic smells come from every which way sometimes interrupted by the smell of rotting fruit. Cross the bridge into town and cross streets without fear of being killed. Walk through the markets. We're going to need some US dollars so try to work out how we can get some. There is a Western Union there so use my card to withdraw money. Dead easy. $5 US charge but I've got a bunch of fresh greenbacks in my wallet. Buy Mel a couple of pants to celebrate. Ruby sees all these spiders and insects for sale and wants to take them home. She;s particularly enamored by a stuffed baby crocodile. I'm not sure customs would let that through.
Remi is eager to try out the pool so we head back. The sun is out and it's very hot so he's in there in a flash. Ruby gets in too and they end up staying in until it gets dark.  Meanwhile Liz and I sit beside the pool and drink Mojhitas chilling out until it's time to head out to get some dinner.
The bridge across the river is lit up as is the river itself. We're going to the Night Market but all of Siem Reap seems to have turned into a night market. Pass the the Tuc Tuc drivers who hassle us to take a ride but in a kind of pleasant way and into the market which is quite small. We buy a couple of things and then head to Beer Street or something like that, Basically it's all the pubs and beer places and restaurants in one street. We settle for Cambodian Soup which I think is the name. I was looking at the menu and 2 Americans sitting close starting highly praising the food. Plus it was Happy Hour and beer was 50 cents a glass. The food was marvelous. Cashew chicken, Jasmine rice, fried rice and spring rolls was enough for all of us. It's all relaxed and laid back and the meal cost next to nothing.
Back in the street we take in the atmosphere as a band of Cambodian mine survivors play traditional music. We send Remi over with a small donation. And then we head back to the hotel and call it a day