Ankor Wat is a historical Disneyland complete with ticket booths, queues and expensive food (relative). The crowds of tour groups and the gridlocked traffic their buses cause detract from the otherwise awe inspiring site. Kahlia and I spent the day trying to stay one step ahead of the buses. Attempting to extract a few minutes of serenity and solitude in the ancient monuments before we were overwhelmed by people.

The size and magnitude of this site makes the mind boggle at what the ancients were able to accomplish. Standing at the entrance to the main wat and imagining it in full operation is an amazing experience. We toured the popular temples plus the distant Bantey Srei temple to see the intricate carvings inlaid on the walls and entrances. If we had the time (and the money) it would be a great place to spend numerous days just sitting and reading inside the gardens and temples.

Our first Christmas as a married couple was at West Baray, Siem Reap. The baray is a large lake size dam, a favourite picnic spot for locals. With Kahlia’s khmer friends we found ourselves a water front hut complete with hammocks to eat, swim and sleep the day away. After our not so dissimilar Christmas dinner of BBQ chicken, catfish and green tamarind salsa accompanied by green mango for dessert we set to swimming.

Kahlia has wanted to show me how cheap you can roll in Cambodia so she hooked us up with a $2 a night wooden cell on the beach. There is barely enough room for the bed and we share a ceiling with everyone else. It’s actually really good except it’s attached to a 24 hour bar, so sleep is very optional during the evening time.

The beaches here aren’t breathtaking (but we have come from Sipidan & the Maldives) and the diving is atrocious (this is a little more objective). The party scene is it’s redeeming feature. The place is very laid back and everything is really cheap. There are numerous westerners that have setup a beach front shack bars, or other businesses just to prolong their partying.

Drugs here are readily available and very cheap. Our accommodations front porch is literally 2 metres from the waters edge. Fellow guests who have been there 2 weeks have never left the bar, not even to have a cooling swim. They have been high the entire time and claim not be smokers at home. Welcome to the Hotel California Sihanoukville.