New People, Snakes and Sunrises

When we last met our hero, he was in bangkok about to meet his tour group and start his journey around the Mekong...



I met the group on Sunday the 10th. Me and Sam were a little nervous not knowing who or what to expect. However I am pleased to report that our group is great, a mixture of about our age and middle aged.
Our Tour guide, Bouna, is great also. We all met on Saturday for a group chat and to go throught he plans, after which we went out for dinner (a repulsive fish for me, alcohol based liquid diet for the rest of the students). Quite happy to leave Bangkok now for something more peaceful, we started our long day to the border to get into cambodia in an awesome pimped out bus!
Unfortunetly after we got into Cambodia, we had a slightly less luxurious bus, with a bumpy road whih made trying to sleep an epic task, whichI couldn't achieve. At least I had a proper seat, though, one of the students, Charlie, got stuck with a red plastic chair.
On a similar theme, the poverty of the country is quite clear, everyone relying on the tourist industry. Children are constantly trying to sell you postcards and cans of coke. Our first day in Siem Reap we went to Angkor Wat, an ancient temple complex. We were there Sunrise till Sunset, seeing both in spectacular fashion.
We were guided round by a fun loving tour guide named 'Three Eye' who was always laughing at the lip rings, telling us about hindu mythology, or renacting his scene from 'Tomb Raider'which was partially filmed there.He also had a strange mix of a North London and Cambodian accent, much to our amusement. Angkor Wat was cool, but tiring. Few if any have strength or interest in a whole day of temple. But it was good to spend a whole day doing something, getting our moneys worth, and the temples really were awesome. or 'bloody orgasmic' as Three Eye would call them.
The next day we could lie in a bit, which was good because of the two early starts we had had the last two days. (and the night before, drinking) We did go to the breathtaking, but poverty strife floating village, with plenty of wooden shacks on stilts. Pirate like children were common, leaping onto our boat to try and sell us coke cans and beers. which had crocs and live catfish
The best bit was by far my encounter with a snake, which I wrapped around my neck. Awesome creatures.
Tommorow is another long travelling day, followed by a bike ride which should be cool. Despite the scenic countryside, we're all looking forward to getting to a white sandy beach soon!
Unfortunetly I can't show you any pictures because my camera just ran out of battery so I can't upload them! Also, the bike ride was yesterday because this is the first chance I've had to get to a cafe, since we've been in the countryside quite a lot, so I'll try and get to another cafe with lots of pictures and tell you about the bike ride soon.