siem reap

Checked out of my hotel this morning. It had been a clean, decent and affordable place to stay. Although I was slightly amused by some of the rules they set (see above) which made it clear I was personally responsible for private affairs in my room 'such as girl, drug usage or other illegal activity of yours.' Quite.

Phnom Penh had been one hell of an experience. But I wasn't disappointed to be leaving today and heading to Cambodia's second city - Siem Reap.

There are various buses that link the two places, but I opted for a bit more comfort during the5-6 hour journey and instead went by car. My hotel did a pretty good deal for me that involved me staying with their other hotel in Siem Reap, and being driven there.

It was quite a journey. We set off at 9am - they had originally wanted to go at 7, but I refused and argued with them - and made our way out of Phnom Penh. Car journeys here are an, erm, experience. Cars and motorbikes seem to drive on whatever side of the road they feel like, and there were several occasions in the first half hour of our journey when I thought we were going to crash. It wasn't quite up there with the full-on Bangkok taxi ride experience, but it wasn't far off.

As we got into the Cambodian countryside, the roads got wider and the traffic was quieter. I now felt more relaxed and started to enjoy the scenery. In the car with me and the driver was the owner of the hotel, who was a good laugh and spoke good English. He even revealed he had been an interpreter for the United Nations when they had troops stationed in Cambodia for the first post-Pol Pot elections in 1993.

The conversation en route was mixed and entertaining. I was asked my opinion about why England had not qualified for Euro 2008, Tony Blair, cars and the cost of prostitutes in the UK compared to here - a subject, I will quickly add, he knew far more about than me.

It was also interesting to get an insight into the history of the places we drove through. We are approaching the rainy season here, and that makes it make or break time for some people. Lots of rain means lots of rice. A dry 'wet' period could spell disaster in some parts of Cambodia - hence the sight of UN trucks on some of the roads we passed along.

We stopped off for lunch in the town of Kompong Thom. It was a bit surreal. This place was in the middle of nowhere and I was the only westerner there. As I ate a pretty horrible beef noodle dish quite badly with chopsticks, my hosts joked that they were tempted to recommend to me a local speciality but decided against. I asked what it was. 'Deep fried spiders,' was the response...

We arrived in Siem Reap at around 2pm. It is what it is for what it is next to - the Temples of Angkor. The lure of the ancient temples has seen a tourism boom here, and plush hotels are springing up all over town. After dumping my stuff, I went for a wander around. This was a place I liked from the start. Cool little bars, great looking restaurants and not a tenth of the hassles and annoyances of Phnom Penh.