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Siem Reap was a bit of a contrast from up and coming Saigon.  It's much poorer (despite the large tourism industry driven by the proximity to Angkor - most of the resorts, restaurants and travel firms are foreign owned so they haven't benefited the locals much), but at the same time has some Western touches like a modern Caltex servo with a Star Mart shop, branded identically to Australia.  Tragically there are many more beggars, generally land mine victims with missing limbs.

Market - Siem Reap

James and Corinne met us at the airport in the afternoon with their friendly tuk tuk driver, who we used for the rest of our stay.  After checking into the hotel they'd sussed out for us (US$15 per night including cable TV and en suite) we had a wander through the town.  James was particularly taken with the Boom Boom Room, the brain child of a former tourist who evidently doesn't have much truck with IP law and has established a service where you can download thousands of albums direct to your MP3 player (or cut your own CDs) for next to nothing.  There are lots of Westernised bars and restaurants and we wound up at the FCC, which would not be out of place in the trendier parts of Sydney and served delicious cocktails (happy hour prices US$2.25 each).  There we rendezvoused with Jon and Alicia before moving on for a quick Cambodian meal.

The next day we were picked up in a van by the driver and guide that JP and Alicia had organised, and ventured into the Angkor complex.  It is spread out over 400sq kms and includes perhaps 100 different archaeological sites (click here for a map).  The free tourist guide gives them a star ranking of 1-3 stars, reserving 4 stars for the stand outs of Angkor Wat and Bayon.  1,000 years ago Angkor was a major administrative and religious (Hindu / Buddhist) centre.  Today most of what survives is temples and funerary monuments: regular houses and buildings were made of wood and have long since been reclaimed by the jungle.  As have some of the temple complexes, which made great sets for the Lara Croft Tomb Raider movie.

(L) Intricate carvings at Banteay Strey temple; (R) A fund raising band comprised of land mine victims, mostly missing limbs

(L) The temples are still used as places of worship.  Some Buddhist and others Hindu; (R) The fabulous Ta Prohm

Magnificent Bayon, where 54 towers each have four carved faces, making for some interesting photographic opportunities.

In the evening we sneaked into Jon and Alicia's 5 star resort and had a swim and cocktail in their pool.

The next day we were back to our tuk tuk for more templing.  I've been to archaeological sites all over the world, and Angkor is definitely up there in the must see category.  The sheer scale of the constructions is breath taking.  Angkor Wat itself is enclosed by a man made moat, 200m across.  Within the moat it is surrounded by 8m high stone walls with a circumference of 5km.  The main tower reaches 65m above ground height.  It's in very good condition, with beautiful and elaborate carvings throughout.  In the olden days many of the towers and halls were encrusted with precious stones.

They say you should see it at various times of the day, so we went at dawn (another 4:30 start) and again in the afternoon.  It's amazing how a monsoonal downpour clears away tourist crowds!

Flick and James with our friendly tuk tuk driver

Coming out of Angkor Wat in the morning, we were mobbed by the inevitable hordes of kids trying to sell souvenirs.  Flick bought bangles from a girl of perhaps 12 or 13 and started talking to her, and on finding out that she was hungry, took her to a nearby food seller and bought her a couple of baguettes.  That little act of kindness prompted the girl to write, in extremely competent English, a very touching thank you note.

We also visited the ramshackle Landmine Museum, where young landmine victims (below) act as guides (and in turn receive an occupation and education from the guy who runs it) and point out the particular mines that caused their injuries from a huge and atrocious assortment of defused maiming and killing devices.  Once again we were reminded just how awful the human race really is, that it finds itself so easy to perpetrate the design, production and use of such weapons.  The owner of the museum once planted mines and now works as an NGO helping to defuse them.  Large areas of Cambodia are still mined and injurious explosions are still a regular occurrence, even 8 years after the death of Pol Pot and final disbanding of the Khmer Rouge.

In the evening we had another couple of rounds at the FCC bar before taking in a Cambodian traditional dance show.  Alas, early the next morning we were farewelling James & Corinne and heading to the airport to commence the penultimate leg of our trip.