Fun and celebrations in Laos and Cambodia...

One of many boat journeys to get to Don Det...

The Birthday boy with his cake....

My birthday finally arrived in style. It took 15 hours on local bus from Tha Kaek down to Don Det. 8 hours in and we finally managed to get a little bit of sleep. We where awoken to loud shouts of "Si Phan Don, you off here, Si Phan Don" (4000 Islands). Half asleep we grabbed our things and stumbled of the bus, dodging the chicken feed and breaking a few roof tiles on the way. It was 07:00 in the morning and after a few minutes we realised we didn't have a clue where we where. After numerous broken-english conversations we managed to find a guest house that told us how far away from Don Det we actually where and that we needed to get either a 2 hour boat or a 20 minute 'boat-minivan-boat' trip. We arrived in Don Det at around 11am and found the Sunset Bungalows that Carole and Yannick where staying in. We got the last bungalow overlooking the river which had hammocks and its own little balcony, perfect for a chill out and a bargain at 50,000Kip( £4). We had a quick wander around the main strip to get our bearings then it was time to get ready for sunset on the river with a celebratory birthday drink.

Of course being my birthday a curry was required so we headed off to the Indian/Bar. The curry was excellent and at the end of the meal Susi and Yannick organised a special birthday cake for me, thankfully not of the happy space cake variety which was available. The whole place joined in with the singsong after a little encouragement from Susi. This also meant people I'd not even met before bought me lots of drinks which was unexpected but really nice.

The Mojito cocktail...

The night went on and took its usual turn. Lao Lao Whisky buckets are lethal, we played pool again!!! Susi and Carole drank shared buckets of mojito cocktails. All in all an excellent birthday celebration was had.




Next day we had a chill out day in what has been the best bar so far. Adams Bar has reclining buddha pillows and a choice of any movie you want to see. We spent the day there drinking lemon shakes, eating western food and watching Ted and Star Wars. Best way to spend a lazy day. The next few days we took in the sights of 4000 islands on our 'Granny bikes' the ones with the little basket on the front. We cycled all day in the blistering heat to see some beautiful waterfalls and discover some deserted little beaches where we made our mark.

What a fantastic end to beautiful Lao. It was now time to leave for Cambodia where a 24hr journey awaited us!

The yellow and blue bags are ours but this is nothing,
it was so much worse when we set off. Susi
was not a happy bunny!!!

We had organised a VIP Luxury bus meaning a guaranteed seat to yourself, a toilet for Susi, air conditioning and a free bottle of water! What we actually got was a minivan built for 15 passengers and we had to squeeze 19 people into it with rucksacks, suitcases and vegetables hanging out of the back. Surprise surprise we had been done again and Susi let everyone know it too! We even picked up a 20th person on the way who had to share a seat with the driver. We could only laugh. After a few hours we pulled over expecting to all get out and on to a VIP bus. Nope we all transferred to another minivan with another driver. This happened again with just a few hours left but this time we finally got our VIP bus and headed for Siem Riep.

We arrived at 2:00am into Siem Riep at the main bus station, we got off the bus to hear someone shouting Lee, Lee, Susi, Susi. It was a little Tuk Tuk driver shouting our names who was sent by Yannick and Carole to take us to a great budget hotel with a pool. Thanks again guys!
Siem Riep is a really nice little town with lots of markets and alleyways and bars. Although it is very touristy due to Angkor Wat, you can quite easily escape it all by wandering down some side streets or getting on a cycle.

Photo 1 of 1000 attempts...Not bad really.

I'm not going up there!!!...

Along with 1000's of other tourists (mainly Russian and Chinese) we got up at 4am to see Angkor Wat by sunrise. It was definitely worth it but the photo's do not do it justice. Chauffeured around in our Tuk Tuk we got to see around 12 temples of all different shapes and sizes. The favourite by a long way had to be Ta Prohn (The Tombraider/Indiana Jones Temple). It was both beautiful and awe-inspiring to see how "nature had run riot, leaving iconic tree roots strangling the surviving stones" (Nicked from Lonely Planet). Recovery by the pool and a sampling a few Angkor beers ended a lovely cultured day. We were officially templed out so no need for another day. Instead we explored the town and and markets and took a few days 'holiday' by the pool. We had to of course to experience Pub Street so along with Carole and Yannick we started our night at La Tigre de Papier a lovely French/Italian restaurant where Susi and Carole were pleased to see wine on the menu at affordable prices. We headed down pub street to find a late night bar with pool (obviously) table football, face paints and a skateboard ramp on the roof!

Playing pool with the locals again...

Another great night meeting so many new people and fulfilling our competitive needs.

The last night we had a early celebratory dinner for Susi's 4th transplant anniversary. The rules where, it had to consist of steak and red wine. This was to keep the tradition going in Sammy Barr's absence (Susi's Donor) and being miles away from chilli fillet steak at the Ramore Wine Bar in Portrush.

Thanks Dad....

We had a lovely night with a surprisingly large, juicy and perfectly cooked fillet steak and a nice bottle of Bordeaux. (No Rioja available) Seeing the state of the cows around here we're wondering where the meat came from?




After our mini-break holiday it was time to leave Siem Reap and head to the Capital to get our Visa's for Vietnam...