Siam Reap

Had an absolute emotional rollercoaster of a day on Friday. Got up at stupid O'clock to get the bus down to Bangkok although I was very happy that this only cost 1 pound. I was having a massive panic before I got there because I was running around Ayutthaya at about 7 in the morning trying to find somewhere to exchange Baht into Dollars and get passport photos ( these are needed for the visas and the stupid dive resort used all of mine!). The journey was uneventful until we got to Bangkok and I realised that we had stopped at a different station to the one we left from on the way out. The annoying thing was I knew where I was but not how to get to the bus terminal as the maps are awful and Thais generally have no idea either where they are or where anything else is. After crying in the middle of the station I bought the most sugary drink I could find and bouyed up on E numbers I told the driver to just drive and discovered the bus terminal was just around the next corner! Bus to Aranyaprathet was less eventful and luckily I found a woman from Australia who worked in Cambodia who helped me painlessly through border control. Turns out I managed to get away with not having photos by paying 100 Baht extra. Arrived In Siem Reap after having to wait 45 minutes for my taxi driver to pick up two other passengers who never turned up! I couldn't stay angry at him though, he was so charismatic and pretty soon we were both laughing hysterically as I tried to negotiate the price in Cambodian and him in English. When we got to Siem Reap I hadn't decided where to stay so hailed the first Westerner I saw intending to ask him directions to the place I had picked out of the guidebook. Turned out it was a guy I had already met in Ko Phangan called Rich. We were planning to go for a drink which then turned into dinner and then turned into me just staying with him. Hotel room for $3 and organised trip to the temples the next day was definitely a bonus!