So here we are in Siem Reap, sweating profusely in the heat!

On our second night in Bangkok we thought we'd have a laugh and go to a ping pong show, so we bartered with a tuk tuk driver to take us to Patpong - the red light district of Bangkok. For the cheap price we agreed on he took us straight to a building that wasn't quite in the Patpong district but obviously he would get commission by taking us there. We refused this but walked down by ourselves to where we wanted to be. It's taking some getting used to being called at all the time and the local people trying to entice you into their bars. Patpong turned out to be a massive hassle - at one point we walked down a street and were just met by walls of touts, but sucessfully passed through without giving in though we did have a giggle at what we could see through the doorway into the bars!! We attempted to go to another show which offered supposedly free shows for a cheap drink but we soon gathered that it was never going to be free and we would be stupid to go in, as the staff were very persistant and could be agressive. So we eventually got back on a tuk tuk, having seen enough to make us smile and experienced enough hassle but thankfully not giving in to any prices. It completely took the comedy out of the idea in the first place!

Rainy season is definately in full swing, there have been heavy downpours and thunder and lightning each day, this has been quite a welcome cooler most of the time though. Thank god for good grip on my flip flops or else I probably would have broken a nail by now.

We got up early the next day to catch our minibus to the border of Thailand. We picked up some other people on the way including two English girls, until that point we hadn't really met any other people in Bangkok, oh except for two American Christians (who, we would like to point out, were both ginger!!) in Patpong. They were on a business trip researching the trafficking issue in Bangkok. They said a prayer to Jesus for our safety!

Anyway the ride to the border was fine, didn't take much more than 4 hours and was air conditioned the whole way. Crossing the border into Cambodia was somewhat tiring - heavy backpacks, midday temperatures and queues at various stages. Also we made the mistake of changing our currency at the border and getting a dodgey exchange rate - something we will not be repeating! Driving through to Siem Reap was basically a massive long stretch of road, taking about 3 hours to arrive in Siem Reap by taxi. We have a nice guesthouse and an air conditioned room which we love at the moment but eventually we will try to cope without air con once we have aclimatised to save money.

Last night we met some Canadian people in the bar of our guesthouse and also an English/Welsh couple in their 50s who rent out their home in Devon, have been saving for 20 years to do this and have been travelling for the last two years, planning to stay for many more. Really awesome couple, have given us loads of tips. We ended up going out that evening to relax since we'd had a big journey that day - ordered our first bucket of cocktails and danced the night away on Pub Street - My nail varnish made my toe nails glow under the UV lights which was very entertaining for me on the dancefloor!!

Siem Reap is so much nicer than the hussle and bussle of Bangkok - the people also seem a lot friendlier - our guesthouse porters gave us some lychees yesterday (Gemma had never heard of lychees and instantly named them Big Hairy Testicles - oh she is going to be funny to travel with. The porters also pissed themselves when she didn't know how to eat it and even tried to eat the nut from the centre..!) We have paid for our Vietnamese visas today as we need to get them in advance before crossing the border (which won 't be for another week we reckon). We are staying in Siem Reap until they arrive and plan to visit the temples of Angkor Wat tomorrow, which are meant to be amazing. We are going to catch a tuk tuk ride tonight to go watch a sunset somewhere too.

From Siem Reap we are heading to Sikanoukville which is full of beaches!! Woo! I am really looking forward to relaxing on the beach and going for a swim. We're going to get a sleeper bus there in a few days time.

That's about all for now I think! xx