Getting Here (Cambodia that is)

Left home on Tuesday afternoon having dropped the slightly disgruntled “kids” off at the kennels and headed to Heathrow via British Airways and Malaga.   Arrived at around 23:00 and checked straight into the Terminal 5 Sofitel.     Not before nearly freezing to death on the wrong level before finding the walkway leading straight to reception.    Up at 8 the following morning and headed to Terminal 2 to check in with Thai Airways and their very hospitable lounge.       12 hour flight to Bangkok, for a 5 hr layover in Bangkok Airlines not so hospitable lounge, and then a 40 minute flight to Siem Reap, which is a recent addition to Cambodia and has been built to accommodate the huge number of tourists who descend upon the Ankor Temple complex.     Checked in to the Victoria Hotel for a quick shower and Thai Beef Salad before heading out for the first of what will eventually be many Temple Explorations.

Hotel very civilised and their courtesy car is a reminder of the French Colonial era which dominated this part of the world for the best part of a century before a series of wars (including of course Vietnam and the ensuing mayhem of civil wars and Pol Pot´s Khmer Rouge and his genocide where 2 million Cambodians were massacred.    An era that only came to an end in the nineties so there are still many “scarred” sites and people who I have to say seem to be bouncing back as a result of tourism etc !!

Next up Ankor Wat which is completely mind-blowing in its scale and that of its many neighbours………..

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