Adventures in Bangkok and Cambodia!

Cambodia actually has to be one of the best places I have ever visited- its just so different here... and I don't usually even fall asleep when we travel on the buses as theres just so much to see out of the window!
But anyway...
On the 24th Dec, when I ventured out into the heat, I headed towards the Grand Palace... I stopped at various temples for an explore along the way- v interesting and so pretty! The roads were insane tho as, even tho they had what looked like pedestrian crossings, noone paid attention to them- I was frozen on the spot for the first attempt as I usually don't think its sensible to walk in front of cars- but in Asia it seems its the only way you can cross! A local guy grabbed my arm and told me to "come on" so thankfully I wasn't stuck there all day! I was approached by so many people wanting to sell me stuff it was mad- met a really nice guy who ended up conning me to go on a tuktuk tour with him- he seemed alright tho and it was so fun! Then I went to the Grand Palace, which actually hadn't been closed until 2pm like he had told me, but it was lovely in there especially the Temple of the Emerald Buddha. Decided to try out room service as a treat, which was quite kwl!
Had the weirdest Christmas ever- got off to abit of a bad start as set my alarm for 6.55 when I was supposed to be leaving for the floating market at 7! So I pulled on some clothes and they gave me some pancakes in a box, which I munched on the bus! Initially thought I was gonna be stuck with noone who spoke English but thankfully, at our 1st stop where I had my first encounter with a squat toilet, I got chatting to a guy called Patrick. We had a picture together on a "james bond"boat- it made us laugh so much that I got the picture on a plate! Explored market together- someone force fed me fruit and another tried to put trousers on me- quite entertaining! It was funny buying food from the boats. Also went to a Cobra show, which was quite scary... Got a traditional Thai massage which kinda hurt, then went out for a meal with my tour group- Patrick had invited me out to kickboxing but I thought I should be there...
The next day we headed for Siem Reap (Cambodia) , the roads thankfully weren't as bad as I had imagined from all I had heard. We hired someone to carry our bags at the border crossing- was so interesting doing an overland crossing and there was such a difference once you crossed the border as most of the Cambodian infrastructure had been destroyed in the war. The driving is insane here- our drivers seem to spend most of their time on the wrong side of the road (and they def make use of their horns!)
Angkor Wat was amazing! Was a full day out but def worth it- v pretty to explore. Got a japanese massage by a blind person, which also hurt abit but not as bad as the Thai one! Me and a few others headed out for pizza that night- had a craving for western food...
Then we went on a trip to the floating village- seeing the local life is just so fascinating... then explored the markets and went out to a street stall for tea- it was great to just sit and watch the world go by:)
The next day we headed to Kampong Cham- we went on a tuktuk to man hill and women hill (where Hugh managed to get the monk and monkey pictures he had been after- now searching for the 3Ms- monkey, monk and motorbike- all in the same shot!) Also went to see a dance show by street kids, it was so cute and the traditional Khmer dances are very different to what you see back home.
Headed to Chom Bok for our homestay, stopped off in Phnom Penh to grab some lunch. At the homestay the locals cooked us some v tasty food, a few of us played volleyball with them and a couple of us taught the local kids some English. I had some balloons in my bag and I gave them all one, then we drew faces on them and taught them ëyes"etc- it was fab as they were all so grateful. Our guide then told us his story of his life through the war etc, it was really sad but gave you a real perspective of all the suffering the people have been through.
The next morning we walked through the Cambodian wilderness to a really amazing waterfall. Then we headed to Sihanoukville- on the coast with a lush beach. New Years was one of the best I've had so far- our restaurant was right on the beach- we were actually sitting in the sand! We brought fireworks, danced alot (a guy taught me the Camodian version of the maccarena!) went in the sea- it was awesome! Its great as alcohol is so cheap! SO funny as at midnight they played jingle bells and we wish you a merry christmas! Back at the hotel me and Andrea (my roommate) decide we were hungry so headed out for food (!) I was half in my PJs at this stage... managed to find hotdogs and cheese toasties, as well as crisps and cookies! V yummy...
Today I woke up insanely early so a group of us headed out for breakfast at this lush cafe run by disabled people (great food and supporting a good cause!) We crammed 6 of us in a tuktuk! Also explored the markets etc
Tomorrow am heading off scuba diving with a small group of us, which will be awesome!! Then we are going to Phnom Pehn before heading to Vietnam