From Phnom Penh we took a long boat up the river to Siem Reap. The boat is like a long tube and Doug said he was warned not to travel inside the boat, but rather on top, as it is safer to be on top where you can escape if there is a problem. We set out at dawn and marveled at the beauty of the riverside homes, temples, boats and shacks. As we moved up the river almost every Cambodian fisherman, woman and child waived at us and many called, "hello." Almost all of the passengers rode the top of the boat, which eventually took us to a floating village outside of Siem Reap.
When we arrived at the muddy banks of the river to disembark there were about a hundred people waiting there, including a young man who had a sign for Doug and Sherry Gillis. He had a lovely car and took us into town where we booked a room for the night. We weren't happy with our accomodations, so we moved to another hotel that was owned by a Frenchman and was decorated in traditional Cambodian style.
Although we opted to stay at another hotel, the driver from the first hotel agreed to drive us around town and the temples for $20 US per day. We began visiting the Angkor Wat temples the very next day after arriving. We pulled into the park and had badges made up that allowed up to visit the temples for three days. Our driver, Bouth Sonn, would pick us up about 9:00am each morning, take us out to the temples, and either hang around or go back to town, then pick us back up before lunch. We would return about 2:00pm, then quit for each day around four or five o'clock.
