The long road to Siem Reap

We're in Cambodia and we love what we've seen so far. Took a boat yesterday morning followed by an 8 hour bus ride to Kratie a small town on the Mekong River. We had heard our share of horror stories about travelers taking the route from the 4000 islands straight to Siem Reap and we decided we would break it into two days since we're not rushed and it worked out well because we got to see our friends Sarah and Charles who we met on our way to Laos. We checked out Kratie got some cash, they use US dollars and riel but ATMs only give you dollars. So far it seems they use riel like change as they don't have US coins. We watched some TV in English and met our friends for a fabulous dinner .

Today stared early loading the bus by 7, the first bus had excellent AC but while yesterday we had the pleasure of watching Behind Enemy Lines in English, today we are watching Cambodian singers/karaoke mixed with a dubbed version of The Gods Must Be Crazy. Our tickets said we had a transfer at 1100 and we did! First time on time!! The whole trip took 10 hours and 51 minutes (today, 18 hours total). We arrived and were greeted by tuk-tuks who promptly told us that our hostel was far from town. I was nervous as this was my first solo attempt at accommodation planning. I guess their determination of far is different from ours because we are in a perfect location, 3 minute walk to the main strip but far enough away to not here the boom boom boom music all night.

It's so nice to return to civilization again. The people here are kind, everyone smiles and say hello and is super helpful. Michael had a lovely local treat this morning that he loved, we got $2 fish massages with a free beer tonight and our guest house owner had a plethora of information for us when we arrived today.

Pictures below:
Michael with his Krolan, it's rice, beans and coconut milk in bamboo