Thorsten and Suzi 06/07/07

Last night in Sri Lanka was great fun, got drunk in the local German pub (had a hangover for the first time since Xi'an!) and watched Germany play the game of the year against Argentina. Was great! Shame the same could not be said for England's performance the next night against Portugal, although we were saved the agony of watching as we were at the airport without a telly and could only watch the highlights when we landed in Bangkok! We were both very sad to see Germany go out, we thought they could go all the way, but looking forward to the final at the weekend.

Really enjoyed Bangkok. Stayed well away from the seedier side in Patpong and thought the rest of the city was brilliant, there's loads to see and do! We met quite a few people who hated it but after India was like a walk in the park. It's funny how such recent experiences have changed our view of the word and it's definitely a positive "side effect" of the trip. We're certainly far more cynical after all our experiences with tuk-tuk drivers!! We were lucky enough to arrive, totally unplanned, on an annual buddhist holiday so all temples were free and the tuk-tuks were running a special offer of a tour for 15p an hour! We also visited the Royal Grand Palace and the Emerald Buddha (he's the most holy little guy in Thailand but all we could think of was how much he looks like Yoda!) and enjoyed munching as much street food as we could fit in on Khao San Road!

We also discovered that Armani suits are actually made in Thailand and then shipped to Italy where they have "made in Italy" labels affixed! The Armani factory have a one-week sale once a year and, you guessed it, it was while we were there(it's advertised on the TV but we can't read Thai so only knew about it as we met a teacher in the queue for the Grand Palace who told us!)! We couldn't resist temptation so have had 2 suits made each and got a free cashmere coat each because we bought 2! Cost 25% of what it costs at home because the label is missing so hopefully they will look nice!

Sadly the rain has hit the Thai islands a bit earlier than normal but (allegedly, can't trust much that come out of travel agents' mouths!) it's supposed to get better by the end of the month. We've therefore changed our previous plans and are now in Siam Reap in Cambodia. We travelled for 15 hours yesterday to get here straight from Bangkok. Actually feel quite proud to have survived, was a proper "travellers' journey" along officially the worst road/dirt track in the world from the Cambodian border at Poipet to Siam Reap, which has not been re-surfaced in some parts since it was built in 1979! Took just over 5 hours to go 150km!

We are going to the temples at Angkor tonight for sunset at Bakheng and then will spend the whole day there, seeing Angkor Wat Ta Phrom and Angkor Thom, tomorrow. It's supposed to bean amazing site and we can't wait.