Sunday, February 3, 2013 Siem Reap, Cambodia to Ko Samet, Thailand

Today, we spent the day exploring the city of Siem Reap.

In the evening, we went to the famous Pub Street, within walking distance of our G.H.

It is another truly unbelievable place.  As it has grown, Siem Reap has transformed from a sleepy overgrown village to an international destination for the 'jet set'.  Siem Reap is now firmly on the nightlife map of southeast Asia.  In the night it feels more like a beach town than a cultural capital.  Pub Street has a huge sign indicating its location.  The street is closed to traffic every evening.  It is a place where you can wine and dine very cheaply but have a meal fit for a King and Queen and be treated like royalty -- the choices are overwhelming -- all amazing.

Having enjoyed Pub Street immensely we returned to our G.H. to pack up for a very early morning start at 1.45 am. to catch an overnight bus from Siem Reap, Cambodia to Bangkok, Thailand.

Lucky for us we were able to sleep soundly on the bus and we awoke at the border at 7.00 a.m. At the border it took us a couple of hours to process our paperwork, cross into Thailand on foot and get into a small bus to take us the rest of the way to Bangkok.

We arrived in Bangkok around 1.00 p.m.  After some 'travel confusion' we caught a taxi to take us to the bus station we needed to get to o catch a bus to Ban Phe four hours south of Bangkok as we headed to the beach for some rest and relaxation.

At Ban Phe we caught a ferry over to Ko Samet.  Ko Samet is an idyll island with beautiful scenery, small sandy coves and clear aquamarine water.

 We decided to go to Ao Tub Tim cove which is a favourite beach for solitude seekers who need access to civilization, if necessary, but not a lot of other stimulation.  We knew if we wanted more stimulation we could hike to it.