From Bangkok we cheated and got a plane to Siem Reap in Camodia for a Christmas of temple viewing. The Temples of Ankor must be one of the man made wonders of the world - stretching for miles - we got a three day pass and only saw 2/3 of them.

Christmas day was great - we spent the morning viewing Ankor Wat (the largest temple) then had lunch - first Christmas day lunch that I have that's been a curry and a litre of lager...but I hope not my last!.

In the evening we went to a pub for a set 'western style' Christmas dinner. Here we witnessed some of the worst service I've ever seen in my life - it was OK for us, as I went and got drinks from downstairs and moaned a bit to the boss who from then on made sure we were well looked after - but some people got a bowl of soup over 2 hours!

After we left Siem Reip we realised that between visas, accommodation, set Christmas dinners & other things, we'd spent far too much money trying to have a good Christmas - I saw a quote which summed this up quite well - "You fly of to a strange land, eagerly abandoning all the comforts of home and then expend vast quantities of time and money in a largely futile attempt to recapture the comforts that you wouldn't have lost if you hadn't left home in the first place" - too true!

The mine museum in Siem Reap