If you love a bit of Indiana Jones/Lara Croft style adventure get yourself to Cambodia! Exploring moss covered ruins in the midst of the jungle is brilliant fun. We spent 3 days in Siem Reap and we all wanted to stay.

For us Angkor Wat was the least of the attractions. It was very impressive but quite well restored and almost museum like. None of the atmosphere that Ta Prohm and Preah Khan had. Bayon was pretty incredible too. They were what we went for! You just never knew what was going to be around the next corner.

Aside from the obvious attractions the people were incredibly hospitable. The food was absolutely delicious. Our accommodation divine. If you’re looking for an alternative to the stock standard, big hotel arrangement (that could be anywhere in the world) check out Sala Lodges. Restored Khmer houses set in lush gardens complete with rice paddies and a chorus of frogs. Had Siem Reap turned out to be awful we really could honestly have just stayed put! On the first night, after a pretty awful night flight, my 5 year old crawled under his mosquito net into bed and gave me a big smile. “I love it Mum. It’s so beautiful. I love everything!” We thought so too.

Given we travel so much we tend to keep a tight leash on accommodation costs. This time we added just a couple more dollars and it was absolutely worth it. This is a first for us …. but maybe sometimes the accommodation can be a destination too?

All in all it’s going to be a hard act to follow ….