We passed through the flat expanses of the Cambodian countryside with an electric storm illuminating the sky for miles around us. Sheet lightning flashing out both sides of the bus and fantastic classic fork lightning ripping the sky in its brilliant race to the ground. So bright it burnt its imprint on my retina for several minutes after it had exploded. We passed through a little rain which bounced through the closed windows, but for the most part it streamed down in a dark fog on the horizon.

People are not exaggerating when they say the trip from Poipet on the Thai border, to Siem Reap is one of the worst roads in the world. Our driver was good and our only incident having to bypass a collapsed bridge which still held the articulated lorry that had crushed it. We did wonder how the bus stayed together though. My dad does not know how its axle is not dead. It was impossible to hear the voice of the person sitting beside you, the rattling was so loud. It even drowned out the thunder when the lightning was right on top of us. We arrived by 9pm after just over 5 hours of shaking from the border. Meeting some people from our Bangkok bus leg of the journey today, we found out that the bus they had been transferred to arrived at 1.30am!!!!, after two breakdowns! I guess we got lucky.

After watching a cloudy sunset from Angkor Wat, complete with orange robed monks dotted photogenically by the weathered stone columns, we made it back to our guesthouse on our bicycles before tonight's storm hit. Its 15 minute glory was bright and loud and very wet, and cooled us down deliciously!!