Tarantula Dinner, Angkor Wat and Songkran

One of my ultimate travelling missions is to try as much weird and unusual food as possible. Next on the menu: tarantula! I'd heard that deep fried tarantula was a common delicacy in Cambodia so my Swedish friend Lisette and I went to a restaurant called 'Bugs Cafe' so I could try the creepy crawly in style; the menu included things like tarantula doughnuts, meal worm salad and cricket fondue but I had my sights firmly set on a massive black spider (as you do). While I held the massive, fried and seasoned beastie in my hand I was convinced that it was going to crawl up my arm but I persevered and chowed down on its crispy legs and soft centre. 

Possibly the weirdest restaurant in the world.

It tasted....spidery!

Tarantula with a soft centre-bleurghhh!

Lisette left Cambodia the next morning to visit Sri Lanka and I woke up at 4am (eugh...) to visit the largest religious monument in the world - Angkor Wat. The ancient temples were originally built by a Hindu king however over the centuries the vast complex of partially restored ruins has been converted to Buddhism and as I wandered around the numerous sites at sunrise both religions were evident in the intricate stone carvings, impressive statues and awe-inspiring architecture. For six hours I walked amongst the incredible stone temples with the other people on my tour group and watched the sky transition through a rainbow of colours before the intense Cambodian heat set in. 

Sunrise over the ancient skyline created by Angkor Wat.

You may recognise the ruins from the movie 'Tomb Raider'.

Many of the towers had carved faces.

I left Cambodia the next morning and began my two day journey to Koh Samui Island in the south of Thailand to see my friend Ash for a few days. I took a bus across the border and was dropped off at a bus station in Bangkok; after asking about twenty million people I finally figured out which local bus I needed to get to the centre of Bangkok and whilst I was sitting on the 14p bus hugging my backpack a huge bucket of water was chucked through the bus window from the street! I'd arrived in Thailand in the midst of their New Year celebration called Songkran which involves mental water fights on the streets in some parts of the country; the tradition started off as a sprinkling of water over a loved ones head to wish them good luck for the upcoming year however tourists and fun loving Thais have transformed this festival into what it is today - pure and utter carnage for everyone to enjoy! I joined the street party as soon as I'd put my bags down at the hostel; I navigated my way through the rammed streets getting attacked by water guns and buckets of water and I danced at the loud and hectic rigs set up on Khao San Road...within minutes I was drenched!

Street water fight!

I smiled sweetly as Thais slapped flour and water mixtures on my face whilst they announced I was a farang (foreigner)!

As if the infamous Khao San Road needed to be more crazy...