Day 5 – Siam Reap Happenings

Updated – 27/7/2009

We had 3 options on mode of transportation from Phnom Penh to Siam Reap.

Option 1 – Boat.
But the water was too shallow at that time so the boat services was put on pause too.

Option 2 – Flight.
The cute hotel staff checked the flight schedule and the price for us and we responded with a sour face.

USD95, one way. For a domestic flight that takes less than an hour.

We wouldn’t mind if we’ll be staying in Siam Reap for few days, but.. it’s a one-day trip! Such a waste right? Yes, it saves us a lot of time but rationally, it’s just not worth to spend so much money for a one-day trip.

Option 3 – Bus.

USD6 one way. Cheapest of all.
But it takes 6 hours per trip, 12 hours on the road just for a round trip.
Meaning, we won’t have much time going about in Angkor. So, what’s the point?

 

. . . . . . . .  =(

 

We were so disappointed with the options, feeling sad over it and thinking if we want to spend so much just for Angkor, the friendly hotel staff gave us option 4.

Option 4 – Private taxi.

The condition of the car is way better those you flag on the street, you get to go and stop at whatever place you want and it takes 4 hours for one way.

Price, USD 90 one way.

Without any option, we chose the semi-luxurious way.
Hire the private taxi. But at the price half of the quickest way, by plane.

Here, let me analyse.

Yes, it’s an hour to travel by plane. But don’t forget about the check-in time! You’ll have to spend an hour waiting in the not-so-interesting airport waiting to board. And it will be like 2 hours for one way, and not 1 hour as you thought. And also, the taxi fare to travel to the airport.

It's USD180 for a round trip but that’s the price of hiring the whole cab to yourself. There’s the two of us to split the fare and that makes USD 90 per person. Not bad right? (It will be even cheaper if you have like 4 or 5 person sharing it. The hotel staff told us that she used this method too bringing the whole family and it’s very cheap and fun comparing to others) You get to enjoy the scenery of all the kampungs and the life styles of the locals and it is very different from the city.

Sounds like a good deal now isn’t it?

 

 

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The taxi picked us up at 6am, hence we had to wake up at like…. 5.15 ~ 5.30am. So early can die.

But once Mau drew the curtain, we were shocked to see how bright it was outside!

This,


was 6.15am….


Okay, we left our room at 6am but I wanted to have a quick breakfast first because I’m a breakfast-person while Mau is not. That’s why she called me si-Makan. Everyday must breakfast.

 

Breakfast @ Bougain Villier

 

 

My… kind of heavy breakfast.

What? I’m a hardcore Chinese who grew up in Seria with cheap Kolomee and fried kueh tiaw readily available at 4am! I love heavy breakfast!

Concentrating on my food.

And the little bottle on the right of the photo, that’s natural yoghurt.. which I initially thought it was milk until I used the spoon and scooped it. Yes I know, I wasn’t suppose to leave the spoon standing like that, macam offering to the ghost.

I miss my hair band….
My cute flower hair band which I left in the taxi….
Sobs.

 
Anyway, back to the road trip.

It was really interesting for me as I’m someone easily amused and very sakai (pasal never travel out from ASEAN). I kept taking pictures about things that amused me while Mau just….. snoozed dozed off.

 

For a 4 hours road trip, she slept for 3 hours.. minimum.

So you can guess how bored I was having no one to talk to, wondering how sweet is Mau’s dream because even a sudden bump / emergency break / taxi driver talking out loud on the phone / constant car-honking wouldn’t wake her up.

But it’s okay.



I could camwhore, alone (in Bobby’s shades because I broke mine just one day before leaving Brunei).

And, I had my sakai-ness with me.

 

Like, sakai-ing over… 

Wow! Man on Pick-up’s roof top sitting like a Buddha.

 
Oh, school kids on their way to … wherever they’re going, walking on barefoot or selipar jepun.

Is that woman wearing her pjs out shopping for groceries?

Satin Pink.

 
Wow! One motorbike pulling off a cart with like… more than 10 people on it!
Picture 1.

The Cambodians really fully utilize their vehicles. I had not came across any empty cars or carts because they were all stocked up to the max.

Take No.2 (above picture) for example.

A normal van, with 6 people on the top. And inside the car, there’re more at the back. Jam-packed until they couldn’t get the door close!

*enlarge pupils + jaw drop*

 

Of course, there were also serene scenery that makes potential wallpaper if equipped with a good camera.

 

 

 

The road was quite narrow and there were bullock carts, horse carts, tractors, motor cyclists, buses, lorries, even some unknown military vehicle that looked like a tanker to me on the road. Whenever drivers wish to overtake, they will keep honking until they successfully overtake.

One word, majal.  
 

Passed by one of the kampung.
Yes. In Cambodia, they use the word “Kampung” too for village!

 

The lorry had a puncture.

It looked so scary to me! Can you see how high up the goods were piled? Those were fertilizers / rice / I don’t know and not cotton wool okay! Even if it’s cotton wool, it is still very dangerous isn’t it?

Crazy sh*t!

And on the left in the above picture, you can see a tractor slowly pulling some materials with a man sitting on it too. Now imagine, how slow was it going and how long we had to wait in order to overtake the crazy lorry?

 

 

Not one tractor, but two!

 

 
Horse-carts.
They had bells on them so it rang beautifully when the horses were on the road.

 

If you can survive Brunei – KK road trip, Phnom Penh to Siam Reap will be a piece of cake for you. It was quite smooth as the road was way less bumpier and there’s a lot of things to see from the window. Need I say more?

Hospital…

The white house with partial blue paint and red roof top is the hospital.
Surprise?

Like I said, it feels very 1970s in Cambodia (for certain areas).

 

 

4 hours later…

We finally reached Angkor!

 

 

 

 

Our Passes.

with ugly mug shot-ish photos (taken with a webcam) on it.

 

We were so hyped seeing this.. Yes, we fall for gimmicks easily.

but… sigh.
=(

 

 

Introducing you our driver and the humble modified Camry who brought us all the way.

Notice something?
The car does not have any license plate on it.
And no, I did not strike it out with a pen tool.

Most cars we saw in Cambodia do not have license plates!

 

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Angkor Wat is HUGE!

I felt I was dreaming when I saw the magnificent Angkor Wat right before my eyes. My birthday wish came true finally! Even until today, thinking of it still gets my adrenaline going.

An obligatory photo at the main entrance.

 
(If you’re not interested in Angkor Wat, the upcoming photos will probably make you yawn)

 

 

As you can see, the path on the right looked perfect whereas those on the left was quite bumpy. Clearly, the path on the right had been restored. 

 

The people under the mission of preserving, restoring and saving the monument.

 

 

 

Another one.

 

 

 

The lady was so well-dressed that for a moment, I thought she was just having her lunch break out from a fashion boutique.

 

 
Note: SUCK IN TUMMY NO MATTER WHEN AND WHERE!

 

 

The ceilings. And… hmm.. why the eyes on the granny on the bottom right looked so weird… I only noticed a lot of weirdness in this batch of photos when I was editing them.

 

 

Built 1000 years ago

 

 

 

Locals around the area asking if you need a “tour guide” to explain. 

 

 

The 7-headed naga (creeps me out)

 
It was written in the Lonely Planet that we shouldn’t be wearing shorts and there’s sarongs for rent if dressed inappropriately. We were so prepared to take out our wallets and pay and the rental fee but no one approached us and we saw a lot of other people wearing shorts as well. Guess it doesn’t matter anymore.

 

Detail.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Apsara.

 

 
Along the hallway.

 

Wrong way to use the QuikPod.
No, you can’t see anything from down there you perv.

 

One of the gates.

 
We thought “that’s it” when we’re at the outer wall and saw another walkway at the back of it.

That, baru tah is the temple.
We ain’t see nothing yet.

 

 
Statue, with it’s head still attached.

 

Time to reapply sunscreen lotion.

 

 

Headless naga.

 

 

 

Any pictures taken in Angkor Wat automatically turn into B&W.

 

Devatas, or Apsaras.. I can’t tell the difference.

  

The rules.

 

 

I noticed the locals had a different praying style from me.

 

The students from Sophia university I think.
All Japanese and some of them were quite cute. *wink*

 

 

I have no idea how the fire look… dislocated.

 

3-in-1

 

 

Headless, or bodiless…

 

 

Headless statue again. Fine opportunity to have a little fun out of it.


I’m guessing… the heads of those statues were either vandalized or stolen and sold to antique collectors. I don’t know about you but, I will think that there’s spirit living inside the heads and I am so not going to keep it at home.

 

I like this photo.

 

 

At the East gate

 

 

The tower

 

 

 

Out for lunch break

 

 

 

I guess they donated quite a lot to get their names carved.

 

 
Compensation?

 

 
Two boys doing a kampung-Ayer stunt in the pool of Angkor Wat.


I wanted to capture the moment and once they saw me taking pictures, they immediately came out from the water, equipped themselves with the pity look and



“Miss, one dollar please… one dollar.. miss… one dollar…”

-_________________-“

What the…

 

 

 

Our driver didn’t talk much to us. Can say… not at all actually.
After Angkor Wat, we just told him we wanted to eat and without a second word, he drove us to this “street” of restaurants.

We chose this, with no reason.

 

 
Menu

 

Mau’s choice, Amok Fish.

We heard from the Sg guy that everyone has their own recipe for Amok fish. I guess it’s like curry or soto.. every family has their own secret ingredients.

 

Shitty picture…. but nice food inside.

 

 
I ordered the Khmer Prahluk Ling.. which I totally regretted.

 

It looked okay, but… it was damn salty! The long beans and kangkung served were raw and.. I’m so not used to eating raw veggies unless it’s cabbage and lettuce.

Kick till ah.. this meal.

 

Mau showing her two-toned skin.

Don’t bother putting on any makeup ladies, or gentlemen… It will melt right after you stepped down the car and all you need is sunscreen lotion and an umbrella or cap.

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Paiseh ah.. really very slow eh I blog.
Sampai people thought I went to Cambodia/Thailand for the second time. LOL
Where got so rich….

 

 

Hot Air Baloon, USD35 per person for I forgot how many minutes in the air.

Anyway, we didn’t get to ride on it because it is only available in the morning. So remember that people, if you want to have a ride on it.

 

 

To Angkor Thom

 

 

Mau said she was going to upload this photo and tag our blogger friends in Brunei.

 

 

 

So dulan…

 

 

Odd one out…
I think that’s a newly restored one.

 

 

Cough. Yes, what you are thinking now was what I thought when I saw it too.

 

 

My boyfriend, because we have the same eyes.

 

 

Entrance of Bayon

 

 

 

The ruins

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Note no.4.
I was telling Mau, “Who the heck want to bring stones or fragments home? Ada hantu kali ah….”

 

 

 

 

As a Buddhist, of course I went down and prayed.
The old granny on my right gave me some josticks and asked for a dollar.

I’m not quite used to it actually.

Because in most temple, its up to us whether we want to tian-you-qian or not one mah.. this one like, kena forced.

 

 

 

 

Ma-lau.

 

Okay, here comes the interesting part..


Our driver stopped by a petrol station.

He went down the car… but instead of opening the fuel cap thingie which is usually on the left or right on the rear part of the car, he opened his car boot.

 

 

like this fellow here…

 

The petrol station attendant then took out a funny looking piston….

 

 

and filled it in!

So so so weird kan!

And Mau found out what was it about.
Click here to know more.

 

 

“Pepsi” for you?

 

 

The locals love to go to the park (which is located in the middle of the road, no kidding!) and dance, play badminton, fly kite and do tai-chi!

 

 

 

Back in the hotel and Mau was hooked by the internet again.

 

Pablo recommended some halal restaurants for us to try out..

The name of the halal restaurant is, “HALAL RESTAURANT”

LOL

 

It’s not very posh but it did gave us a very different feel.

We ordered,

 

Must-try teh tarik

Sour spicy soup

 

Mixed vegetables

 

Ginger beef, with lots and lots of ginger, onion, carrot and turnip!

We tried our best to finish the dish but.. the veggies were just too much.
See!

Horlick… I think?

Back to the hotel.

Mau going online still and I put on a soothing facial mask and watched Dsiney Channel again..                             

Okay, finally finish!
Day 6 – I promise I will blog all in one go.