Siem Reap (Day 1)

This was planned at the end of 2013. We feel like we want to be at the place where not many Malaysians go, so we chose Siem Reap, Cambodia instead of other places like Thailand, Indonesia, etc..

Anyway, flight ticket was purchased in February (RM300++ without baggage). Flew with AirAsia from KUL-REP-KUL. We went there in the middle of the May. I was told by a friend which just I knew during the travel the price has been lowered to RM200++ 3 weeks before the trip. I was like, shut up. I can do other things with RM100. Initially the budget during stay in Siem Reap (not including accommodation) was USD200-USD250. Oh yeah, they use Khmer Riel and US dollar there. Malaysians, no need to have visa to go there.

We flew there on Thursday morning, 0650 hours. Since we will depart from klia2, we had to go there at least 3 hours before departure justtttt in case if there is confusion. 5 of us made it to the airport. Unfortunately one overslept. He bought a new ticket for the next day.

After 3 hours in the flight, safely arrived at the Siem Reap International Airport around 0815 hours local time. Note that if Malaysia is 8am, then Cambodia is 7am. Have to adjust your watch to 1 hour earlier. As we step out of the plane, the sky is blue, really great photo opportunity. The weather at that time was really nice, but not much wind. At the immigration, only have to fill the custom form, arrival and departure card. We were greeted by our two tuktuk drivers, Cheng and another driver I forgot his name... Sorry! They immediately walk us to their tuktuks which were parked outside of the airport compound.

 I've emailed and requested the Guesthouse for 3 tuktuk because one of us is pregnant and afraid that it wont be comfortable for all of us to fit in the tuktuk but I was wrong. Even the guy who missed the flight could fit into the tuktuk. Tuktuk is a ride which is made with motorcycle and have this carriage behind the motorcycle. It is a 4 seater vehicle. Cambodia is left hand drive road, so it was a bit awkward.

20 minutes ride from the airport, we reached at Golden Takeo Guesthouse. The road in front of the Guesthouse is muddy when it is wet, which we didn't expected that. The airport pickup is free of charge. We immediately get into our rooms. Mine was double bed room, which is quite big for 2 person. It can fit 4 people there. 3 nights stay there for around USD66, booked through Agoda website.

Then we headed for brunch. One of us managed to made a list of halal restaurant around Siem Reap. That morning we decided to try Malaysian restaurant called D'Wau Restaurant. At first we went to near Soria Moria Hotel, apparently it is no longer there. The tuktuk driver then drove us to this newly built street mall. To our surprise its D'Wau Restaurant! They've moved to Angkor Shopping Arcade along the National Road No 6. We ordered Nasi Goreng Lok Lak, coconut shake and coconut itself. Delicious. USD5-7 per meal. The tuktuk driver told us that he learned English language from various school - public, private and volunteer school. His English was good enough for us to understand.

After brunch, we decided to visit a war museum. The entrance fee is USD5, comes with free tour guide, if you want to. There, you can see all the equipments from war tanks, airplane, bombs, guns, etc. used during war. Spent our time there for 40 minutes or so then went back to the guesthouse to rest after sleepless night before coming to Siem Reap.

The tuktuk driver recommended us to buy Angkor Wat ticket at four in the evening, since we wanted to see sunset over temple. There is a trick for this. If you want to go the temple on the next day, the ticket for the next day will start to sell after 4.30pm. Therefore, you will get a chance to see a sunset around Angkor Wat. So we bought a one day ticket for USD20. We were asked to stand for a picture there to be printed on the ticket. So cool! Its like a passport for you to go inside of the park. Since its already past 4.30pm, we can use that ticket for the sunset view. There are two temples that he recommended, Phnom Bakeng and Prei Rup. We chose to be at Prei Rup because Cheng said that temple have less visitors compared to Phnom Bakeng.

He was right. There were less people. The temple was really interesting for starter. The staircases are so steep. Need to be careful. The view was amazing. Although a bit cloudy but it was amazing. After the sun sets, we went straight to Pub Street and Night Market to find a restaurant. We went to Maharajah Restaurant, Indian cuisine. Ate mutton lassi where they serve you naan, rice, mutton and some kuah. Delicious I tell you. We spent for like USD7-8. Went for a short walk at the market then go back to the Guesthouse as we need to wake up early to catch sunrise at Angkor Wat!

....to be continued