Siem Reap; The Expenditures

We've came out with several budgets but not all money were spent during our stay there because not many things we could spend on... If only I can go there and explore all. Well, here are the expenditures!

Click to enlarge

I didn't spend so much on souvenir, around USD20 (Shirt and teas), forgot to include that one.

Siem Reap (Day 4)

Final day at Siem Reap.

Our married friend had gone to the airport first because they had first flight of the day to KUL. Just four of us here. We woke up, had breakfast. Again, consistently delicious. We took our time that morning and finally went out to the market for last minute souvenir shopping around the town. We cycled to the nearest shopping mall. Bought some boxes of tea, fridge magnets for my family and a shirt which I really love wearing it. Then we head on to the market, where we tasted fried bug. You can just ask them to try one or two. Just ONE, okay, since they need to make a living out of it. If you are from Malaysia, it tastes like serunding daging and I think they were selling fried bees.

After quick round at the market, we headed back to the hotel. Packed our stuff, check out, get the same tuktuk to the airport.

It was fun to be in Siem Reap for 4 days and I think we should have spend more time there. A lot of things can be explore more like forest reserve there and waterfalls. A friend of mine actually spent a week in Cambodia.

Can't wait for next trip!

Nazmi

Siem Reap (Day 3)

Day 3, Saturday. We woke up late around 9-ish just before the breakfast period ended. I had a banana pancake. It was so delicious like when I'm writing this I am drooling right now. That's how delicious it was. The other guys came upstairs (where the breakfast is being ready) just after we finished our breakfast. Decided to put our feet into the fish spa thing there while they are having breakfast. We don't know exactly what to do that day, so just hang around for awhile until around 11-ish. We decided to cycle around the town until lunch time, lunch at a different muslim restaurant then Tonle Sap lake.

Really love that the guesthouse provide free bicycle. We started the journey from the Guesthouse and cycle to the busy road of Siem Reap. I think it was a highway. Full of motorcycle, yet it was relaxing ride.

 

 The map we cycled. Didn't realised it was in square shape.

We stopped at a silk shop near to the Siem Reap river bridge. I couldn't find the name of the shop by googling it even with Google Street View. I do think the shop was still new at that time. Anyway, have a look at the shop. I don't know whether the price is reasonable or not. My friends bought a passport cover which costs around USD30. Tried to haggle but only got little discount from them. Paid for it, put in the bicycle basket and we continued our journey. We stopped yet again at Kantha Bopha Academy for Pediatrics which we thought it was a performing art centre but it wasn't because there was a banner showing art performance. Anyway, decided to stop because attracted to its perimeter fencing. A few pictures, cycle to our guesthouse to get ready for lunch.

 Futsal court

As soon as we reached guesthouse, get ready for lunch and Tonle Sap trip. Our TukTuk drivers always been ready for us, provided that we tell them earlier our plans.

We had our lunch at the same area as yesterday but different restaurant. The restaurant is called Muslim Family Kitchen Restaurant. We had some seafood, soups and other things I couldn't recall. We enjoyed our lunch there for one hour plus. Before we head to Tonle Sap, we stopped at Masjid An Neakmah for Zohor prayer, a masjid in Siem Reap. It is located a few meters away from the restaurant. There is also an islamic school behind of the masjid which schooling about 100 students with only 2 classes and only 2 ustaz are the teachers there.

We grabbed some attention from the kids there, they were playing with our female friends inside of the Tuktuk, nevertheless there were cute kids. Kids are being kids. So after the prayers we headed to Tonle Sap, the largest freshwater lake in South East Asia. The journey took about less than 1 hour by tuktuk. All along the journey to the jetty, it was refreshing to see the scenery. The Tonle Sap jetty was under construction, so expect dust and sand flying everywhere. We boarded on 8 seater sampan, guided by 18 year old local which speaks good English. From jetty to the floating village it took about 30 minutes to reach there. The view was amazing, but the water was murky like teh tarik drink back home in Malaysia.

The floating village is like a normal village, they have pig farm, cats and dogs, schools, church, clinic, etc. expect that its all on the boat! I was told that since they are living on the boat, the government wont collect land tax, or whatever tax there is. We saw a lady inside of the lake towing the sampan with her child in the boat. The depth can be less than 1 meter during dry season but can go up to 10 meter during rainy season.

They brought us to a crocodile cage. They said once there were a lot of crocodiles around but now there are only inside of the cage. That was relief but pity at the same time. Then they took us to the shop for us to buy some food or water for the villagers as donations. It's like a forced-donation to us because we had no choice, they keep bugging us to buy something. We decided to buy instant noodles. So they brought us to the school, stopped there for awhile, had tour around school. There were 3 class rooms... and we saw a lot of rice the cooked and uncook one in the kitchen. But its okay they are in need of help after all with those condition.

Then we head back to the jetty after 2 hours tour of floating village. The sky is getting dark and we went back to our hotel.

Funny thing happened though, one of our tuktuk was knocked by a car in Night Market area. I dont know how they settle the thing but it was brief and so quick.

Arrived at the hotel, went back out for dinner, look for some merchandise and went back to hotel. Recharging for tomorrow..

....to be continued

Siem Reap (Day 2)

Alarm was set at 4.30am. Really early. But still, rolling on the bed for few minutes. At last we head out around 5.30am. I realised when I woke up there was a motorcycle sound at outside. And yeap, those were our tuktuk drivers waiting at outside at 4.30am. The sun is already slighty came out. Hoped on a tuktuk and ride to Angkor Wat. Such a cool breezy morning. There will be officers stationed at the entrance, doing inspection on the Angkor ticket. We headed straight to Angkor Wat. Amazing view of sunrise. We still managed to photograph some amazing shot of sunrise over Angkor Wat. There were not many people at that time, and can see people already leave the temple early.

Angkor Wat Entrance

The highest point of Angkor Wat

We were there for like 3 hours. Mainly taking pictures and appreciate the architecture and carvings. There are a lot of carving on the wall which will tell you stories about the Angkor Wat. There were a lot of tourist guide. There were 3 levels at the temple. So you need to do a lot of climbing, especially the top level. The staircase, although they modernised it, still it was so steep. But once you are up there you can see the whole of Angkor Wat.

Next up, Bayon temple. The temple site was under conservation and renovation due to some structures are already collapsed. This one is a bit easier than Angkor because it is smaller but the staircase, still so steep. Like my architect friends said, this staircase will fail if get inspected by fire and safety department!

After an hour at Bayon, we move to the next temple,  Ta Prohm temple where Tomb Raider was filmed. This is the temple where there are a lot of growing trees inside of the temple. They are not only taking care of the temple but also the trees. Tuktuk will drop you off at West Gate, then you need to walk for 500m to reach the temple. Along the way there were landmine survivors playing musical instruments to support themselves as they are handicapped. Upon reaching the temple I was amazed at how the tree can grow on the temple. Those trees are huge. At that time it was at noon and there were a group of tourist arrived at the same time with us. After one hour there, we have to walk to another exit at East Gate. Another 500m walk to the gate. Same as West Gate, we saw a group of landmine survivors playing musical instruments in a bid to sell their CDs. As soon as at the gate we quickly get on to our Tuktuk. Back to Siem Reap for lunch.

We had our lunch at Cambodian Muslim Restaurant at Siem Reap. We tried Lembu Naik Bukit, which they will cook it at your table. Its like a steamboat and grill thing. There were six of us. So there were 3 dishes, lembu naik bukit, sweet and sour fish anddd can't remember another one. To be honest it was nothing special but the fish, ikan kerapu (grouper fish) was sooooo crisp like sooo delicious. Love it! But you need to try lembu naik bukit too because it was made in there.

Since a friend of us just arrived in the morning and he missed the Angkor Wat, 4 of us decided to follow him to the Angkor Wat. We entered the Angkor Wat again, but at that time, 4pm, the weather was so hot. Not recommended to wear jeans. Wear those Cambodian pants is much better. You can look for it around the market. At the end we just wait for him to finish walk around the temple. Luckily I have a bottle of drinking water. You have to bring at least one big water when touring the temple. At 5pm we got out of the Angkor Wat, thought of seeing sunset at Phnom Bakheng, but as soon as we get there, 5.30pm, it was closed to the public. So sad. That was the temple which has so many visitors and can climb up by hopping on the Elephant for USD20. Frustrated, we decided to go back to our Guesthouse.

At 8pm, we went our again for dinner. This time we cycled to the market. The market is not that far. Navigation was not a problem because you just have to remember the river and there are signage to the market. We ate at a Malaysian restaurant next to the market. Really couldn't recall the name. The owner is a Malaysian who stays there for 10 years already. He was a banker in Malaysia, transferred to Cambodia and now decided to open a restaurant in Siem Reap. Again, they ordered naan. Homemade mint was so delicious until the owner have to top up again. Then we walk around the market again. After awhile we cycle to our guesthouse, had a shower and booommmm! Sleeptime...

....to be continued

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