Back in April 2014, buddy and I managed to laid our hands on a couple of promotional air tickets from Malaysia Airlines. It was only at RM401 for both ways. Without a minute of hesitation, we made our first step to dream-come true.
Siem Reap has always been one of the city that top my list of venture. With a little help from the technology nowadays, everything made simpler. And I meant – internet. We did our research. Though not in-depth but we went with the thought of exploring it on the spot and go with the flow. Especially in Siem Reap, the locals can speak English very well hence the language barrier is never a huge obstacle to us from Malaysia.
Day one was exciting. After landing at Siem Reap International Airport, we patiently waited for our “Airport Transfer” service from the guesthouse that we booked with Groupon before the trip commence. We were greeted by Mr. Lee, our tuk-tuk driver throughout the 5-days. Ah, yes we had a fantastic ride on tuk-tuk overseeing Siem Reap town in the afternoon and it only took us approximately half an hour to reach Check Inn Guesthouse.
Explore Check Inn HERE
After cleaning up for a while, we hooped on to Mr. Lee’s tuk-tuk to proceed with our journey. As we did not prepare any itinery ahead, the staff from Check Inn casually handed us a map of tourist attractions. It eased our pain as there were so many places we find interesting but thanks to the staff from Check Inn, we managed to sort out a few to explore for day one.
Mr. Lee & his tuk-tuk!
Tonle Sap has always been a wonder to me so without thinking twice, I chose to explore this UNESCO ecological hotspot. Tonle Sap means “Large Fresh Water River” in Khmer language and it is 2,700 square kilometre in size! How impressive! The ticket to Tonle Sap was not that cheap afterall. It cost USD20 per person and we were directed to move around with a traditional Khmer boat to begin witnessing the auspicious Tonle Sap. It was to my surprise that the water was very muddy, not that stinky but there were many boats going through and flo with tourists and some locals were repairing their faulty boats along the river. We had a great time listening to the boatman’s explanation on the history. Though it was a little disappointing with the locals in Tonle Sap forcing us to donate groceries to the poor staying on the river. Yes, they are floating wooden houses on the river and the lower class Cambodian stays there. It was a saddening scene to witness but somehow I guess that made a great reason for me to visit as we do not get to see these very often elsewhere.
Tonle Sap. April 2014.
Stomach was drumming in no time. Mr. Lee, our tuk-tuk driver was already waiting for our arrival at the entrance of Tonle Sap. Without us telling, he immediately asked “Dinner?” “YES PLEASE!” As we took off to the Old Market district of Siem Reap as introduced by Mr. Lee. Old Market in Siem Reap was amazing beyond words. Whilst looking for a restaurant, we explored a little and were amazed to see how many restaurants are there along the streets of Old Market district. After wander around, we settled for Khmer Kitchen Restaurant at this secluded alley facing a t-shirt stall.
Trust me, we were having a hard time choosing what to eat as there were so many choices. The staff immediately spotted us scratching our heads and approached us to introduce some of their signature dishes. Thankfully for her help, we sorted out Khmer Style Chicken Soup, Khmer Curry Fish, Khmer Spring Rolls and Iced Lemon Tea to ease our exhaustion. Also please take note that their plain rice is refillable. How awesome is that! A glimpse of our meal from Khmer Kitchen Restaurant below.
Khmer Kitchen Restaurant, Old Market District, Siem Reap.
Day two was mainly about sight seeing to temples around the city. Waking up to the breakfast service from Check Inn made my day. I had scrambled eggs and toast with smooth Khmer coffee. How can you not be energised by that? The Sun has greeted us very very early and it was scotching hot, omg! Even so, we have decided to rent a bicycle each for that day to fully self-explore the mysterious land of Siem Reap. We found a bicycle renting shop on the way to lunch and it only cost us a generous amount of USD3 for each bike and we can have it all for ourselves until 11pm! Great deal I must say. The bicycle was not a mountain bike bmx or equivalent. Adventurous enough it was an old old ancient bicycle that I remembered seeing at the garden of my grandma’s. Never mind I thought, let’s just explore it! We cycled around town and the weather was a real bitch and cars were dangerously driving beside me. It was scary and my eyes were like a pair of vacuum cleaner for the sand storm. Finally we found a point of interest and decided to stop at Wat Preah Prom Rath.
Wat Preah Prom Rath, Siem Reap, Cambodia.
There were so many other temples we visited after that and very unlikely to capture any good photos due to the crowd and also we were cycling, so it made harder. But nonetheless, exploring around with bicycle was indeed a whole new experience and I would recommend it to those who love doing things on your own. You will love the feeling of being beaten by the sand storm, the overwhelming sunlight, children playing around along the streets and there were also numerous of monks catching your attention somehow reminded me of my previous visit to Bangkok, Thailand. Read about my adventure in Bangkok, HERE.
Enervated and worn-out, we cycled our way back to the town for some refreshing drinks. Where else? Pub Street of cause! Pub Street is the liveliest area in Siem Reap after the dark and it is conveniently situated around Old Market area. Well, there aren’t just pubs at Pub Street. Convenient stores, eateries, souvenir shops were also easily found along the way. It is one of the most crowded place with tourists and the variety was just mind-blowing. We had a beer or two at a bar to replenish our droopy body. Angkor beer is the best to enjoy and costed only a few dollars. There were street dancers and performers stunning tourists to kill the silence and the sad part was that there were many beggars group walking around asking for some offerings to survive.
Angkor Wat. Our main itinery for day three. One does not claim themselves visited Cambodia without inspecting the ever-so-astonishing Angkor Wat. Also known as Angkor Temple, the largest monument of the Angkor group and the best preserved, is an architectural masterpiece. Its perfection in composition, balance, proportions, relief’s and sculpture make it one of the finest monuments in the world. Being up close and personal with one of the 7th wonder in the world, excited, mind-blowing, auspicious and mysterious were best described my very inner feelings at that very moment.
Me, and Angkor Wat.
You will need to get yourself a ticket to the Angkor Wat. It cost USD20 for a day trip and you get to visit all the temples surrounding the area and definitely worth my USD20! After an hour or two of admiration to Angkor Wat, Bayon Temple was next. Bayon Temple, on the other hand is one of the most visited temple in Cambodia after Angkor Wat. I personally love Bayon especially artistic people like me, haha! Reason being is that Bayon is well-known for its carving of many faces. Over 2000 large faces carved on the 54 tower give this temple its majestic character. The faces with slightly curving lips, eyes placed in shadow by the lowered lids utter not a word and yet force you to guess much.
Prasat Bayon, at its best.
There was this small monument along the way to other temples, Chau Say Thevada.
Chau Say Thevada.
My buddy doing a jump shot at Chau Say Thevada.
Ta Keo Temple was the fourth temple we stopover. Ta Keo amazed me with its super large sculptures and it has five sanctuary towers built on the uppermost level of five-tier pyramid consisting of overlapping terraces surrounded by moat, as a symbolic depiction of Mount Meru. Visiting Ta Keo was time consuming due to its super huge area so we did not finished but was enough to arouse me with a grand-stand.
Ta Keo Temple.
Time flies. Without realising ourselves, we have spent a good half day in these three remarkable temples. It is time for our lunch. Mr. Lee brought us to a restaurant just a few miles away from the scenic area of all temples. – Khmer Angkor Kitchen. We had Khmer Curry Chicken, Khmer Clear Tom Yam Chicken with rice and refreshing coconut juice!
Khmer Curry Chicken at Khmer Angkor Kitchen. Delicious!
As this is the nearest restaurant around, we quickly hooped back into Mr. Lee’s tuk-tuk to continue venturing the remaining temples. The generous amount of lunch has cost us drowsiness on the way back to the temple visiting journey. Our fifth destination – Ta Prohm.
Ta Prohm was no doubt my favourite temple of all. Famous for its big trees that grow with the temple. There are many many doors in Ta Prohm. Exploring each was just as exciting and UNESCO inscribed Ta Prohm on the World Heritage List in 1992. The interesting fact was Ta Prohm was also used as a location for the filming of Tomb Raider, staring Angelina Jolie.
Ta Prohm. After a few minutes walk.
Me, at Ta Prohm.
That marked the end of our temple hopping journey.
Did I mentioned also that Khmer cuisine was awesome? It is no doubt delicious and matched my expectation despite everything penny we spent in Siem Reap is in USD. We managed to squeeze less than RM500 throughout the trip of 5 days, not inclusive of the air ticket from Malaysia Airlines of cause.
Next trip to Cambodia? YES.
It should be none other than Phnom Penh.
x
If you fancy a little more affordable shopping, head no where but Chatuchak (jatuchak).
mem0riesalive 