Like I said earlier, CNY is the biggest festival in this part of the world and that meant all of our ASEAN friends were heading home to be with their families. With some of our Indian friends heading home, taking full advantage of the 4-day weekend, our group was reduced to a group of 6, but that we didn't let that deter us from having fun and guess what, the fun started even before we boarded the plane!
I have always been a proud procrastinator and take pride in the fact that very few people can beat me in reaching the airport at the last minute. My personal record has been reaching the airport, 10 min before the scheduled flight departure time but my friends bettered that. Just how close they got to the departure time, is something you will find out later. A bunch of us (which surprisingly included me) had reached the airport around an hour prior to the departure time but two of them were stuck on road-an accident having slowed them down, were a good 10 km away from airport (25 minutes to the flight departure), with traffic showing no signs of moving. At this moment we had given up all hope of them making it to the flight but thanks to Shailu, who though opted out of the trip, did a great job convincing the ground staff to let us board the flight, when culprit party reached the airport just 2 minutes ahead of the flight departure time. Now 2 minutes is something I can never think of beating unless I have Shailu talking to the ground crew a good 20 min before I reach the airport. Anyways, the point is we made it to the flight and we just realised that the trip had indeed started off on a great note!
Day 1-Phnom Penh
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| From Cambodia-Kingdom of Wonde At Phnom Penh International Airport |
Having set off our foot from the shore of Singapore around 1620 hrs, we reached just in time for the sunset at Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh, and contrary to the widespread rumours of corruption at the visa counter, we didn't see any under-the-table dealings at the airport. However, we had to shell USD 20 for the tourist visa-on-arrival and could have saved USD 10 had we opted for the online procedure at CambodiaonArrival.
Moving on, we were actually surprised by the architecture of the Phnom Penh International Airport aka Pochentong International Airport. It's not big or shopper savvy as the Changi Airport (Singapore) or as grandiose as the Suvarnabhumi International Airport (Bangkok) but it's kinda cute with its traditional pagoda design.
After spending a few minutes with our shutter bugs at the airport, we decided to head straight to the Wat Phnom, and what's better than getting there on a tuk-tuk?
Wat Phnom is one of the most important pagodas of Cambodia and houses statues of Buddha and Lady Penh, after whom city is named. At 27 metres, this is the highest point in the city and according to a legend, the pagoda was home to four statues of Buddha deposited here by the waters of the Mekong and discovered by Lady Penh in 14th century.
Since it was too late in the evening (7 pm), we couldn't enter the core of temple, so do make it a point to reach here before sunset to be able to see pagoda in all its glory. It was more of a photo session for us and given the low light conditions, we could capture only some flash-lit frames of the murals and some under-exposed ambient light shots of the pagoda.
By this time, over tummies were growling in hunger and we walked across to the riverfront in search of a vegeterian restaurant (yeah 3 of us in our group) and after walking for a while we settled at an Italian place called Fritz, courtesy Rough Guides.
After a sumptuous dinner, we headed to our guesthouse-TAT, which was again recommended in Rough Guides and I was actually taken back by the amenities and size of the room. At USD 12/night, we got huge A/C double rooms with 2 queen size beds each with neatly laundered bedsheets and towels.
Day 2-Phnom Penh, Siem Reap
I may be a procrastinator but when on trips, I prefer making early starts so that we get to spend more time exploring around the new place. But traveling in a group, it makes it difficult to get everyone up and ready for an early-start but fortunately we didn't have to compromise on this front and our starts were always on schedule. We started with a quick breakfast at our guest house and headed straight to Royal Palace in a tuk-tuk. We took a small detour to stop by the Independence monument, commemorating the country's independence from France in 1958.
Though we were on-time for the scheduled opening time of the Royal Palace, we were denied entry into the Palace as the King was apparently housing foreign delegates for a private viewing of the Lunar New Year parade and other ceremonies. It didn't take much time though and the doors were opened to the public, an hour later than the scheduled opening time.
The exquisite architecture and the richness of Khmer culture is very much evident in Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda. Having seen the brighter side of Cambodia, we headed to Choeung Ek Genocidal center aka Killing Fields, which is around 15 km from Phnom Penh, again easily reachable via tuk-tuk. Make sure you ask your tuk-tuk driver to wait for you as it's hard to find a free tuk-tuk around this area.
It's one of the most depressing places I have ever visited. It's hard to believe executioners were asked to smash babies against this tree before dumping them in the mass grave. There is a small museum within the complex which also screens the documentary movie "The Killing Fields", which is a dramatized recollection of the tragedy by live witnesses and kith and kin of victims.
After the heart-moving visit to the Killing Field we headed back to Phnom Penh, from where we set to Siem Reap by road. Tat had booked tickets for us in advance @ USD 5/pax with Sorya Bus Company and the bus was on schedule for the 1345 hrs pick-up. It was an air-conditioned bus but I don't it's the heat or the high standards of buses in Singapore, the luxury of cool-air was solely restricted to the window seats while the aisle seats were left at the mercy of ambient air! May be it was an air-cooled rather than air-conditioned coach. Not to be bothered by the heat, we made good use of the 6 hour travel time (300 odd km) playing cards and manning the toilet door! (Yeah bus coaches here have a toilet and unfortunately we were seated very next to one). It was around 2030, by the time we reached Siem Reap and Green Garden Home where we were put for 2 nights, had arranged for a pick-up. Since we were on time for dinner, the driver suggested we drop by a restaurant with live performance by Apsaras.
Moving on, we were actually surprised by the architecture of the Phnom Penh International Airport aka Pochentong International Airport. It's not big or shopper savvy as the Changi Airport (Singapore) or as grandiose as the Suvarnabhumi International Airport (Bangkok) but it's kinda cute with its traditional pagoda design.
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| From Cambodia-Kingdom of Wonder At Phnom Penh International Airport |
After spending a few minutes with our shutter bugs at the airport, we decided to head straight to the Wat Phnom, and what's better than getting there on a tuk-tuk?
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| From Cambodia-Kingdom of Wonder Thats the Tuk-Tuk we took from airport to Wat Phnom |
Wat Phnom is one of the most important pagodas of Cambodia and houses statues of Buddha and Lady Penh, after whom city is named. At 27 metres, this is the highest point in the city and according to a legend, the pagoda was home to four statues of Buddha deposited here by the waters of the Mekong and discovered by Lady Penh in 14th century.
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Main entrance to Wat Phnom showing the grand eastern staircase, which is guarded by lions and naga (snake) balustrades
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| From Cambodia-Kingdom of Wonder Idol of Lady Penh |
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| From Cambodia-Kingdom of Wonder Statue of Buddha |
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| From Cambodia-Kingdom of Wonder One of the many murals adoring the walls of Pagoda |
Since it was too late in the evening (7 pm), we couldn't enter the core of temple, so do make it a point to reach here before sunset to be able to see pagoda in all its glory. It was more of a photo session for us and given the low light conditions, we could capture only some flash-lit frames of the murals and some under-exposed ambient light shots of the pagoda.
By this time, over tummies were growling in hunger and we walked across to the riverfront in search of a vegeterian restaurant (yeah 3 of us in our group) and after walking for a while we settled at an Italian place called Fritz, courtesy Rough Guides.
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| From Cambodia-Kingdom of Wonder |
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| From Cambodia-Kingdom of Wonder |
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| From Cambodia-Kingdom of Wonder Traditional Cambodian Music Performance |
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| From Cambodia-Kingdom of Wonder At Fritz, great food and ambience for moderate budget |
After a sumptuous dinner, we headed to our guesthouse-TAT, which was again recommended in Rough Guides and I was actually taken back by the amenities and size of the room. At USD 12/night, we got huge A/C double rooms with 2 queen size beds each with neatly laundered bedsheets and towels.
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| From Cambodia-Kingdom of Wonder |
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| From Cambodia-Kingdom of Wonder In case you are wondering that's a towel |
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| From Cambodia-Kingdom of Wonder They provide bus ticketing too and we booked ours to Siem Reap for USD 5/pax |
Day 2-Phnom Penh, Siem Reap
I may be a procrastinator but when on trips, I prefer making early starts so that we get to spend more time exploring around the new place. But traveling in a group, it makes it difficult to get everyone up and ready for an early-start but fortunately we didn't have to compromise on this front and our starts were always on schedule. We started with a quick breakfast at our guest house and headed straight to Royal Palace in a tuk-tuk. We took a small detour to stop by the Independence monument, commemorating the country's independence from France in 1958.
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| From Cambodia-Kingdom of Wonder Independance monument at Phnom Penh |
Though we were on-time for the scheduled opening time of the Royal Palace, we were denied entry into the Palace as the King was apparently housing foreign delegates for a private viewing of the Lunar New Year parade and other ceremonies. It didn't take much time though and the doors were opened to the public, an hour later than the scheduled opening time.
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| From Cambodia-Kingdom of Wonder |
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| From Cambodia-Kingdom of Wonder |
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| From Cambodia-Kingdom of Wonder Dress Code for Tourists |
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| From Cambodia-Kingdom of Wonder Throne Hall at Royal Palace |
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| From Cambodia-Kingdom of Wonder A closer look at the monumental tower |
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| From Cambodia-Kingdom of Wonder |
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| From Cambodia-Kingdom of Wonder |
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| From Cambodia-Kingdom of Wonder |
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| From Cambodia-Kingdom of Wonder Rules are Meant to be Broken-I (@Dancing Pavillion, Royal Palace) |
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| From Cambodia-Kingdom of Wonder Murals at Silver Pagoda |
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| From Cambodia-Kingdom of Wonder Nandi idol at Silver Pagoda |
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| From Cambodia-Kingdom of Wonder Entrance of Silver Pagoda |
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| From Cambodia-Kingdom of Wonder |
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| From Cambodia-Kingdom of Wonder At Silver Pagoda |
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| From Cambodia-Kingdom of Wonder Exquisite workmanship! |
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| From Cambodia-Kingdom of Wonder Again at Silver Pagoda |
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| From Cambodia-Kingdom of Wonder Ant's eye view of Silver Pagoda! |
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| From Cambodia-Kingdom of Wonder Getting a feel of Khmer Music |
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| From Cambodia-Kingdom of Wonder |
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| From Cambodia-Kingdom of Wonder Rules are meant to be Broken-II |
The exquisite architecture and the richness of Khmer culture is very much evident in Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda. Having seen the brighter side of Cambodia, we headed to Choeung Ek Genocidal center aka Killing Fields, which is around 15 km from Phnom Penh, again easily reachable via tuk-tuk. Make sure you ask your tuk-tuk driver to wait for you as it's hard to find a free tuk-tuk around this area.
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| From Cambodia-Kingdom of Wonder |
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| From Cambodia-Kingdom of Wonder |
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| From Cambodia-Kingdom of Wonder Buddhist Stupa which houses around 5000 human skulls of victims of the killing field |
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| From Cambodia-Kingdom of Wonder Barbaric Acts! |
It's one of the most depressing places I have ever visited. It's hard to believe executioners were asked to smash babies against this tree before dumping them in the mass grave. There is a small museum within the complex which also screens the documentary movie "The Killing Fields", which is a dramatized recollection of the tragedy by live witnesses and kith and kin of victims.
After the heart-moving visit to the Killing Field we headed back to Phnom Penh, from where we set to Siem Reap by road. Tat had booked tickets for us in advance @ USD 5/pax with Sorya Bus Company and the bus was on schedule for the 1345 hrs pick-up. It was an air-conditioned bus but I don't it's the heat or the high standards of buses in Singapore, the luxury of cool-air was solely restricted to the window seats while the aisle seats were left at the mercy of ambient air! May be it was an air-cooled rather than air-conditioned coach. Not to be bothered by the heat, we made good use of the 6 hour travel time (300 odd km) playing cards and manning the toilet door! (Yeah bus coaches here have a toilet and unfortunately we were seated very next to one). It was around 2030, by the time we reached Siem Reap and Green Garden Home where we were put for 2 nights, had arranged for a pick-up. Since we were on time for dinner, the driver suggested we drop by a restaurant with live performance by Apsaras.
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| From Cambodia-Kingdom of Wonder Apsara Dance Performance at Angkor Mondial Restaurant |
After a performance lasting around an hour or so, the artists pose for the shutterbugs for another half an hour. I was amazed at the patience of these artists who had to meaninglessly smile at the cameras after a tiring dance session. They served a buffet dinner with a fairly impressive vegetarian menu and priced around USD 12/pax for dinner and Apsara performance. After a rather sumptuous dinner and eye-popping Apsara performance, we headed to our guest house and took to bed early as we had an early start (5 am) the next day.
Day 3-Angkor Vat, Siem Reap
Angkor Vat probably needs no introduction with it being the world's largest temple complex (this is a highly debated though with several temples challenging this claim and the Guiness World Records recognises Delhi's Akshardham Temple as the largest). Such is the popularity and influence of this temple that it takes a central place in Cambodia's national flag, anything less than that would haven't done enough justice to the beauty and charisma of this place. No wonder, it's on UNESCO's World Heritage Sites.
Captivated we were by this imposing structure and we set early to get a glimpse of the much acclaimed sun-rise view of the Angkor Vat. We started around 0500 hrs from our guest house and reached the ticketing counter around 0520 hrs and to my surprise the ticketing counter was bubbling with activity.
Capturing these frames was as much a test for our cameras as it was to our knowledge of photography. Am no DLSR user but know a thing or two about photography and as I switched to manual mode with increased exposure and high ISO. That is as much the camera could do and now all I needed was a steady pair of hands, which I did manage judging from some of the snaps I captured. So there you go shutter bugs: a tripod is a must for sun-rise/sun-set or anything under low-lit conditions I guess.
Since it was cloudy and well past the sun-rise time of O630 hrs, we decided to take a break and have breakfast, and just when we were about to leave, we got these beautifual shots below. That's when we realised that the 5 am start was every bit worth of it.
Having ticked-off sunrise view and breakfast off our list, we moved to the inside of temple complex to admire it's architectural beauty. Photographers and historians would love to spend a day or two just at the Angkor Vat but all we had was an hour or two at the max, so it was just halt, snap and proceed for us.
Our task was made a bit easier with some of the parts being closed for restoration. We thought it was just bad timing but then later we realised that we didn't really have the time and patience to explore the entire temple complex. But, whatever we saw we were more than amazed.
This was our last shot at Angkor Vat after which we headed to Bayon temple around 0930 hrs. It was starting to get hot and sweaty and but our high spirits dragged us through.
By this time we were totally exhausted as the rivulets of perspiration were running across our bodies and no amount of wiping them off, seemed to cut the flow! Not surprisingly we took to the comfort of our air-conditioned van and set to our next destination-Ta Prohm temple, where a surprise awaited us:
By this time, the overdose of temples and the unbearable heat was starting to tell its ill-effects on us. We wanted to head back to our guest house, take a shower and rest but then we hadn't flown across 1300 km to take a nap and so rather reluctantly we proceeded to Preah Kahn our last temple for the day!
Before even entering Preah Kahn, we had a refreshing coconut drink, which not only gave us the energy but also lifted our spirits for another walk in the hot sun. The heat was literally leeching out the energy from us and if not for the coconut drink, I doubt we could have mustered enough energy and patience to enter the Preak Kahn temple.
As per our schedule, we were supposed to cover the four temples by around 1600 hours but the overdose of temples had killed the enthusiasm and we had rounded all up by 1400 hours. Now we had time for more activities in Siem Reap but before that we had to feed our stomachs which were starting to growl now. After much discussion, we decided as always to stick with Rough Guides and narrowed down on "Kamasutra", yeah there is an Indian restaurant by that name here and we have no idea why they opted for that name. If it weren't for the name, I bet it wouldn't get half the customers it gets for we found the food was over-priced and not upto the mark either. This was one of rare occassions when Rough Guides recommendation disappointed us.
Since we hadn't planned anything for the late afternoon, we took our van driver's suggestion who drived us to the Tonle Sap, a lake-river system. It is the largest freshwater lake in South East Asia and is an ecological hot spot and is a designated UNESCO biosphere since the late 90s. There are communities of ethnic Vietnemese and Cham communities living in floating villages across this river, something similar to what we saw in Halong Bay in Vietnam last year.
After spending around half an hour at the floating restaurant-cum-market, we headed back to the jetty where our driver was waiting for us. It had been a tiring day so far so we asked our driver to drop us off at our guest house and return to pick us up after 2 hours for we wanted to shower and take a brief nap. As you might have guessed it was no brief nap and we were sleeping well beyond 3 hours and had it not been for the enterprising few members of our group, we would have spend the remainder of the evening happily sleeping in our rooms. Fortunately, that wasn't the case and we headed to the night market in Siem Reap. It's a typical touristy market where you will end up paying twice or thrice the deserving price, if you don't bargain. Other than shopping for souvenirs, some of us indulged ourselves in Fish Spa, which one can find in plenty here for as little as USD 2, inclusive of a free drink (Coke/beer). While I thoroughly loved the tickling feeling of the fish feeding on the dead tissue of your feet, some of us couldn't keep their feet in water for more than a minute. Take a look at the YouTube clip below to see the reaction of my friend with over-sensitive feet:
We had dinner at another Indian restaurant this time and this one was good. Great pricing, tasty food and the chef was actually an Indian, unlike the overly priced Kamasutra where none (waiters and chef included) had any idea of the dishes that were on the menu. After dinner we stopped by the famed Pub Street, but being tired and exhausted we didn't venture into any but the mix of Khmer Pop and English numbers coming out of these disco were worth a try had it not been a tiring day that it was for us. So we called it an early night and headed back to our guest house to get some sleep for we had to catch the 6 30 bus to Siem Reap the next day. On Guest House's recommendation, we had booked the pricier Mekong Express bus service to Siem Reap which cost more than double at USD 11/pax compared to USD 5/pax of Sorya Bus Service which we took from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap. The a/c wasn't any better than Sorya's but the service was better with the bus attendant announcing the whereabouts and a brief history of the towns and cities we passed through. They also served some snacks which had both vegetarian and meat options. Though the service was excellent, I still don't think it deserved the double price we paid compared to Sorya Bus Service.
Moving on, we reached Phnom Penh just in time for lunch and we decided to try our hands on local Khmer food this time around. It was a pity that we were about to fly back to Singapore in a couple of hours and we still hadn't tried any local Khmer food. So we walked along Sisowath Quay, till we found this Khmer cuisine restaurant recommended on Rough Guides (Gees! I forgot the name). The stroll along Sisowath Quay is one of the most recommended "must do"s in many a travel guides and we realised why it was. It has one of the best restaurants and pubs in Phnom Penh and the cool breeze by the river makes a walk worth-while even in a hot noon soon.
My non vegetarian friends tried some exotic frog fried amok while I had a bowl of yummy vegetarian amok soup and Egg-fried rice.
We thought of stopping by the nearby National Musuem, but we ran out of time and called it off and headed straight to the airport again courtesy Tuk-tuk. This tuk-tuk ride was memorable though as we paid only USD 3 (compared to USD 7 we paid for the ride from airport to the city just a couple of days ago) for around a 15 km ride and the tuk-tuk swayed along everytime the driver slowed down. We were kinda afraid one of the wheels is gonna go flying off but then nothing of that sorts happened and we reached airport safely.
We had a good 90 minutes to spare at the airport and while one of my friend was busy talking to the airport officials on the imposed airport tax of USD 25 (foreigners have to pay before leaving the country), I was busy catching the live stream of the then ongoing Second Test match between India and South Africa. It was when Sehwag had blasted to 165 off just 174 balls in able company of Tendulkar. I watched Sehwag throw away his wicket as the ground crew was announcing the last call for my flight and I rushed to board the plane.
Onboard the plane, it was sunset time and it looked much better than the snaps I was able to capture.
When we reached Singapore, we learned that we had missed the inauguration of the only casino in Singapore. Resorts World Sentosa had opened its doors and people had lined up over-night to get a glimpse of the first casino on the island. Now the Singapore map has a new destination for tourists and residents alike. In case you happen to land in Singapore anytime soon, Resorts World has made it easier to reach them from the airport with their exclusive free shuttle (Ofcourse, they know how much they are gonna skim you off once you land there! )
Before I sign off, here are some tips for Cambodia bound travelers:
Day 3-Angkor Vat, Siem Reap
Angkor Vat probably needs no introduction with it being the world's largest temple complex (this is a highly debated though with several temples challenging this claim and the Guiness World Records recognises Delhi's Akshardham Temple as the largest). Such is the popularity and influence of this temple that it takes a central place in Cambodia's national flag, anything less than that would haven't done enough justice to the beauty and charisma of this place. No wonder, it's on UNESCO's World Heritage Sites.
Captivated we were by this imposing structure and we set early to get a glimpse of the much acclaimed sun-rise view of the Angkor Vat. We started around 0500 hrs from our guest house and reached the ticketing counter around 0520 hrs and to my surprise the ticketing counter was bubbling with activity. |
| From Cambodia-Kingdom of Wonder The 9-seater van we booked for touring around Siem Reap |
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| From Cambodia-Kingdom of Wonder Ticketing Counter |
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| From Cambodia-Kingdom of Wonder It was this dark when we first got there |
Capturing these frames was as much a test for our cameras as it was to our knowledge of photography. Am no DLSR user but know a thing or two about photography and as I switched to manual mode with increased exposure and high ISO. That is as much the camera could do and now all I needed was a steady pair of hands, which I did manage judging from some of the snaps I captured. So there you go shutter bugs: a tripod is a must for sun-rise/sun-set or anything under low-lit conditions I guess.
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| From Cambodia-Kingdom of Wonder Sipping by a hot cup of coffee (chocolate drink for me ;)), the first glimpse of Angkor Vat bestowed upon us around 0600 hrs |
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| From Cambodia-Kingdom of Wonder Slowly things started clearing up but the classical sun-rise view of Angkor still eluded us |
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| From Cambodia-Kingdom of Wonder It was around 0700 hrs now and we still hadn't seen the Sun rising from between the monumental towers of Angkor |
Since it was cloudy and well past the sun-rise time of O630 hrs, we decided to take a break and have breakfast, and just when we were about to leave, we got these beautifual shots below. That's when we realised that the 5 am start was every bit worth of it.
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| From Cambodia-Kingdom of Wonder Sunrise at Angkor Vat |
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| From Cambodia-Kingdom of Wonder A panoramic view of the sunrise |
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| From Cambodia-Kingdom of Wonder I love this frame! |
Having ticked-off sunrise view and breakfast off our list, we moved to the inside of temple complex to admire it's architectural beauty. Photographers and historians would love to spend a day or two just at the Angkor Vat but all we had was an hour or two at the max, so it was just halt, snap and proceed for us.
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| From Cambodia-Kingdom of Wonder Bad Timing |
Our task was made a bit easier with some of the parts being closed for restoration. We thought it was just bad timing but then later we realised that we didn't really have the time and patience to explore the entire temple complex. But, whatever we saw we were more than amazed.
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| From Cambodia-Kingdom of Wonder |
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| From Cambodia-Kingdom of Wonder Entrance to one of the monumental towers |
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| From Cambodia-Kingdom of Wonder View from one of the monumental towers |
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| From Cambodia-Kingdom of Wonder Am guessing they are depicting Apsaras here |
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| From Cambodia-Kingdom of Wonder |
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| From Cambodia-Kingdom of Wonder |
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| From Cambodia-Kingdom of Wonder I can FLY! |
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| From Cambodia-Kingdom of Wonder This one goes to my "Jumpilation" |
This was our last shot at Angkor Vat after which we headed to Bayon temple around 0930 hrs. It was starting to get hot and sweaty and but our high spirits dragged us through.
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| From Cambodia-Kingdom of Wonder Entrance to Bayon Temple |
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| From Cambodia-Kingdom of Wonder At Bayon Temple |
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| From Cambodia-Kingdom of Wonder At Bayon Temple |
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| From Cambodia-Kingdom of Wonder At Bayon Temple |
By this time we were totally exhausted as the rivulets of perspiration were running across our bodies and no amount of wiping them off, seemed to cut the flow! Not surprisingly we took to the comfort of our air-conditioned van and set to our next destination-Ta Prohm temple, where a surprise awaited us:
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| From Cambodia-Kingdom of Wonder Surprise! The collaboration yes, the state of temple: unfortunately didn't surprise us! |
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| From Cambodia-Kingdom of Wonder Ta Prohm Temple |
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| From Cambodia-Kingdom of Wonder Ruins Everywhere |
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| From Cambodia-Kingdom of Wonder Ta Prohm Temple |
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| From Cambodia-Kingdom of Wonder We hid the background which was supposed to be the highlight of the previous frame |
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| From Cambodia-Kingdom of Wonder Huge Roots like these run across Ta Prohm temple |
By this time, the overdose of temples and the unbearable heat was starting to tell its ill-effects on us. We wanted to head back to our guest house, take a shower and rest but then we hadn't flown across 1300 km to take a nap and so rather reluctantly we proceeded to Preah Kahn our last temple for the day!
Before even entering Preah Kahn, we had a refreshing coconut drink, which not only gave us the energy but also lifted our spirits for another walk in the hot sun. The heat was literally leeching out the energy from us and if not for the coconut drink, I doubt we could have mustered enough energy and patience to enter the Preak Kahn temple.
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| From Cambodia-Kingdom of Wonder It seemed like an endless walk through a series of never-ending pathways |
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| From Cambodia-Kingdom of Wonder And then we found this Stupa lit by direct sunlight and the pathway continued beyond that |
As per our schedule, we were supposed to cover the four temples by around 1600 hours but the overdose of temples had killed the enthusiasm and we had rounded all up by 1400 hours. Now we had time for more activities in Siem Reap but before that we had to feed our stomachs which were starting to growl now. After much discussion, we decided as always to stick with Rough Guides and narrowed down on "Kamasutra", yeah there is an Indian restaurant by that name here and we have no idea why they opted for that name. If it weren't for the name, I bet it wouldn't get half the customers it gets for we found the food was over-priced and not upto the mark either. This was one of rare occassions when Rough Guides recommendation disappointed us.
Since we hadn't planned anything for the late afternoon, we took our van driver's suggestion who drived us to the Tonle Sap, a lake-river system. It is the largest freshwater lake in South East Asia and is an ecological hot spot and is a designated UNESCO biosphere since the late 90s. There are communities of ethnic Vietnemese and Cham communities living in floating villages across this river, something similar to what we saw in Halong Bay in Vietnam last year.
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| From Cambodia-Kingdom of Wonder Entrance to the Jetty |
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| From Cambodia-Kingdom of Wonder These speed boats go all the way to Phnom Penh from Siem Reap, 300 odd km, that's how big this lake is! |
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| From Cambodia-Kingdom of Wonder They have an entire village on float here, complete with Churches |
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| From Cambodia-Kingdom of Wonder Basketball courts |
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| From Cambodia-Kingdom of Wonder and zoos housing Crocodiles and more |
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| From Cambodia-Kingdom of Wonder This cute gal over here didn't even as much as blink her eye as she laid the Python to rest |
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| From Cambodia-Kingdom of Wonder But we definitely lost some sleep over it |
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| From Cambodia-Kingdom of Wonder |
After spending around half an hour at the floating restaurant-cum-market, we headed back to the jetty where our driver was waiting for us. It had been a tiring day so far so we asked our driver to drop us off at our guest house and return to pick us up after 2 hours for we wanted to shower and take a brief nap. As you might have guessed it was no brief nap and we were sleeping well beyond 3 hours and had it not been for the enterprising few members of our group, we would have spend the remainder of the evening happily sleeping in our rooms. Fortunately, that wasn't the case and we headed to the night market in Siem Reap. It's a typical touristy market where you will end up paying twice or thrice the deserving price, if you don't bargain. Other than shopping for souvenirs, some of us indulged ourselves in Fish Spa, which one can find in plenty here for as little as USD 2, inclusive of a free drink (Coke/beer). While I thoroughly loved the tickling feeling of the fish feeding on the dead tissue of your feet, some of us couldn't keep their feet in water for more than a minute. Take a look at the YouTube clip below to see the reaction of my friend with over-sensitive feet:
We had dinner at another Indian restaurant this time and this one was good. Great pricing, tasty food and the chef was actually an Indian, unlike the overly priced Kamasutra where none (waiters and chef included) had any idea of the dishes that were on the menu. After dinner we stopped by the famed Pub Street, but being tired and exhausted we didn't venture into any but the mix of Khmer Pop and English numbers coming out of these disco were worth a try had it not been a tiring day that it was for us. So we called it an early night and headed back to our guest house to get some sleep for we had to catch the 6 30 bus to Siem Reap the next day. On Guest House's recommendation, we had booked the pricier Mekong Express bus service to Siem Reap which cost more than double at USD 11/pax compared to USD 5/pax of Sorya Bus Service which we took from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap. The a/c wasn't any better than Sorya's but the service was better with the bus attendant announcing the whereabouts and a brief history of the towns and cities we passed through. They also served some snacks which had both vegetarian and meat options. Though the service was excellent, I still don't think it deserved the double price we paid compared to Sorya Bus Service.
Moving on, we reached Phnom Penh just in time for lunch and we decided to try our hands on local Khmer food this time around. It was a pity that we were about to fly back to Singapore in a couple of hours and we still hadn't tried any local Khmer food. So we walked along Sisowath Quay, till we found this Khmer cuisine restaurant recommended on Rough Guides (Gees! I forgot the name). The stroll along Sisowath Quay is one of the most recommended "must do"s in many a travel guides and we realised why it was. It has one of the best restaurants and pubs in Phnom Penh and the cool breeze by the river makes a walk worth-while even in a hot noon soon.
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| From Cambodia-Kingdom of Wonder Well not exactly for these guys |
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| From Cambodia-Kingdom of Wonder But for this gentleman here, very much so |
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| From Cambodia-Kingdom of Wonder Yee! We spotted the Indian flag! |
My non vegetarian friends tried some exotic frog fried amok while I had a bowl of yummy vegetarian amok soup and Egg-fried rice.
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| From Cambodia-Kingdom of Wonder |
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| From Cambodia-Kingdom of Wonder Vegeterian Amok Soup |
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| From Cambodia-Kingdom of Wonder Another one of local favorites |
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| From Cambodia-Kingdom of Wonder Cambodia also happens to be the dirt biking destination of South East Asia. Can anyone sponsor me? |
We thought of stopping by the nearby National Musuem, but we ran out of time and called it off and headed straight to the airport again courtesy Tuk-tuk. This tuk-tuk ride was memorable though as we paid only USD 3 (compared to USD 7 we paid for the ride from airport to the city just a couple of days ago) for around a 15 km ride and the tuk-tuk swayed along everytime the driver slowed down. We were kinda afraid one of the wheels is gonna go flying off but then nothing of that sorts happened and we reached airport safely.
We had a good 90 minutes to spare at the airport and while one of my friend was busy talking to the airport officials on the imposed airport tax of USD 25 (foreigners have to pay before leaving the country), I was busy catching the live stream of the then ongoing Second Test match between India and South Africa. It was when Sehwag had blasted to 165 off just 174 balls in able company of Tendulkar. I watched Sehwag throw away his wicket as the ground crew was announcing the last call for my flight and I rushed to board the plane.
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| From Cambodia-Kingdom of Wonder At Phnom Penh International Airport |
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| From Cambodia-Kingdom of Wonder At Phnom Penh International Airport |
Onboard the plane, it was sunset time and it looked much better than the snaps I was able to capture.
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| From Cambodia-Kingdom of Wonder |
When we reached Singapore, we learned that we had missed the inauguration of the only casino in Singapore. Resorts World Sentosa had opened its doors and people had lined up over-night to get a glimpse of the first casino on the island. Now the Singapore map has a new destination for tourists and residents alike. In case you happen to land in Singapore anytime soon, Resorts World has made it easier to reach them from the airport with their exclusive free shuttle (Ofcourse, they know how much they are gonna skim you off once you land there! )
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| From Cambodia-Kingdom of Wonder Resort World Sentosa Counter at Changi Airport |
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| From Cambodia-Kingdom of Wonder Free Airport Shuttle to soak in the gamblers |
Before I sign off, here are some tips for Cambodia bound travelers:
- Take a lot of sunscreen and tissue (It get's really hot there)
- An electrolyte drink would help once in a while
- Currency mostly in USD should do the trick but some Riel would come in handy for small change
- Guest Houses-Tat Guest house in Phnom Penh was great value for money (USD 12 for spacious A/C double rooms with two queen size beds, cannot ask for more!). Green Garden Home was awesome too (USD 25 for A/C double room with 2 single beds and free breakfast. Great ambiance as well)
- Covering all the four temples in Siem Reap on a single day might be an overdose if you are really not into temples or architecture
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2 comments:
March 6, 2010 5:47 PM
Dude, again very well written. I liked the flow of the photos and the narrative.
March 7, 2010 5:06 PM
@Teets: Thanks dude..
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