My Cambodia Diary Part 1

It's the first time I'm going for a trip with just 1 friend and I, kinda like backpacking. I borrowed a backpack from a colleague who always goes hiking and diving, so I'm certain it's a big and hardy bag. My friend, Rachel, and I, checked out some prices from Chinatown before deciding on free and easy and totally DIY.

I booked the tickets online and corresponded with the guesthouse (note: not a hotel) via email. Read up in forums about Cambodia and what to expect. Bought lots of candies and stationery for the children and before I knew it, I was all ready to go.

The ironic thing was, the whole trip wasn't even planned. Rachel just sms me one fine day and asked if I'm keen, and I thought why not. We wanted it to be totally budget so we decided to camp at the airport the night of our flight. Our flight was scheduled around 6.00am so we had to check in at 4...so we reached the airport around 12midnight and just camped there.

We took bus 24 and wandered around the airport before settling for POPEYES chicken. We ended up at the viewing gallery, trying to get some sleep, but it's almost impossible. Every half an hour, the airport makes an announcement about not leaving your things unattended, and we had this weird auntie who kept walking around burping. Finally we gave up and just read the books on Cambodia my kind sister-in-law's friend loaned me.

Sinful! Sinful!

Time does fly. Before I knew it, we were going on board the plane to Cambodia!

(Bye bye Singapore)

On board the plane, I checked out a really cute guy, who looks a cross between Mayday's Ah-Shin and Guang You (cute glasses) and he's a photographer, 'cos he's carrying a tripod and Nikon camera. Only upon reaching the airport then I realised there's a photography exhibition in Cambodia. Stole a few glances from him, but that's that. I'm a sucker in romance.

The flight was about 2 hours, and we reached Siem Reap International Airport. It's very 'open' and I almost felt like I'm getting some presidential welcome as we walked down the steps. Surprisingly, the aiport was much newer and cleaner than expected. It's very small, just one terminal and the queue took forever (cos they had to take your pictures before you go), but otherwise, nothing much to complain about.

The moment we walked out, we saw a lot of guys holding names of the hotels/ guesthouses with guests' names on it. I spotted mine almost immediately. One point to note though, Chinese/ fair complexion ladies are popular there. When our driver picked us up (which is a free service offered by the guesthouse, but we tipped him 1USD), all the other drivers started cooing and cheering for him....

Our driver is 29 yrs old Sophal. He's a simple country men, oldest of a family of 7 and has been with the guesthouse for only a week or so. He's extremely friendly and pleasant.

(Golden Temple Villa Guesthouse - 4 star service, 2 star price)

We had to wait for our rooms as we arrived pretty early. We settled down at the cafeteria they had there and had breakfast. The prices are mainly in USD there, so I paid about 1.50USD for my fruit yogurt and Rachel's omelette (which is huge) cost about 2USD. We were also given complimentary beer and ice lemon tee (which taste great) upon arrival. We also had complimentary 20 mins massage...I'm never used to massages, it tickles... Just a quick info, the guesthouse for 2 single beds, hot shower, fridge and cable TV of more than 60 channels cost us 15USD a night. Bathtubs cost an additional 3USD...but we chose not to take the tubs... save us money. The room was relatively small, but cosy. Just a big bed (meant for 2 persons) and the room's about the size of 2 parking spaces I think...but I've always preferred smaller rooms than bigger ones. Only complain was that the fridge's door kept opening...

Before our TUKTUK driver arrived, we wandered around the streets and spotted some interesting sights. Their barber and the primary school. It's been a while since we've seen rural areas like these.

Our driver arrived about half an hour late, as he was sending another guest to the airport. Not that we minded though... we were just happy relaxing at the balcony. Sophal came and he was our assign driver for the whole 3 days. A devoted Buddhist, he stopped his TUKTUK by the road to make some offerings and also gave us 2 flowers.

(The petrol kiosk there... 1 litre of petrol is about 1USD, in which we paid for....before realising we needn't have to...that story for later)

( Introducing ANGKOR WAT!)

The sight that stood before us was simply breathtaking. It's like... 1000 years of history and after wars and destructions, it's all still so beautiful. For those that's not aware, Cambodia was in war and poverty for many years. It was only around 1999 that peace was restored. Even then, landmines are still around the country, especially at the Thailand borders, and an average of 4 people were killed or injured by landmines daily.

A Khmer couple were getting married and I took pictures of their bridesmaid. Singapore probably only had Fort Canning... Cambodia's Angkor Wat alone was enough. Another nugget of information, entry pass for 3 days to visit all the temples cost USD40, one day was for USD20 but honestly, you can't see much in 1 day. Children were playing near the lake and jumping in ever so often.

(Nagas - serpents sculptures that's seen almost everywhere and in every temple)

Most of the sculptures there had missing limbs or heads (heads esp) as they were stolen by thieves to sell in Thailand or other countries. It's sad though, what greed makes people do. But of course, sometimes, poverty leaves one with little choice.

One important thing to note though, were the steep steps. I wonder if people 1000 yrs ago had smaller feet, 'cos the steeps were so steep, Rachel and I had to walk sideways. We heard a guide commenting that many years back, a French lady fell to her death, and her boyfriend donated money to restore the buildings. Oh, guides there cost USD20 a day, but we chose not to have one, as it's more adventuours exploring on our own. Besides, with our Art history background, we could vaguely tell what were on the walls. Mainly legends about war and mythical beings, about heaven and hell and good versus evil.

Sophal prayed to one of the Buddha's sculptures and I did the same. A guard there gave all 3 of us a red band to tie around our wrists, as a form of protection.

(More newly-weds)

Surprisingly, we didn't see a lot of children selling their wares when we first arrived, could be because they were still in school. Sophal bought us to a little corner where they have pagodas, which is like our temple here, where people really come to pray. It's of course, newer and nicely painted. Some nuns wanted to sell us their wares of weaved baskets, but we just donated USD1 to them, as we had no need for baskets. Then, shortly after was where I left my heart behind. The children of Cambodia.

They were staying in the monastery and that's where they're being educated. Most of them were homeless or orphans and when I gave them candies, you should see how their faces lit up. Children's innocence are always so amazing, like little angels. I took mainly videos, so here's one picture of the little angels.



After that, we headed for Angkor Thom. This time, our driver didn't follow us inside .I wonder why. I'm not sure if locals have to pay to go in though, 'cos I didn't see any driver coming in with the guests. But I did wonder if Sophal sneaked his way in earlier. But anyway, Angkor Thom is my fav. temple so far. There's just this amazing allure about it, and Rachel and I felt so 'connected' with it. Maybe it was also because our driver was not with us, and we were free to roam around. Sophal's nice to have around, but he kept wanting to take pictures and videos of us which made us a little uncomfortable.

There were little holes in many of the sculptures, and we later realised it's because there used to be gems or jewels there, and they too, were stolen. We chanced upon a few beggars in the temples and I offered some of them my Quaker's bars... you should their faces. The little boy is so cute, and they always thanked us, by bowing to us slightly with the palms together.

This is just the first half of the day... need to go to work now, and I will be blogging about sunset later at Phnom Bakeng. :)