Siem Reap (Part 1)

I started this blog in February but all I ever got to do was an outline of our first day. haha. here's my best attempt at sharing with you our Siem Reap trip! I mostly put together collages and will just have short narrations on stuff I remember :p

January 31, 2013

It was finally happening!  Our first hurrah of the year—and it’s with Katie, Mam Noki and Charlie. I left the office in a hurry – kasi we had a global visitor who arrived and we had a full day activity. Buti na lang I managed to get away. I got to the airport at around 5 pm, still working on the way. Haha. This was my first international trip via T3 and Cebu Pacific. And my second with Jeff. It took us awhile to check-in due to excess baggage. Haha. We were scrimping and did not avail of the baggage. Ayan tuloy. Katie and Mam Noki had to move around their stuff in their luggage.

We had a quick dinner at San Mig Food Ave just before boarding, since the flight didn’t come with any meals. However, while they served different dishes, they all looked the same. So I settled for a Smokey’s hotdog.

After a 3 hour flight it was touchdown Siem Reap! First impression was is this an airport? or resort/spa? It was really cool kasi upon arrival you had a taste of their culture agad. Even their arrival cards spelled Cambodia all over.

Outside the airport we met with our sundo and we had our first tuk tuk ride! We sped by a lot of grand hotels on our way to the guesthouse. And these were not the usual hotels you’d see in Manila, but they actually looked like temples haha. 

We finally got to our guesthouse and we were welcomed with a fruit shake made from bananas and pineapple. Nice, refreshing drink to end the day. :)

February 1, 2013

Nothing like starting a new month in a different country!

We arranged to see the sunrise at Angkor Wat so we got up early for it. Jeff and I woke up later than planned though so all we could do was change clothes. No showers until later. Hehe.

We had a bit of a spooky tuk-tuk ride since it was still pretty dark and we had to thru a park filled with trees and barely lit. Interestingly enough there were a lot of tourists who rode bikes and they seemed to be headed in the same direction as we were.

We stopped by what seemed like a ticket booth and we got our temple passes which even had our photos on it. We had a choice whether we wanted either a 1, 3 or 7-day pass. Since 1 day is too short and we weren’t staying too long to avail of the 7 day pass, we availed of the 3 day pass na. To get to Angkor Wat we had to ride the tuk-tuk again. It was still quite dark when we got to the entrance so we had to rely on our guide for the way. A flashlight would have been handy hehe.

When we got to the inner yard closer to the temples, we noticed that a crowd had already started to gather across the lake, waiting for the sunrise. One thing’s for sure Angkor Wat was beeeeaaaauuutttiiiiiifuuuuull!

Perfect place to be at sunrise. We didn’t go exploring the insides just yet, I think it was better explored on a later time. 

So after spending more than the initially planned amount of time in the complex since we enjoyed ourselves too much taking photos and all, we finally headed back to the guesthouse for breakfast.

The guesthouse served pretty sulit breakfast meals. We had a choice of whether to get a noodle soup or dry noodles and it can come with either beef, pork or chicken. For those who prefer an American breakfast they had eggs and French bread naman. All their meals came with hot/cold tea and creatively-cut fruits.

Since we’ve had quite a morning already, we arranged for our tour to resume at noon and did some exploring on our own. Exploring = in search for the nearest KFC branch. It’s not that we didn’t like our breakfast, I think someone just started craving for it and so there we set off.

We had to ask several times for directions, but we finally found it along Sivutha Boulevard. it was always interesting to see how consistent international fast food chains were in terms of how they cook their well-known dishes. turns out it really varies.

For one, their original recipe chicken was crunchier than usual. Also, the meals don't come with gravy but rather with a sweet/chili sauce. You had to buy gravy if you would prefer to have that with chicken.

There was an interesting sight too outside KFC, when a monk stopped outside seemingly expecting alms. I'm not sure if they regularly do this, but I didn't notice anyone from the store giving him food.

As we walked back to the guesthouse, we passed by a number of stores selling bags/wallets made from crocodile skin. it was quite pricey though so we just took photos with their crocodile displays hehe

We realized the route we took this time was easier pala. For what it's worth, at least our exploration, albeit lengthier helped us locate the night market naman.

When we reached the guesthouse, our guides were already waiting for us and off we went for our afternoon tour. Quick stop at a water lily filled lake (which we didn't bother going down for, haha.)

Next stop was Ton Le Sap Lake. The original plan was to go on a tour of the community that resides on the lake; however we opted to skip since there was really nothing more to see naman daw and the place was really a tourist trap and was known for scammers.

next was a quick stop on a hill with an adorned stairway. I wasn't too sure what it was--I couldn't find anything about it too when I googled it, but the inscription read: Wat Knang Phnon Kron

we didn't stay too long because of the blistering heat, so we made our way na to our next stop: The War Museum

I expected something similar to the War Remnants' Museum that Jeff and I went to in HCM, but it turned out to be more like a backyard filled with trees and with war items displayed all over. we had a guide who turned out to be a survivor from the Vietnam war. it was interesting to hear his personal experience and I was relieved to see that the exhibit wasn't as tragic as the one in HCM.

Jeff is into history and war and guns so this was like a paradise for him. the boys obviously had a great time playing around with the weapons.

like the HCM museum, it also had tanks and planes and choppers from the war. the museum also had a minefield display which helped visitors visualize better the danger that folks before had to endure.

am sure glad we're living at better times.

since we started the day with sunrise at Angkor Wat it was just fitting to end the day in one of temples too.

next up: back at the complex in time for sunset. first one was Baksei Chamkrong - though we only got to see it from afar. we moved further up the hill to reach the next shrine: Phnom Bakheng. this entailed more climbing to get to the top. we stayed a bit at the top up until it started to get more crowded. we missed seeing the actual sunset from way up but we saw it naman on our way down

what was interesting, I have to say is how they are actually rebuilding/reconstucting parts of the temples piece by piece. they even had labels for each stone so they know exactly where to put them back. I sure would want to go back here once they've rebuilt the whole thing.

not bad for our first full day. liked what I saw so far and looking forward to the next sites we'll visit the next day.

just before heading back to the guesthouse, Jeff, Katie and I requested to do a quick unplanned stop. it turned out to be the Wat Thmey temple. which was once the "Killing Field" pala. I never got to saw that movie, but Jeff went on and on about it and I made a mental note to watch it when we get back.

medyo eerie lang yung place kasi they even had skulls encased in a small pagoda

that officially ended our first day tour in Siem Reap. but of course we still had the night to explore the city.

we followed the route we had on our way back from KFC and went to the Night Market. before  going around we ate at the Triangle BBQ Bar which was just on the corner of the street.

with full tummies, we headed to Pub Street and had a quick dessert fix at the Blue Pumpkin. it was a pastry/ice cream place and they had a huge white couch that you could practically sleep on. hassle lang kasi it was too white. I wonder how often they change the sheets. hehe. we then checked the shops along Alley West and that has got to be my most favorite eskenita ever. (bottom right corner)

quite an exciting albeit tiring day and that was just the beginning of our adventure. more details on the rest of the trip on my next post. (hoping I get to complete it soon!)