28 April 2014
Started our day by having breakfast 7past am at the hotel although we woke up early just to prep up probably around 530am. Their dining area is located downstairs by the pool. Not many people at the breakfast bar except for the one Chinese family who came in ahead of us. Boy it was hot every time we go out of our hotel room. The gush of warm air is quite unusual. Anyways, we suit ourselves with whatever looked delectable at the breakfast bar. We grabbed some fruits, jams, scrambled eggs, croissant, juice and coffee although no creamer? and why is that? i don't know. The fried rice was good and a must try. We were a li'l shy to eat a lot as there's not much food at the bar anyways hehe. I even saw a gecko lurking amongst the breads but i did not notify the cooks and kitchen personnels because they might relocate the poor fella. He might've found a cooler spot at the bread tray. Respect for all living creatures please, they also need to sleep. We also saw a kitten roaming around. It was a good meal although we weren't able to appreciate it that much because of jet lag and fatigue from the flight.
We headed downstairs for the most awaited Ankor Classic One Day Tour! The girl at the front desk introduced us to our male tour guide. We thought we'll have a Tuk-tuk or a shuttle van but thank god it was a vintage air-conditioned car. We hopped on and on our way to the Angkor Temples our guide oriented us with the khmer culture. He was english speaking but as usual it's their local twang i guess made it difficult for us to understand him.
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| Angkor One Day Pass at $20 |
Angkor Wat was huge and it was built by the King to honor Hinduism. Every temple there was pretty much built for the purpose of Religion of course. A lot about Hindu Gods like Shiva, Krishna which i've heard about before due to my fascination with Hinduism as a teenager, King's having concubines and stuff. We also learned that an Apsara Dancer is to perform in front of the King to become his concubine and the fairest of them all gets picked. |
| South Gate - Angkor Thom |
Our tour guide is very knowledgeable having double college majors and a masteral. He studied in Phom Penh and we learned that people in Cambodia spend their primary and intermediate schooling in Siem Reap then move to Phnom Penh for college then for some they find a job as a tourist guide in Siem Reap. Khmer history is quite complex so we did not dare ask for details any further because the heat at the temples is a killer.
Fast forward. We went to seven temples if am not mistaken but failed to remember all the names as the heat is unbearable making my memory tired to retain tons of things.
After Angkor Wat, we went to Bayon Temple, Matikday, Angkor Thom, Ta Phrom and sorry i forgot the names of the rest but was able to take a lot of photos.We had lunch
first at this fine dining resto called Khmer's Kitchen and our tour guide left us there while himself and our driver ate somewhere. I noticed that mostly Caucasians and tourists dine in there so i expected the food cost would be a little higher than the one's outside. But then, what the heck, i guess it's the best resto around.
We had their spicy chicken meal but failed to take note what it's called ahehe. We paired it with some diet coke as well. It's kinda spicy but my sister and i liked it as we love spicy foods even back home. what a gastronomic experience away from home!
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| Cambodian Riel |
We headed next to Ta Phrom where the infamous Tomb Raider movie starred by Angelina Jolie was shot so just imagine how everyone wanted to have their photo taken with the gigantic ginger-like tree! We did too and we won't let the tour pass without a photo from the celebrity tree with roots branching out here and there! it was amazing really. I never thought trees like that could withstand centuries. The trees look old yet still seemed sturdy.
We also learned that Cambodia is rain stricken but not earthquake stricken. They have century old temples and if they crumble the folks there will lose their income since tourism is their major source of livelihood. Cambodia is not as developed as the neighbouring countries in South East Asia sad to say because they barely use their own currency. US dollars is the major currency used in Cambodia. Any change less than a dollar, that's the only time they use riel.
We were both exhausted and what more for our tour guide so we can't complain. He was a nice guy and I think he's working really hard because he mentioned that he's getting married. Well, marriage must cost that much in Cambodia eh. I just don't understand why they have to wear formal clothing during tours so I told him to wear sneakers because the too many walks and stones at the temple could hurt the feet. He said something about sneakers hurting his feet more than leather shoes and then the rest i wasn't able to understand ahehe. Oh what a day! Exhausting yet the memories will surely linger and at no cost I will bring home with me.
We longed for the AC so we had it at full blast as soon as we went back to our hotel room. We had shower and chill for a few hours then later on decided to head off to the nearest supermarket to buy more bottled water and food. This is what we usually do when staying at a hotel, buy stuff at the supermarket instead of room service to avoid spending too much since shopping for souvenirs is our priority ;)
We then decided as well to buy our pasalubong (souvenir items) that same aftie so that we don't have to go out the next day and just stay at the hotel and rest for our evening flight.
This is the funny part. I asked the frontdesk for the nearest supermarket, he said 'Lo-ki-Mo' so I told the tuk-tuk driver the same and he understood it. As soon as we got there I then realized it was 'Lucky Mall' haha! My sister said that's why she was surprised why i said Lo-ki-Mo instead of Lucky Mall and that she thought i was bluffing! How odd of me mimicking them unintentionally though ahehe. It wasn't my intention really but they really didn't mind though.
By the way before we left the hotel we made arrangements with the tuk-tuk driver regarding how much we pay for the ride to Lucky Mall and the wet market. We agreed $5, he took us to Lucky Mall and the wet market which was eventually not yet open since we got there around 5pm (too early). Wet market opens at 6pm onwards in real life. He instead drove us off to Pub Street where you can also find tons of souvenir items.
We bought a lot of items such as fridge magnets for $1 a piece, $5-$6 for a set of keychains (6pcs) and set of nailcutters with intricate designs (6pcs as well), coin purses for $6 too, few tees at $4 each or a set for $14 (4 t-shirts), pashminas $5 each we bought 4pcs and a small luggage bag to store them all for a haggled price at $23 although t'was still expensive :(
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| khmer stir fry chicken noodles |
We had chicken stir fry noodles later on as we're starving for $3.50 which i found quite pricey plus this bottled iced tea for $1. The cheapest you could pay for in Siem Reap or Cambodia in general is $1 mind you unless you go to the supermarket.
Our tuk-tuk driver waited for us at Pub Street and eventually fell asleep on his tuk-tuk. We agreed at 1 hour but i think we exceeded an hour shopping geez. Nevertheless, he only charged us $5 which was not bad at all. He then took us back to Ankoriana Hotel and that's when we handed him the five bucks.
It's really true a dollar will go a long way in Cambodia and maybe good enough to feed a family for a day based on what i have read before from bloggers like myself. They literally beg for tourist to rent their tuk-tuk during your stay because money is tough in Cambodia hadn't for tourists.
As per our tourist guide poverty is rampant in Cambodia because of corruption in the govenment which is the same back home anyways. Corruption is blatant on Third world countries long before.
As per our tourist guide poverty is rampant in Cambodia because of corruption in the govenment which is the same back home anyways. Corruption is blatant on Third world countries long before.
We also got curious and asked how come khmer language sounds alike with thai. Our tour guide said khmer and thai is completely different from each other alhough there's a slight simillarity. We figured that they sound alike it's cuz vietnam, thai and cambodia are close neighbors.
Modes of Transportation in Siem Reap:
Primarily tuk-tuks, bicycles and very few cars so no traffic.
T'was a looong day. We got busy as soon as we got to our hotel room again uploading and editing photos we took from the Angkor Tour. We barely had meals honestly because the heat outside will exhaust you making you tired yet not hungry. Shower is the best thing.
Just a quick run down regarding how much we spent today:
• 48$ each (Angkor 1 Day Classic Tour - we decided to cash it out so the hotel could pay the tour company ahead of time; optional to pay ahead or upon check out)
• $10 tip to our khmer tourguide
• 7.50$ lunch at khmers kitchen; chicken spicy food
• $1.5 (water bottles and a fan for the scotching almost no air heat)
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| souvenir items starts at $1 |
• lucky mall supermarket 5.70$ grocery cost
• tuk-tuk driver $5 hotel to lucky mall- pub street - back to hotel
• Dinner - asian stir fry noodles $3.50 & 1$ for bottled iced tea
• Souvenir items which we spent roughly 25$ each
I know we spent much it's cuz we have to buy everything we need in just one day so we can just rest the next day.
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