Title: Siem Reap Last Episode
Starring: Sylviaorange, Lucyriver and Wee
Camera: Lucyriver and Sylviaorange
Director: Lucyriver
Our tuk tuk which has been working hard in ferrying us around Siem Reap.
Our tuk tuk driver, Pilot.
Siem Reap worth all the sore, blisters and sunburn. After returning home, the images of the temples will be lingering in mind. Plus, after reading the book of Ancient Angkor, Lucyriver realize that there are things that we had missed and overlooked. The next time we are to be there, Lucyriver promise that there will be no camera. Just the heart of wanting to savour the whole magnificent temple city with eyes.
On the other hand, seeing some of the poverty especially of young children having to work to support their life and family really tears your heart out. The thought of not being able to go to school is unbearable. Hopefully in coming time, Cambodia would become a much better place.
All the time we were in Siem Reap, we met all kind of people. Perhaps due to differences in culture and understanding of context, we get to experience some amusing performances of the locals and even the foreigners as well.
If it's something heart-fluttering, we keep it in our heart.
If it's something heart-clenching, we throw it far away and forget it.
Goodbye , Angkor Wat. We hope you will stand strong to meet us again.
Title: Siem Reap Episode Two
Starring: Sylviaorange, Lucyriver and Wee
Camera: Lucyriver and Sylviaorange
Director: Lucyriver
Woke up at 0400 to get ready to watch our first sunrise in Siem Reap. Braving ourselves to the cold water (the heater was still sleeping), we really hope that it worth the sacrifice.
Our CAR driver was already waiting the moment we stepped down from the guesthouse. Without hesitation, we got into the car and set off to our destination.
The moment we arrived, sylviaorange voiced out her puzzlement at where we were. The driver told us that it was Angkor Wat. We were supposed to see sunrise in Srah Srang as planned. He told us that we wouldn't be able to see any sunrise there as it would be blocked by the many trees. Although dissatisfied, we got off anyway.
There were tourist police checking passes at the entrance to Angkor Wat. Torchlight was extremely helpful at that moment as it was quite dark. If you don't have one, trail behind someone who has. It was quite a walk to the lake with uneven steps.
People were already crowded and armed with tripods around the pond as we reached there. We found ourselves a spot and started to experimenting with our camera. It was frustrating at first as pictures taken were mostly blurred.
Clouds hung thick in the sky. The sun had long arisen yet we still couldn't see the sun. It was rather a let down.
We were thinking perhaps the condition would be better in Srah Srang. It was definitely not a good morning to start with.
We returned to the guesthouse for breakfast before departing for Kbal Spean which is located 49 km from Siem Reap. It was a long journey and halfway the road was covered in red dusty soil. It was so thick that the moment vehicles like car or lorry passing by, the whole vision is dimmed by the gushing soil.
Kbal Spean is more like a trekking jungle. To reach the river, we trekked 1500 m uphill among the trees. There were signs along the track indicating our level of heights which could serve as motivation (not a long way to go) or de-motivation (still a long way to go).
You can see carvings on the stones in the river, depicting Buddhist images or....
Carvings of lingas (phallic symbol), dedicated to Shiva or...
Just marvelling at the wondrous waterfall.
Charlie's Angel at mission - capturing the sand shadows.
Upon close inspection, the sand is twinkling like diamonds. If only it is as precious as the gems, Cambodia would be rich.
Eateries at the foothill. Kbal Spean is worth visiting and might be interesting if you have a guide with you as sometimes you might not be sure of the path to be taken in the jungle.
We proceeded to Banteay Srey, 37 km from Siem Reap. Srey means woman/women in Khmer. The temple is graced with some delicate carvings.
Walking in from the entrance.
Delicated and detailed carvings on the lintel.
Tiny green survivors among the bricks.
Outside the temple, there were a row of souvenir stalls.
A beautiful 'puppet doll'.
Paintings of mostly sunrise or sunset of the ever famous Angkor Wat.
Our lunch : top left - chicken with black pepper and garlic and morning glory with other veggies. Take note; morning glory is not flower. It is "kangkung'. Perhaps the kangkung flowers look like morning glory, thus the name.
In order to visit Beng Mealea, you need to pay USD5. It is a temple in its most 'virgin' state as she hasn't been touched by intense restoration. She is still in a pile of mess.
Cubes of stones are piling everywhere around the temple. In order to venture around the temple, you need to really climb upon the piling stones and going up and down.
Dried leaves scattering among the roots.
We were just going around on the ground when a 'guide' approached us and leaded us up the track.
It was totally different compared to other temples as we were practically 'walking' on the piling stones the whole visiting. We were clambering and jumping from stone to stone among the narrow passage ways.
Lotus on the door.
Dancing apsara.
The temple has long intertwined itself with the nature.
Lucyriver would really like to see how does the temple look like when it was still standing proudly indestructible in the olden days.
Beng Mealea is also letting in very little light as it is surrounded by dense trees. Hence, you will be feeling like you are exploring and searching for the lost temple.
The pig and the cat, riding on the strong root tree.
Lotus pond at the entrance to Beng Mealea.
A boy posing for Lucyriver, holding his kite high.
Our car, Toyota Camry. We paid USD70 for it. Therefore we wanted to utilize it to the fullest.
After Beng Mealea, we were told by the driver that we were going back to the guesthouse. Wee retorted by saying that it was still very early. And we were supposed to cover Banteay Samre as well. The driver said that Banteay Samre was off the route. Bullshit. He was not following our plan.
We kept quiet the whole journey from then on. He dropped us at some of the temples in Roluos. We walked around just to pass the time as our mood was really completely tainted.
Children asking for donation for school. They greeted us in Mandarin - ni hao and xie xie.
With dampened mood, we went for our dinner, a real early dinner as our driver wanted to go home at 1700. It was definitely spoiling our day, with no sunset at Pre Rup.
After dinner, we paid USD1 to get a tuk tuk back to the guesthouse. Mad, mad.
Sylviaorange replanning our itinerary.
We had missed Srah Srang, Banteay Samre and Pre Rup today. It would be difficult to squeeze it into our next two days. We thought a car would help us to go faster but it turned out the other way.
Title: Siem Reap Episode One
Starring: Sylviaorange, Lucyriver and Wee
Camera: Lucyriver and Sylviaorange
Director: Lucyriver
Our plane landed in Siem Reap International Airport at 0800 local time. Cambodia is an hour behind Malaysia. However, we didn't adjust our watch therefore there were a few times we confused ourselves with the time. Take extra note when setting the alarm clock. You don't want to wake up and discover that you could have slept for another hour.
Visa is not required for Malaysian, therefore we were whisked swiftly out of the airport and greeted us were the shinning sun and cold wind. It is cool and dry in December. Our eyes started to ventured around the so many people standing there holding placards with names. We had pre-arranged with our guesthouse for pick up.
What greeted us was not only our guesthouse's tuk tuk driver but another person holding sylviaorange's name. He was the driver that we had contacted earlier for price information but no confirmation as we had confirmed with another driver instead. That was the first surprise - just one e-mail inquiring prices is enough to book/confirm you a driver. No further confirmation is needed.
Our tuk tuk driver driving out of the airport with us and our luggage.
There was no scary feeling in the tuk tuk, everything is so 'open'. Instead we were fascinated by the sights of Siem Reap. The environment is so flat either from above the plane or on the land. No tall buildings in sight. Tuk tuk is everywhere. Driving is on the right hand side.
Our Bou Savy guesthouse is located off the main road. Therefore, it was quiet at night. As soon as we got off, our luggage were taken and we were ushered into our room at the top. Our triple room, USD 18 a night.
Pink curtains adorn the room, well, modest enough for us to get our beauty sleep. It was an air-conditioned room with fan, mini fridge and washroom. F0r more information, check out their website, http://www.bousavyguesthouse.com
Surprise number two - For the fan, number one is the fastest going slower till number five is the slowest - as surveyed by Wee who initially thought number one is the slowest where she almost ripped off people's fan.
And surprise number three - slits on the washroom door where we cleverly hung a towel over it during our stay. The housekeepers removed it the next day and we rehung it. And it was kept there from then on. They may have got the idea why. We thought our door is the unique one. On subsequent 'exploration', other rooms are unique too.
This is our welcome drink, mixed fruit drink. It was too 'banana'. One small bottle of mineral water is provided every day for everyone. Room is also being made every day.
No deposit was asked for registration. Sylviaorange just needed to fill a form, that's all. Free maps and guidebooks can be obtained at the guesthouse.
Our confirmed driver was supposed to meet us at 0930. We waited till past 1000. No shadow to be seen. In the end, we ended up with Pilot, the tuk tuk driver who picked us up from the airport.
Our first destination is Tonle Sap Lake. The guesthouse provided us with a guide, Sina to help us to buy tickets. According to them, this way is cheaper, USD12.
The journey to the lake was a bumpy ride as we hadn't get used to the tuk tuk. Traffic was a chaos, though drivers seemed to be able to zoom their way in and out smoothly.
However, the scenery at both sides of the road was very fascinating. From rows of houses on land, changing to the green fields till stilts of houses at the lake.
In the tuk-tuk waiting for Sina to purchase the tickets.
The boat carried just four of us with little sailors navigating the 'ship'.
Rows of stilted houses along the bank.
A floating chapel.
A floating school.
A floating basketball court.
One of the little sailors, preparing for docking to a floating souvenir shop .
Crocodiles under the house.
Sina threw a plateful of small fish and it created this effect of splashing fish.
Sylviaorange said she must have a mug of Angkor beer before leaving.
A bunch of tourists taking a dip in the water.
A little girl navigating her 'ship'. Her cargo? A little boy in green shirt behind her, out of lens.
Water is for daily cleaning.
A boy scooping water out of his 'ship'.
After touring the lake, we landed ourselves at the Old Market. Time was running short as we were having our lunch there too. We only managed to grabbed some decorative magnets and browsed some of the shops in a flash.
Our first lunch in Siem Reap at the Khmer Kitchen which is located just opposite the Old Market.
After lunch, we went to the Cambodian Cultural Village. It is just located at the road side. We already seen it when coming from the airport. Ticket price is USD11, used to be USD9.
Musicians playing chinese musical intruments? Sylviaorange said that the second from the left guy is good looking. Lucyriver said the guy playing the yang qin is more good looking.
This cute little girl was sitting in front of us when we were watching the Khmer Wedding Ceremony. She looked so pensive at that time that she didn't give a damn to a twenty something guy sitting beside her who was trying to flirt with her.
The bride is the one holding the umbrella. The whole wedding were conducted in Khmer so we just presumed that the couple facing each other are the parents. Too young to be parents? So, the 'mother' was eating a banana and then discovered a ring in it, hahaha and later the 'father' did the same.
The bride was washing the feet of the bridegroom.
The bridegroom and the bride. Sylviaorange commented on the bridegroom looking like Mr. Bean. Lucyriver totally agreed.
Fancy having this in your home? The ingredients are morning glory (blue), allamanda (yellow), bougainvillea (pink) jasmine (white) and lantana (deep yellow) and voila, beautiful floating potpourri of flowers.
For us, the Cambodian Cultural Village was not up to our expectations. It was quite boring. Perhaps it was due to us visiting in the afternoon and walking under the hot sun. Should be interesting if we really explore the area and going deep into the variety of houses. Some extra note, you will also see statues of elephants, king kong and even the man of steel.
There are various shows at various time and location according to the schedule. If you wish to watch most of the shows, it will take quite a time in there.
As there were still little time, Pilot took us to the killing field but nothing much to see there. There was a glass monument where skulls and bones are piled in it. If you got a guide with you, you will understand better about the whole thing.
Our last destination for today was Bakheng to watch sunset. You will need a pass to enter the temples or park as tourist police will be placed at the entrance checking passes. We bought a three-day pass, USD40. Photo was taken at the spot and printed on the pass. It was a rather 'fragile' paper where for the next three days we guarded it with all our heart.
If interested, you can also go for the air balloon trip to see the sunset. It was in our plan before but we dropped it when we arrived there. Just not in the mood for it.
To go up to Bakheng, we walked a distance of uphill road. People were everywhere, old and young, trekking up the road to see the sunset. Sylviaorange was like wind, swishing left and right. Lucyriver was worried of losing track of her. It really forced Lucyriver to push to the limit. Must remember to exercise after this trip.
Upon reaching the temple, we still need to 'crawl' up the stairs to the top.
Crowds of people were everywhere snapping the glorious moment of the sunset.
Extra careful steps must be taken when ascending or descending the stairs as it takes just one ball to get the whole balls rolling down, hehehe.
The sunset was beautiful, just that it was so impossible to get a picture without a head in it. As soon as the sun set, it was getting dark and we made a quick move in getting down. Little children pursued us to get us to buy something. Just one look at them or the things that they are selling, they will glue to you.
We bought the book 'Ancient Angkor', USD5.
In watching the sunset, Lucyriver had the most gruesome exercise of legs. Will Lucyriver be able to make it to all the temples in the next three days? Read on.
The night view of Angkor Wat, picture taken across the lake.
CLockwise from the top left: Amok Beef, Spring Rolls and Amok Fish. The Amok fish tastes quite nice, very mild. No spicy flavour is detected.
Our tuk tuk which has been working hard in ferrying us around Siem Reap.
Our tuk tuk driver, Pilot.
Siem Reap worth all the sore, blisters and sunburn. After returning home, the images of the temples will be lingering in mind. Plus, after reading the book of Ancient Angkor, Lucyriver realize that there are things that we had missed and overlooked. The next time we are to be there, Lucyriver promise that there will be no camera. Just the heart of wanting to savour the whole magnificent temple city with eyes.
