SHIR.ley.: My Siem Reap Trip 2015

Happy Malaysia Day! So happy that today is a public holiday, because I can sleep as much as I can and be lazy for whole day long. I feel so relax and I have no plan in mind. Laying in bed as long as I want, swiping phone until I was bored. Ahh, day like this is a gift, a luxury to me. Then I thought maybe I should blog today. I went to Siem Reap 3 weeks ago, I have so much thoughts and feelings after that. I have a strong urge to blog about this trip because it is a meaningful trip to me. Since I am so free today, let's complete my Siem Reap post today.

A couple of months ago, I knew that I gonna have a day of public holiday on Malaysia National Day, so I started to plan my holiday. Next question came to my mind was 'where to go?' Which destination is good for a short trip and not so expensive. I browsed through Airasia's list over and over again and finally I decided to choose Siem Reap. After I bought the ticket, I started to share with my friends about it. However, there were so many negative comments about it. 'Siem Reap is damn boring!, 'Oh Siem Reap.. temple, temple and temples...', 'You gonna die melting, it is super hot over there!, 'It's shit Shirley, the place smell like shit!', 'You will regret, trust me!'.... I was like.... =( ..... Really? It's quite demotivating, but I tried to be positive. Angkor Wat is one of the 7 Wonders of the World, I am sure there must be something great for it to earn that title.

The negative comments did not stop me, I continued my preparation by searching for hotel, tour guide, etc. After gathering information from agoda, tripadvisor and reading blogs, I am so proud of myself that I found a good hotel and tour guide. I am so excited and I gonna share with you the reasons why I am so proud about it.

The hotel I booked is named Chez Moi Suite & Spa, you can refer to the hotel's photos below. I guess it's easier if I list down the good things they offer:

-Free pick up from and drop off to airport.

-Free breakfast everyday for two.

-Free wifi

-Free laundry everyday

-Free 1 hour massage in hotel room for two 'everyday'

-Unlimited Free ride to city (Pubstreet)

*Oh WOW~*

Guess what, the rate is RM117 per night only! =D *Proud* The only disadvantage is the city is not in walking distance from hotel, however 'free shuttle service' has solved this problem. Overall, it is good. ^.^

First Selfie at Siem Reap.

The entrance of the hotel.

The first impression is good. =)

It is actually like a small boutique hotel renovated from a maison.

The welcome drink and wet towel.

The swimming pool.

The room is good. =)

Complimentary tropical fruits in room.

Have you noticed something??

There is no door at the bathroom!!

Oh NO!

After brainstorming in front of the bathroom for 10 minutes,

we squeezed our creativity and Ta-Daaaa....!!

Proudly present the sliding door made by tower, kimono, chair and decorative stair.

Hahahahha!!

The breakfast I had for 3 continuous morning.

There were a few options in the menu, but I like this one and I stick with it. =D

#selfie #breakfast #girlsbeinggirls ....Lolx...

The free pick up from airport to hotel =.=

It was a bit out of expectation actually.

The journey took 20 minutes, it was quite dusty and hot.

But, good experience thou!!

The tour guide I engaged is named Raman, he is from Asean Angkor Guide. After comparing the fee quoted from a few guides, the fee Raman offered was the most wallet friendly. We met Raman on the second day of the trip, he was being very professional throughout the trip. He can speak very fluent English and he is very friendly. One thing I must mention is that Raman is a very good photographer, he knows which is the best spot to take good photo and he helped to take many nice photos! Other than giving us detail explanation, we were surprised by the unlimited cold wet tissue and chilled mineral water provided. Imagine us walking under extremely hot weather, we were sweating so much and our body were sticky. Gosh, air-con, wet tissue and cold water are literally the best things in the world! Besides, Raman also shared about the economy, politics and life in Cambodia. There was one thing Raman did and it touched my heart. On the last night in Siem Reap, we requested him to bring us to try local food. The food was delicious and the price was very cheap. During the dinner, I asked Raman to eat more but he just ate very little of the food. He said he wanted to 'save the space of his stomach' for the dinner prepared by his wife. He then said his wife will prepare breakfast for him no matter how early he has to wake up, and she will prepare dinner and wait for him every night no matter how late he comes home. So he must go home to eat everyday, so that his wife will not get angry. But I know he just doesn't want to let his wife down for the effort she put in. I was like 'Waw...That was the sweetest thing I have ever heard. Their love is simple and I saw the appreciation from Raman to his wife. I was thinking..back in our place, people take things for granted. How many of us really feel grateful and show it to the person who loves us?

This is Raman, our guide for 2 days.

We were at Siem Reap on the day of Rally Bersih 4.0,

I purposely brought the yellow shirt to Siem Reap to show our support. XD

See what I found!

Raman posted our photo on his Facebook too!!

I was joking with him that he should initiate Cambodia version of Bersih too!

I proposed to him to choose purple color. Hahahaha!

This is Raman's car.

It is clean and most importantly the aircon is very cold.

You know we were melting under the 40+ degree of hot weather.

The humidity is 70%.

If you don't know what I mean, for your information:

the humidity in Penang is only 30% and the weather here is averagely around 30+ degree.

Can you feel me?

These were the local food that recommended by Raman.

The dish with bread, we called it as 'Cambodia Subway'.

The other two is quite similar to our food,

they are beef fried rice and seafood fried noodle.

All are delicious! Yum~

Basically, I can summarize my itinerary to 3 parts: Pub Street, Tonle Sap Lake, Temples.

The first day when we arrived at Siem Reap, we just walked around Pub Street. We went to the morning market and night market next to Pub Street. We went to Pub Street for dinner and drinks every night. Nothing much to do here, what could we do there were buying souvenir, having massage, food and drinks. All the things they sold were repetitive. What made me so excited was everything were cheap there. For example, the batik pants I bought was only $3, massage for an hour for $3 and you can find the cheapest beer at $1.50. =D I could see that everyone was wearing the same pants as I walked on street, just with different printings and colors. Lol!

When we just arrived at the outside of morning market.

The coconut seller.

In the morning market.

The market area.

The food area in the morning market.

The accessories area.

The $3 one hour massage.

We came back to the same massage shop everyday because we were lazy to bargain for the price with other shop. The workers at this shop can recognise us just after the second time we went. =D

The nail polish that only looked good for the first few hours.

My nails looked like shit on the next day.

#$4

He said he is 16 years old, but I feel he is only 13 years old.

*What was I doing when I was at his age.*

Seriously, so much feeling...

The hot weather was seriously killing me.

I need something cold to cool myself down.

Chocolate almond ice blended from a Korean dessert stall.

Bicycle made of bamboo.

This is cool.

Incredible handmade card selling at night market.

One of the favourite things I bought for myself: Handmade card.

Love this.~

Anyone want some snail?

How about snake and insect?? =.=

The first Khmer meal we tried.

Cambodian BBQ is one of the must try food there.

From the menu, there were 7 kind of meats, which include chicken, squid,

crocodile, dog and some name of fishes that I have never heard in my life. >.<

At the end, we changed all the weird meat to chicken, fish and squid.

Pub Street.

Cambodia traditional music performance.

Selfie again.

Cocktail at Pub Street.

We found this lovely café called Yellow Mango Café on the last day of our trip.

Love the western-Japanese modern design of this café.

We also visited the Artisans Angkor. This is an amazing place where it is a workshop providing a platform for youth, disable and the poor to learn art skills and also job opportunities to them. This workshop produces all kind of art souvenirs such as paintings, drawings on silk, wood carvings, etc.

Silk machine.

Where silk comes from: cocoon

Closer look at the cocoon.

Drawing on silk.

Clay art.

Clay bowl in making.

The amazing wood carving skill.

They are communicating by signing

The basic signs.

Here is another one.

I still remember we went to Tonle Sap Lake on the second day. This is the biggest lake in South East Asia and 1.2 million of people are relying on it for living. Along the way, there are many stilt houses and boat houses. The lake is located on the northern lake-edge about 45 Km of Siem Reap Town. It is a remote area dotted with wooden houses on 10-meter tall stilts, surrounded by water in the wet season and on the flood plains of the lake in the dry season. According to our tour guide Raman, some of them do not have electricity in their house. The toilet is built outside of the house and the waste and rubbish will be thrown into the lake. At the same time, they consume the water from the lake for drinking water, cooking, washing their dishes and clothes. Most of them do not have the opportunity to go to school and to them, education is not important as they can't even have enough food for a day. I felt a deep sympathy for them. I will never forget one thing that Raman told me, he said he wishes to travel to overseas too, but before that he really need to work very hard first. It just a simple statement but I know it is so difficult to achieve it. At that moment, I really thought we as a Malaysian have so much thing to be grateful for.

After 1.5 hours journey from Siem Reap, we were there, finally!

Scary stairs going down to take boat.

We paid $20 per person for the boat ride.

Tour guide showing me the lake on the map.

Stilt houses along Tonle Sap lake.

This looks like a rich man's stilt house.

The temple.

Look at the stairs, do you dare to go up?

Kinda scary..... @.@

The moving school.

Saw a kid easily travel from one house to another.

One of the villagers who is staying in a boat washing the dishes outside her house.

The life here.

Middle of the lake.

Walking along the village next to the lake.

We found a primary school outside the village, so we decided to take a look inside.

A very simple classroom.

I only noticed the bamboo stick T.T

Some students were having discussion.

Kids are taught how to greet people.

The most innocent smiles. So cute. =)

The next day was the highlight of the trip. Yay, Angkor Wat! We departed at around 4am early in the morning for the sunrise at Angkor Wat. Although it was cloudy that day but still the view was not too bad thou. The itinerary of the day was watching sunrise, Taprohm Temple, Bayon Temple then Angkor Wat. I was simply blown away by all the things I saw on that day, simply amazing. I am truly impressed with the determination and creativity of ancient people. Angkor Wat was built between 1113 to 1150, it was 865 years ago! There are totally no nail, nothing to join the structure. The whole temple were built from big stones resting on one another. The most impressive part that every piece of the wall is finely carved with stories. How did they do it??? Simply amazing. After listening to the history and explanation of the stories from the wall carving, I was simply speechless. My feeling was beyond words can describe.

My pass for temple visit.

P/s: I looked fat. =.=

We went to buy the pass, a day before the visit.

So happy that I was able to take a nice pic with Angkor Wat.

Credit to my tour guide.

Panorama pic suggested by tour guide.

So creative!

Waiting for sunrise in front of Angkor Wat in early morning.

One of the most beautiful things I have seen in my life.

Definitely worth to wake up at 4am.

We were so lucky to see a lovely Cambodian couple taking pre-wedding photos there.

Cute car. =)

Amazing Taprohm Temple.

A big tree growing on the temple.

Thanks to my tour guide for telling me which is the best spot to take good photo.

I found art in every angle.

Selfie before entering the Bayon Temple.

Elephant ride outside of Bayon Temple.

Bayon Temple has 54 Buddha Towers and 200 faces. So impressive!

Wondering how they carve the face.

One of my favourite photos at Bayon Temple.

When we past by this tower, I saw there were many tourist climbed up to the top to take photo.

I wanted to take those photos too! But, when I saw the stairs, I pulled back. Haha..

There stairs were so stiff and narrow. ~.~

But I told myself, if I don't do it today, I probably won't do it again.

Because I will hardly visit the same place again.

Therefore, I decided to do it.

For a moment, I really wanted to give up because it was really very dangerous.

Then, my friend gave up.

I hesitated for a while then I decided to continue until I reached the top.

Yeah! I made it!

I feel so happy because I didn't give up at half way.

This was the most memorable moment of this trip.

I am glad that I did it.

Raman was showing us how the ancient people move the stone during construction.

The giant foot outside of Angkor Wat.

Angkor Wat was full with tourists.

Simply beautiful.

The majestic Angkor Wat.

Monks.

Can you imagine how much effort and how long they used to carve every piece of wall like this?

From this wall carving, we understand that during the war, there were Chinese armies who have better war suit and weapon. Their ears are smaller and the general was riding elephant.

However, from this piece of wall, it shows that the Cambodian armies only wear 'magic rope' which was believed to give them power to fight.

Their ears were longer than Chinese and the weapons were different too.

Well, Ancient people had sense of humour too!

From this wall, it seems like telling a story that happened in a busy market.

A person whom his butt was bitten by a turtle which was carried by another person from the back.

Then he looked back to that person angrily.

Somehow, I feel the person at the back seem like having an 'evil smile'.. Hahaha...just kidding. =D

Met this cute baby on the second day.

I met him again at the third day.

I asked for the permission from his mother to take a photo with him and she agreed.

But the baby disliked me. =(

See how reluctant was him when I tried to carry him.

Then he pinched me.. Hahahaha...

So many stairs like this. =.=

And roads like this..

The ancient word.

And walkway like this.

I feel peace here.

Time flies, 4 days just past too soon!

Throw back to the first day when the flight was landing.

Like the colourful plane.

I did not realize I was in such a beautiful plane until I got out from the plane. =D

Siem Reap Airport is surprisingly nice.

One thing that I will never forget was the 4 hours delay of my flight back to Kuala Lumpur. I waited for 4 hours at airport and I missed my flight back to Penang. I had no choice but to stay in KL for a night then took emergency leave on the next day. T.T The worst thing was the hotel compensated by Airasia looked like a haunted hotel and it has some kind of awful smell in the room. I could not sleep well that night. The next morning I left the hotel so early and waited at the Starbucks of KLIA2 for another 4 hours. =.= Seriously, this was a nightmare.

Unhappy passengers. (I was one of them. T.T)

Green lemon sorbet while waiting. Nom~

Found this white kit kat too.

After waited for so many hours, finally the hero showed up.

The engineer finally fixed the problem. =.=

So this was the haunted hotel that Airasia compensated us. T.T

There was no aircon in the lobby.

This hotel looked worn out, dirty and smelly..

Definitely a 'good experience' & 'good memory'. =D

Now you know why I have so much thoughts and feelings after this trip. Basically, Cambodia's development is like 30 years behind us. Most of the people here are struggling to live. Corruption is serious, people is struggling, life is hard. However, people are simple and innocent here. The greatest thing I saw there was the smiles, it's on everyone's face, it's everywhere. It is so rare in our busy city.

2 days after I came back to Penang, a radio interview caught my attention. It was about a group of Malaysian photographer's visit to a remote village at Siem Reap. An 80+ years old nun approached one of the photographers, she asked him to take a photo of her. The old nun said she wished to own at least one photo of herself before she die. Can't you believe it? She had not taken any photo in all her life. Most of the Cambodians are too poor to own a camera or handphone. This was exactly the same feeling I had when I visited the village at Tonle Sap and when tour guide told me he wishes to travel to overseas. We are actually so so lucky and yet we are till complaining. A lot of the things we have, are dreams for a Cambodian. We are so lucky, I am grateful for being born as a Malaysian.

Until today, I haven't felt any regret for travelling to Siem Reap. Instead, I feel this is the only trip that deeply inspired me. When I travel to less developed countries, I learn the meaning of 'gratitude'. When I travel to more developed country, I learn the meaning of 'humble'.