Tag: Siem Reap

14 March 2018 – Travel Day – Siem Reap to Battambang, Cambodia – Day 1

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Today was another travel day. Even though Battambang is spelled ‘Battambang’ it is actually pronounced ‘Battambong’.

After a nice breakfast beside the pool we packed up our stuff and relaxed by the pool for an hour or so.

We had booked a bus to Battambang for 2:00 pm through the hotel. The cost was $7.00 US each. Can’t go wrong with that price. The bus company, Mekong, were to pick us up between 1:00 and 2:00. Cutting it a bit close for a 2:00 departure. The pick up van showed up about 1:45. Had one more pickup after us and then to the bus depot. We were on our way. A mid- size passenger van with 12 people. The trip was only 77 km but would take between 3 and 4 hours depending on traffic and road conditions. There was a lot of construction along the way, mainly off to the side, as it appears they are putting in a new drainage system and expanding the road to 4 lanes.

Areas of Cambodia are spotless. No garbage anywhere and in other places there is so much garbage thrown around. It’s not as bad as Vietnam was but will be if they don’t get a grip on it. It appears that they burn a lot of their garbage as you will see piles on fire here and there. Our tour guide was saying that they don’t have a recycling plan in place so the plastics just pile up. You can see that as you drive around the country. Sad as it’s a beautiful country.

This is the dry season and so many of the cows and horses are skin and bones. Once the rainy season comes the grass grows lush and the livestock fatten up. There is grass around just not lots. Even though it is dry season the trees are full of beautiful flowers as are the plants.

Many of the fields have been plowed just waiting for the rain to come. I think they said it should start in July. They don’t get monsoon type rain, just some rain most days during the rainy season. Saw a few groups of men ‘playing’ in the ponds. Water looked so dirty – you can’t drink the water here.

As we drove along we got to see many homes. A few looked very luxurious but some were just a floor and roof with hammocks hanging on them. Many are built on stilts and they seem to hang out under their homes. The sun is brutal here.

You can see in places that it appears the family now had more money, as they are building new homes beside the old ones. Just can’t imagine what their lives are like. We just have so much compared to these people. I left my flip flops behind that I had bought when we were on our excursion on Koh Phangan. We left them on purpose. Hope whoever was cleaning our room can use them. Washed them all up (they had only been worn once) and left them on the pillow with the money tip.

Passed a large groups of Monks marching for some cause. Didn’t get the reason, but they had the road tied up for a few minutes.

Just saw 5 people on a scooter. 3 adults and 2 kids. We can barely fit that in a car.

Took us a little over 3 hours to get to Battambang. The hotel was only 1/2 km away but we decided to take a Tuk-Tuk as it was only $1 US and there didn’t really appear to be any sidewalks. Tuk-Tuk driver gave us a map with his contact info on it. We will probably call him tomorrow to use for the day.

We got to our hotel, Asia hotel. We were booked on the 3rd floor. It took us a couple of trips to get all our packs up our room. There must have been a thousand steps for each floor. Thanks Paden for recommending this hotel. We got spoiled in our last 2 hotels because they had elevators. There was actually 67 steps…..every time we went up or down.

The sink was the smallest, lowest one I think we have ever seen. So tiny. The room was fine after all we were only paying $20 US a night.

After resting up a bit we headed out go find some dinner. Our hotel was in the middle of what appeared to be mechanicsville. No place around where we could eat. We got the directions to ‘downtown’ and walked. Didn’t feel the safest, but we made it there. There are also plenty of security guards watching either shops or the streets. We couldn’t determine which.

Found a place, White Rose Restaurant, where it appeared most of the tourists were eating and joined in.

The food was pretty good. I had the Fried Ginger Chicken and Doug had Fried Pineapple Cashew Nut with Chicken.

We walked back to the hotel, me wishing we had taken a Tuk-Tuk every step. It was so dark and desserted.

13 March 2018 – Siem Reap, Cambodia – Day 3 – Angkor Wat

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Yesterday we had bought out tickets for Angkor Wat. We were being picked up at 5:00 am to watch the sunrise. This meant we were up at 4:00 am. Our same Tuk-Tuk driver was supposed to be taking us along with an English speaking guide. Since we were too early for the hotel breakfast they had made us up 2 boxed breakfasts. I didn’t get a picture of these but they were massive. Crescent, cinnamon roll, bread slices, banana bread, yogurt, dragon fruit, bananas and an assortment of jams in each. Along with a bottle of water each. The English speaking guide was here when we got down to the front desk at 4:45 am but no tuk tuk driver. That’s okay he was showing up at 5:00 am or so we thought. By 5:10 there was no Tuk-Tuk in sight. Waited a few more minutes then our guide contacted a Tuk-Tuk driver he knew. He would be along in a few minutes and we could meet him out on the main road. So we headed out. As we were waiting for the new driver, who shows up? Mr. 5:00 a.m. Our guide and Mr 5:00 a.m. had a discussion in Khmer and he drove away a little angry. When you have a time sensitive arrangement, 20 minutes late is a big deal. Sunrise wasn’t going to wait for us. A minute later our newly arranged driver showed up and we were off. It was still dark so kind of weird riding along the unlit roads. The roads into the complex are tree lined with very few lights. Actually very beautiful. There are multiple checkpoints along the way to ensure us foreigners had our tickets. There is a BIG fine for being caught on the grounds without a ticket. Since everyone’s ticket has their picture on it there is no sharing.

We had so much food left in our breakfast boxes that we had offered it to our guide. He ate a little bit and then carried it for us for the first half of the morning. He finally gave them to our Tuk-Tuk driver and we never saw them again. Hope someone ate them.

We got to Angkor Wat in plenty of time for the sunrise. Our guide took us to some rocks to sit down which I thought a little odd. Turned out he knew exactly what he was doing. As the sun rose we moved locations and the sky colour changed. I got so many spectacular photos, it’s really hard just to pick a few.

This was on my list of places to see.

Apparently many people then leave and go back to their hotels for breakfast. We paid extra to have to guide start early and stay. It was so worth it as there we not many people left at all. First up was the actual Angkor Wat. Just spectacular. Even caught a glimpse of a Monk praying as the sun rose.

The walls are covered with carvings that tell a story. It was great having a private guide as he really explained a lot to us. The reason parts of the wall are darker and shiny is from everyone touching the carvings. You are not allowed to touch them, but of course people still do. It’s ruining them.

If you look hard you can see the chariot in this one. It was very clear in person, but not so much in the picture.

We hesitated about climbing the stairs, but didn’t come this far not to. We would never have been able to do the old stairs. The guides don’t go up with you as they only allow 100 people at at time up there.

And the old stairs

The view from up top was spectacular. So many photos again. There was even a hot air balloon taking off in the distance.

Some pictures from inside at the top of the Wat.

From Angkor Wat we walked along a tree lined route until got to where the Tuk-Tuks were parked.

Hopped into our Tuk-Tuk and on our way to the next temple.

Our guided tour only included the 3 major temples, Angkor Wat, Ta Prohm, Bayon and the Terrace of the Elephants, which was enough for us. Had a pit stop at the toilets. Price included in admission ticket. If no admission ticket then 2,000 riel. Not sure how anyone wouldn’t have an admission ticket though.

Tah Prohm where the trees have grown around the temples. Some of the roots are just massive. Quite the sight to see.

Terrace of the Elephants photos

Bayon Photo’s. It might be hard to see in some of the photos, but just about every side of the rocks are carved with faces.

As we exited our guide asked if we would like to get a cold drink. Boy, would we! Doug ordered a mango and I ordered an orange with passion fruit. It was the BEST iced drink I have ever had. Paden, now I know why you love passion fruit!

On our way back to our hotel we saw monkeys. Lots of monkeys.

We were back before noon and were tired. Decided to have a nap. After our nap we headed out to the pool area to enjoy a couple of ice cold draft beers. Their local draft is quite good.

For dinner tonight we took a Tuk-Tuk down to Pub Street and the night market. It looks so different at night, all lit up. Even the bridges are full of lights. Each one a different design.

Walked around for a short while and Doug picked up a sandlewood bead and silver Buddha bracelet. First vendor we saw had a sandlewood with no silver beads and he wanted $15 US. No way! We got rid of our sucker tattoos. We continued looking and came across this one, which Doug liked better. Negotiations started at $3US. We paid $2.50 as we were paying the riel and that was 10,000. Just made it easy for us and it was still inexpensive.

After checking out many restaurants…

…we ended up back at the same restaurant we ate at two days ago. Ordered pepperoni pizza. As Paden said “Good Cambodian food”. Doug had his Shiraz wine and I had a red sangria. A little expensive by Cambodian standards, but good. Some of the best sangria I’ve ever had. So worth it.

As we walked back to the Tuk-Tuk area I saw a kid selling these. Silk worms, snakes, spiders and scorpions. No thank you! Yes, the people here do eat these. The lady who works at the hotel we are staying at was telling me that she eats the worms, crickets and grasshoppers, but not the spiders and scorpions.

After dinner we just grabbed a Tuk-Tuk back to the hotel. The Tuk-Tuk driver was hilarious but it’s a long story.

12 March 2018 – Siem Reap, Cambodia – Day 2 – Sunset over Angkor Wat or should I say Pre Rup

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Today we wanted to go to Angkor Wat to see the sun set. Tourists have to buy an admission ticket for $37 US, but Cambodians don’t. If you purchase a ticket between 5:00 pm and 5:30 pm the ticket is good for that evening and the full next day. After a nice buffet breakfast at the hotel we headed to the front desk to set up our Angkor Wat tour this evening and for tomorrow’s tour. We also had to book our bus for Battambang, our next destination.

After getting this all accomplished, the front desk grabbed us a Tuk-Tuk to take us to the market area. I love riding in Tuk-tuks.

He dropped us off right on the corner of Pub Street. This was on my list of places to see.

Mr Kim, our Tuk-tuk driver said he would come back for us so we set that up.

We wandered around the streets and found ourselves in a large covered market area. There was everything in here. If they didn’t have it, you didn’t need it. Some of the ‘food’ items looked pretty gross. They had every part of the chicken for sale. Already cut up and separated. Lots of items I had never seen before and hope to never see again.

After an hour or so we headed back to Pub Street to grab a beverage and a small snack. Dinner would be late tonight due to the sunset trip. Have to say that it was pretty cheap here. The prices are in US$

Not sure about the meat selection. I’ll pass

We settled upon a place, Cafe Latino, a Tex Mex Steak House.

Somebody took one before I had a chance to get a picture. Wasn’t me!

Found our Mr Kim and headed back to our hotel for a rest before our sunset tour.

A new Tuk-Tuk driver for our tour showed up early and so they called us down. All was good as we were ready. Good thing we did leave a little earlier as it was quite a distance. Tuk-Tuks don’t go too fast.

We got our admission tickets. They put our pictures on them.

Off we headed to the temple to watch the sunset. We weren’t going to the main temple, which is Angkor Wat, as the admissions lady said we couldn’t enter the temple, just the grounds. Plus we had been told it would be a zoo with thousands of people. If we really want to see that we can do it tomorrow evening. I never really thought about it, but Angkor Wat is only one temple in the Angkor Archaeological Park, which is in a town call Angkor. We were going to Pre Rup which was much further than I thought, but we got there in plenty of time to see the sunset. We climbed up the first few steps and I knew there was no way I could climb to the top. The steps were high, steep and no handrails. With my bad knees and fear of heights it wasn’t going to happen.

We wandered around the temple and still got some great pictures. When we got to the back of the temple we discovered they had built stairs with a handrail. Rickety stairs, but still stairs. We headed up. Doug only went half way up as he had flip flops on and this wasn’t meant for flip flops. I made it to the top.

Got a few good pictures up top but the sunset was actually better from down below.

Very slowly made my way down the steps. It was so scary for me, but I accomplished it.

A young lady was trying to sell me scarves. I feel so bad for them but I don’t want any, plus we don’t have room for them in our backpacks. She got down to 3 silk scarves for $5.00 US. They are really beautiful but still no room. And I would never wear them.

Took us a while to find our Tuk-Tuk driver amongst the many that were waiting. Didn’t help that we had no idea what his name was or even the colour of the Tuk -Tuk. He spied us. Thank goodness. He took us on a great scenic route back to the hotel. Tree covered roads and by lakes. We even saw some monkeys. The cicadas in the trees were almost deafening they were so loud in places. Don’t want to see them.

Went back to our room to change back into our shorts and headed down to the hotels restaurant for dinner again. Tonight we sat outside by the pool for dinner. Dinner and drinks were great just like last night. Selfie time!

Early to bed as we have to be up at 4:00 am for our 5:00 am pickup.

11 March 2018 – Travel Day – Koh Samui, Thailand to Siem Reap, Cambodia

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Headed to the upstairs to enjoy our last breakfast in Thailand. It is another travel day, as we leave Thailand and are head for Cambodia.

I don’t understand some parents. The father had to coax the kid up onto this netting. It wasn’t too secure, IMHO, as it was only held on with what looked like cup hooks. And it was a long way down.

Waiting for the taxi to take us back to the Samui International (Disney like) Airport.

They offered free snacks and there was even a huge fish tank in the ladies washroom.

It was boarding time for our flight to Bangkok. We had to change planes here for Siem Reap.

As we took off there was that temple at the top of the hill. This time from the runway.

As were we flying with Bangkok Air we got a meal. It was Shrimp Pad Thai and was really good. I think the cake was some kind of green tea cake with a yummy coconut icing.

Flying into Bangkok you could really see some of their huge road systems.

And the sign that greets you. I’m not 100% sure but I think that Suvarnabhumi International Airport is one of the largest airports in the world.

The entrance to our gate was up a level from the actual gate and they had this there.

The meal which was served on our next leg, Bangkok to Siem Reap, did NOT get eaten as it was duck in the sandwich.

Landing at Siem Reap International Airport was like night and day from landing in Bangkok.

We had a driver from the hotel picking us up and the poor guy must have been waiting a long time. Not only was our plane late, it took a long time to get our Visas and through the immigration line. I also had to get some Cambodian money as you can not get it outside of Cambodia. I found out soon after that they also take US$ in Cambodia. Our hotel, Treasure Oasis Hotel, was great and everyone so friendly when we arrived.

Even though it was getting late the restaurant was still open so we went in to have a late dinner. It had been a long day. Doug had fish and chips. I had the chicken strips and fries. Both were really good.