Lovin Siem Reap

I've always wanted to visit Cambodia. Heard so much about it's beautiful and amazing temples from friends who visited Siem Reap and of coz pictures in the internet. Haha... Well i got my chance when my friend decided to visit Siem Reap for the second time. Me and my two friends had different plans for this trip. We planned to stay in Siem Reap for three days then I'll travel to Phnom Penh alone and the two said they wanted to visit Vietnam then travel down to Bangkok. 😒 Sangat menyusahkan diri.Since i had already bought my return ticket to KL from Phnom Penh, i telan air liur saja laa kenang tak dapat pegi Vietnam... Sobs.. Sobs..
So we took the first flight to Siem Reap from LCCT.

 

View of Tonle Sap lake from above. Looks like a flooded jungle. 

Our private driver aka personal tour guide fetched us from the air port. 

We asked him to bring us for a Kopi-O drink. I said i wanted to try Cambodian Coffee. 

He brought us to this small coffee shop by the road side. Instead of the normal table and chairs, customers can rest on the lazy chair and enjoy Karokes songs while sipping their kopi and ciggies.

Mr Driver and the yummy coffee. 

Turns out to be Vietnamese Coffee which is superb. 

After we checked in the hotel and rested for a while we decided to tour the Tonle Sap Lake in the evening.

 Boats by the Tonle Sap Lake

Grilled eggs sold by the road side. Contains egg, salt and pepper.

Village folks

Our little boat driver and tour guide

Villagers preparing for some boat race. 

The Khleang Fishing Village.

The boat driver then stopped us at a floating coffee shop for another separate boat trip. 

  

Women on their sampans waiting for tourists. 

 

Our boat ride along the mangrove forest.

Along the nearby village. Forgot the village's name. 

 

Beautiful scenery of the village. 

Mother and her kids. 

Then we continued our boat ride to the middle of the lake to watch sunset. 

Well it looks like we're in the middle since the lake looked so wide like the sea. Haha..

Little driver on top his boat preparing for a dive. 

Sunset! 

After enjoying the sunset and watching the boys swim we headed back. 

On the way back the boys stopped by their house. 

Their mom cooking prawns. 

Look at the huge pile of dried prawns!

Fishing village life.

Then it's time to go back. 

Another sunset view on the way back. 

 

🌞🌝⛅

Moon at the other side of the lake.

After that we went for dinner and back to hotel. 

We had dinner at a Muslim Restaurant nearby the hotel.

The food was good and the restaurant had wifi too. 😏 Apa lagi update instagram lah!

 The food... sweet and sour chicken. Yumm yummm...

Omelette with onions, chilli and onion leaves.

Chicken rice.

*******

Second day trip. 

Mr Driver brought us to Kbal Spean waterfall to see stone carvings of Hindu gods and linggas in the river bed and banks. 

The place is known as The River Of A Thousand Linggas. 

Batman tuk tuk.  

We had to walk around 40 minutes in the jungle to reach the waterfall. 

Tourist feeding a dog.

Lingga carvings 

Hindu god cavings. 

More Linggas on river bed.

Carvings on stones also. 

Hindu god. Is this Shiva?

The waterfall. A local at the waterfall said the water is holy and we can take a dip.

Next trip... To the temples. 

Before visiting the temples, including Angkor Wat, we had to purchase entrance ticket. 

One day pass is USD20. 

First stop, Banteay Srei temple.

Bought juicy mango for USD1.

The temple itself. 

It's a small temple. But rich with carvings of the Hindu gods. 

 

Some parts of the temple

Then we continued to the next temple. 

On the way back my friend insisted to buy a gardening hat. 

Mr Driver stopped by a stall selling palm sugar. Ala macam gula melaka. 

USD5 for one jar. 

 

Palm sugar rock wrapped in palm leaves.

The sweet smell of boiling palm sugar. 

The gardening hats my friend wanted so badly. 

Second stop is Angkor Wat. Yay!

The detailed carving

Inside Angkor Wat

Some parts were closed.

Little boy engrossed with his chocolate. 

Err... Escargots?

We only managed to visit two temples coz we spend a long time going through mazes and ohhh ahh at each carvings and taking loads of photos. 

On the way back to the hotel we dropped by The Salvation Centre Cambodia.

Skulls.

Children learning Cambodian traditional dance.

*****

Third day

It was raining in the morning and we visited Angkor Thom in wet clothes.

Gloomy morning made the temple look more eerie. 

Inside the temple. 

The temple was left the way it looked when it was discovered. 

Buddha sculpture 

A lady resting in the temple.

After that we continued to the next temple, Ta Phrom. 

Ta Phrom is an amazing temple with trees and roots growing out from the ruins.

The Tomb Rider was filmed in this temple.

Looks like a giant snake.  

A painter selling Buddha paintings inside the temple. 

Little girl selling handmade bangles.

Later on that night we went to the night market to buy souvenirs. 

Lots of things to see. 

The stuffs are sold at affordable prices, yes haggling is allowed. 

Lots of beautiful silk shawls to choose from.

And also fish spa.

We spent our last night in Siem Reap at Pub Street.

Decided to club at Angkor What because of its extraordinary look and ambiance.


Glow in the dark.

Didn't take much photos because we were enjoying the music and dancing away. 

The next day me and my friends went separate ways. I took a six hour bus ride to Phnom Penh. 

And my two friends took a bus to Ho Chin Minh, Vietnam then to Bangkok, Thailand to end their two week travel. 

If your wondering, taking a bus to Phnom Penh alone is very safe. There were also tourists travelling on the bus. Just imagine taking a bus from KL to Kuala Terengganu (around 6 hours also) but minus the highway and there's also bumpy roads along the way. 

Anywhere i"ll explain more in my next entry on my experience in Phnom Penh.