Back from Siem Reap

Damn my ulcer is killing me. I have 4 huge ulcers in my mouth. I can hardly speak nor do I can eat proper food. I had chicken porridge for lunch just now. It was the only meal I can eat. Urrghh! How I hate ulcers!

This is all because of my trip to Cambodia. Although the internet was telling me that it should be raining most of the days in Cambodia but it turned out that the weather there was rather hot. I was dehydrated due to the lack of water intake and the excessive heat. I’ve drank 3 small bottles of mineral water everyday. But I guess it is still wasn’t enough to keep me from dehydrated and getting the ulcers.

Okay, enough about my ulcers. I should write about my trip instead.

My trip to Siem Reap was a 4 days 3 nights trip organized by my company. It's a annual thingy. The journey took about 2 hours and 5 minutes by AirAsia from Kuala Lumpur to Siem Reap. As we expected, the flight was delayed for an hour. We were scheduled to depart at 10.15 am but the flight only arrived in LCC Terminal an hour later.

Upon arrival in Siem Reap, the tour guides took us for lunch first before checking in to the hotel. It’s a no-pork restaurant. I only ate rice with prawns, squids and vegetables only, but I saw my muslim colleagues do take the meat. I'm not confident enough to eat the meat though. Well, we can’t be very fussy about it or we will starve ourselves isn't it? The food was okay for me.

After filling our tummies, the bus sent us straight to check-in at the Angkor Star Hotel. I was in the same room as my boss. We’ve got a triple room, which is really big with a pool view. It was breathtaking.

After refreshing ourselves, we went to the Les Artisan D’Angkor, a handicraft centre where they creates reproduction stone and wood sculpture based on the cultural traditions and icons of Cambodian history. Most of the staff is deaf and mute. The government trained the handicapped people at the Les Artisan Academy and upon graduation they were hired at Les Artisan as the sculptor or painter which they were trained as. It is part of the government mission to help the handicapped person.

Our next stop was Bakheng Hill, to view the sunset and catch the beautiful scenery of Angkor Wat and Siem Reap. It was quite a journey. It took about 15 minutes for us to walk up the Bakheng Hill including climbing up the steep stairs of the Bakheng Temple. Damn it was scary. My knees were trembling. But it was all worth it. The sunset and the scenery were wonderful.

Sunset View from Bakheng Hill

Almost Sunset

The sky was dark and it was drizzling when we went down the hill. We were all sweaty and smelly but it didn't stop us from continuing the walk. We ended our night with a buffet dinner with Aspara dance. The performance was interesting and unique. But it was very hard for me to choose the food though. They served variety of food but most of it was non-halal. I only had rice, sweet sour fish, amok fish (a local Cambodian dish, something like gulai ikan masak lemak), mixed vegetables and local fruits.

My story is getting longer and longer each time I write. I don’t want to bore people so let me summarize my trip and put nice photos instead.

Bayon Temple

The second day was merely visiting the famous Angkor Wat temples, which is one of the seven ancient wonders of the world. After a tiring and interesting half-day visit at the temples, we went out for lunch and heading straight to the hotel to freshen up ourselves before going to a free Cambodian massage. It was a damn good massage. I felt so alive but I do have some bruises from it though.

Angkor Thom Temple

Ta Phrom Temple - Lara Croft Tomb Raider movie set

We went to Tonle Sap Lake by boat on the next day. Overthere, we visited the floating village and market. It took about an hour boat ride around the lake. Later, we went to the shore and had our lunch at a local chinese restaurant. After having our lunch the bus dropped us at the Phsa Market to shop. I bought quite a number of scarves, tops, t-shirts and souvenirs which only caused me about USD10.00 equal to RM36.20. The prices were reasonable but you need a bit of bargaining skills.

On the boat at Tonle Sap Lake

Local kids begging for money

Departure Hall of Siem Reap International Airport

We went back to Kuala Lumpur on Monday morning. What a trip! A fun and interesting one but a bit tiring. Well, it is good to be back in Malaysia again.

Home Sweet Home.