[7th October 2010]
It suppose raining season in Cambodia in October. It suppose a cooling weather due to raining. But, it was super hot when I first touched down. The weather is burning hot compared to Malaysia/Singapore. I wish I can hide inside the hotel room right now, but anyhow I have to queue up like other tourists and clear the custom.
Few weeks back, we made our choices between Cambodia & Myanmar and ended up we decided on Cambodia. We love nature! We love backpack! We love to explore! We love the culture! So here we come, Cambodia! First time, we took Silk Air.. ^.^ The package included air tickets + accommodation + personal tour guide + food + entrance fee looks reasonable for us, thus we signed up the package.
We stayed at Cozyna Angkor hotel. It is 3 star hotel with comfortable environment to stay in. Everything is well maintained. The staff here is friendly and they could chit-chat with limited English. The swimming pool is big and it links with beautiful garden.
Lunch at hotel. Before going to Cambodia, my friends advice me not to drink any water with ice cube. Canned drink or bottle drink is the best. Even advice me to brush teeth by using mineral water but not tap water. Thus I'm quite careful in the way choosing my drink. By the way I think they are trying to improve their hygiene. So far, there is no problem if drinking ice water in Cambodia. Under the super hot sun, how could resists myself from drinking ice water? :P
Tour guide fetched us to Le Artisan D'Angkor Center. We have the chance to view the beauty of Khmer art. It is also a training center. Young people are trained in the tranditional craftmanship.
Next we toured around Spider Market. Many kind of souvenirs can be found here. There are much much more to explore. You able to try local stall food here.
We got to reach Phnom Bakheng before sunset. The tour guide leads us up to the Phnom Bakheng which situated inside the forest. You would not get lost as it is only one way path. Just follow the crowd, then you will find the temple. History about Phnom Bakheng can be found in wikipedia.
Look! The crowd in Phnom Bakheng. Everyone is trying hard to "crawl up" to the temple and waiting for the sunset. Why I say "crawl up"? Most of the temple in Siem Reap has a very steep design in staircase. It has a very large gap between steps. Therefore I only able to reach temple by "crawling up" using my both hands and legs.. ="= It is adventurous activity and this needs a lot of arm and legs mucles. I was kept praying for not falling down for each step I conquerred. :P I know it will be nightmare for me in the next day as my mucles sore. >_<
The sunset is nice yet short! It's worth to spend so much time on crawling up the temple. Love it!
The way down the mountain is pretty dark with no light in the forest. It is quite eerie if walk alone. Sometimes you would scared by the little kid who squat near the cliff. They are begging for money. This scene is quite common in Cambodia. Many people are adviced not to give them money. Once you give to one kid, another kids will follow you. Therefore we only can sympathize without giving any help. This always a bad thing for me.
This is our dinner before end of the day. It's Chinese cuisine. Everything taste good to us. By the way the portion are more than enough for 2 of us.
We have to rest earlier that night as tomorrow would be another adventurous day for us. Angkor Wat, here we come! ^.^
It suppose raining season in Cambodia in October. It suppose a cooling weather due to raining. But, it was super hot when I first touched down. The weather is burning hot compared to Malaysia/Singapore. I wish I can hide inside the hotel room right now, but anyhow I have to queue up like other tourists and clear the custom.
Few weeks back, we made our choices between Cambodia & Myanmar and ended up we decided on Cambodia. We love nature! We love backpack! We love to explore! We love the culture! So here we come, Cambodia! First time, we took Silk Air.. ^.^ The package included air tickets + accommodation + personal tour guide + food + entrance fee looks reasonable for us, thus we signed up the package.
We stayed at Cozyna Angkor hotel. It is 3 star hotel with comfortable environment to stay in. Everything is well maintained. The staff here is friendly and they could chit-chat with limited English. The swimming pool is big and it links with beautiful garden.
Lunch at hotel. Before going to Cambodia, my friends advice me not to drink any water with ice cube. Canned drink or bottle drink is the best. Even advice me to brush teeth by using mineral water but not tap water. Thus I'm quite careful in the way choosing my drink. By the way I think they are trying to improve their hygiene. So far, there is no problem if drinking ice water in Cambodia. Under the super hot sun, how could resists myself from drinking ice water? :P
Tour guide fetched us to Le Artisan D'Angkor Center. We have the chance to view the beauty of Khmer art. It is also a training center. Young people are trained in the tranditional craftmanship.
Next we toured around Spider Market. Many kind of souvenirs can be found here. There are much much more to explore. You able to try local stall food here.
We got to reach Phnom Bakheng before sunset. The tour guide leads us up to the Phnom Bakheng which situated inside the forest. You would not get lost as it is only one way path. Just follow the crowd, then you will find the temple. History about Phnom Bakheng can be found in wikipedia.
Look! The crowd in Phnom Bakheng. Everyone is trying hard to "crawl up" to the temple and waiting for the sunset. Why I say "crawl up"? Most of the temple in Siem Reap has a very steep design in staircase. It has a very large gap between steps. Therefore I only able to reach temple by "crawling up" using my both hands and legs.. ="= It is adventurous activity and this needs a lot of arm and legs mucles. I was kept praying for not falling down for each step I conquerred. :P I know it will be nightmare for me in the next day as my mucles sore. >_<
The sunset is nice yet short! It's worth to spend so much time on crawling up the temple. Love it!
The way down the mountain is pretty dark with no light in the forest. It is quite eerie if walk alone. Sometimes you would scared by the little kid who squat near the cliff. They are begging for money. This scene is quite common in Cambodia. Many people are adviced not to give them money. Once you give to one kid, another kids will follow you. Therefore we only can sympathize without giving any help. This always a bad thing for me.
This is our dinner before end of the day. It's Chinese cuisine. Everything taste good to us. By the way the portion are more than enough for 2 of us.
We have to rest earlier that night as tomorrow would be another adventurous day for us. Angkor Wat, here we come! ^.^
