Cambodia, an interesting country. I left HCMC on Thursday morning and reached Siem Reap on Thursday night, got a guesthouse to stay in and went to angkor wat the next day. walked around the night market in Siem Reap at night as well before going to Phnom Penh on Saturday morning. Visited Killing Fields, S-21 Prison, Russian Market and Central Market. and took the afternoon bus on Sunday back to HCMC. I wished i had more time to explore the country.
I didnt have much impression of the country before the visit, probably just heard people saying angkor wat is nice, things are cheap and stuff like that. So sometimes, i tagged along with other tourguides. I had no $ to hire tourguide by myself. I just walked around angkor wat and when i meet a group of people listening to the tourguide, i slow down, pretend taking some scenery pictures and listen to the stories. The same thing i did in S-21 prison.
To me, Cambodia is.......
A country that call themselves Kingdom.
It was written on the arrival card, Kingdom of Cambodia.
A country where the custom takes 2.5 hours to cross.
Perhaps its only for that day due to new year's day and long weekend, but the custom took us 2.5 hours, rediculously long. And the weird thing about the system is, you just have to trust the bus company, because u pass them ur passport and they will settle for you. You have no idea where he took the passport to and so on. Whats more, the australian in the same bus with me used 1USD in "replacement" of a so called health card.
"apparently, if you have a dollar, it means you are healthy"
A country where i didnt do enough preparation.
I didnt really prepare enough for the country before i leave. Only asked around for brief information about Cambodia and Angkor Wat. So what happened was i didnt buy the lonely planet and i borrowed from the lady sitting in front of me during the 6 hours journey. I looked up for the hotel places and i snapped a picture of the map so i can find the hostel.
A country where almost everything cost 1 dollar.
I had the fried rice with chicken at 1 dollar. In cambodia, USD is very common and basically you can survive with just USD. But of course, changing some rial helps u to save a bit(1USD = 4100Rial). Some of them are targeting at tourist and they just shout 1 dollar for watever u ask them for. I heard a mango for a dollar when u can get it for 1500 Rial. I heard of a bottle of small mineral water cost 1 dollar when u can get it for 500 Rial. And of course, i had my fried rice for a dollar.
A country where tuk tuk is more common than taxi.
To travel around siem reap basically tuk tuk is what you need. Of course you gotta be good at bargaining, because they try very hard to rip off any potential target that they can find.
A country where crickets and spiders are considered delicacies. People selling deep fried spiders and insects along the streets. I didnt dare to try any of them. Not sure why, but i didnt. Too scared perhaps. I even saw some people trading live spiders. They carry a pail around, there are some vege leaves like thingy in the pail and underneath it is whole bunch of spiders crawling around. People order and they use their bare hand, grab the spider and stuck them through a bottle thingy, They prob cant use plastic bags because the spiders are good at crawling around.
A country where the scenery is as nice as pictures.
Simply amazed by how beautiful angkor wat is. And who actually believe that it was build few hundred years ago without engineers and great machines. It deserves to be in one of the 7 wonders of the world.
A country where pictures are as nice as actual view.
The painters there are simply talented. They can paint such nice pictures at that place. I have no idea where they learn their art from, but i know for sure, the paintings are better than pictures in my camera.
A country where people dance in front of the royal palace.
I was walking around in phnom penh at about 5pm and saw this bunch of people dancing in front of the nice building. Later i found out it was the royal palace. For a moment i thought they were @ers because they played songs and someone was leading the dance and everyone was trying to follow the moves.
A country where Chili Sauce is kept in a weird container.
I cant really read korean but i understood the english word saying "LOVEHAIR". I didnt really take the chili sauce, not because it was kept in a potentially hair gel container, but i dont really like chili anyway. Still, its something i find interesting.
A country where turtle are treated as delicacies.
They had this place where they serve turtles, the whole thing, with some herbs. I think it cost like 15USD, alot for the country's standard. Didnt really try it. Just snapped a picture and ran away.
I also tried the Angkor Beer. And it actually taste quite good. I liked it at least.
Dont think it can be found anywhere else tho.
Some people asked me, dont you feel bored travelling alone?
What do you do when you are bored?
I would say sometimes. But i still like the feeling of travelling alone. Altho at some point of time i wished i was travelling with someone in Angkor Wat.
Travelling alone is a feeling of freedom, freedom to adventure and do anything you want. I bought a book at angkor wat and i sat down at random spots to read out about the place im visiting. and it is really a nice feeling.
Sometimes, i ask others to take a picture of me. Other random travellers that i can catch along the way. or any random passer by. When i got sick of trying to find someone to help me take pic, i take pic of myself. My shadow. I think its quite nice and quite fun. Tho cant really do alot of different pose.
And when im really bored, i take pictures of other travellers. People who are so focused on taking pictures. or even people who are posing for pictures, even tho they are not posing for your camera. Who cares. its nice and fun.
And last but not least, its a country where cappucino cost 1.5 USD, coke cost 1USD, and Angkor Beer cost 0.80USD.
And i didnt want to put on pictures of the killing fields and S-21 prison. I think its more impactful for others who have not been there to see it by yourself, listen to the stories by yourself. and feel the war by yourself.
I think i will be back. Be back with someone, not alone.
Cambodia. I like.
Interesting Cambodia.
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Cant believe i have spent more 20 days away from Singapore already.
Its almost time for counting down the days in VN.
Today is Wednesday. Tomorrow is Thursday. Day after tomorrow is Friday. The day after that is Saturday, the day i leave this lovely country.
Miss the food here? Kind of.
Miss the traffic here? Kind of.
Sinh To? Kind of.
Cheap noodles? Kind of.
Freedom? Kind of.
AIESEC Vietnam? Kind of.
Sad? I think so.
Miss the people here? Sure thing.
Interesting Vietnam.
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