Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Chapter's end
The six-hour-long bus ride from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap was tough, but considering the US$6 per person ticket price, not unbearable.
We arrived at Siem Reap's bus station just past 4pm and were swarmed by overeager tuk-tuk drivers the instant the doors to our bus swung open. The claustrophobic mess of travellers, tuk-tuk drivers and random touts made it near impossible for us to collect our luggage from the bus, so we resigned ourselves eventually to waiting for the crowd to subside before picking our battered backpacks up and out from the dust.
Our 'bargain copy' of the Lonely Planet Cambodia (purchased on the streets of Bangkok) was less than helpful in navigating the city centre. Fortunately, the tourist mecca of Siem Reap is awash with English-language signage and once we located the vibrant Bar Street, finding accommodation was a breeze.
We chose to spend three nights at the very comfortable Molly Malone's, an Irish themed guesthouse-cum-bar where US$45 per night bought us an air-conditioned room with a hot-water shower, mini-bar, wi-fi access and a beautiful four-poster bed.
Even in the midst of first world comforts, however, Cambodian street food is still Cambodian street food. Jim's stomach was quick to take issue with his penchant for cold, milky fruitshakes, making its dissatisfaction known with a long, painful night in the bathroom.
Thankfully, the issue resolved itself after one day's rest and we were able to take off on a day-long tour of the famed Angkor ruins on our third day in Siem Reap.
A UNESCO Heritage site, Angkor once served as the capital of the ancient and powerful Khmer empire. The site comprises more than one thousand Buddhist and Hindu temples, including Angkor Wat which is widely considered Cambodia's greatest national treasure.
With the help of a nearby tour agency, we hired a tuk-tuk driver and English-speaking tour guide for a total of US$40 for the day. Our 26-year-old guide (whose name eludes me) very enthusiastically guided us from sight to sight and was so eager to share his impressive knowledge of Khmer history that we had to tell him to slow down after visiting our very first temple, Bayon, for fear of being 'templed out'.
We were feeling rather intimidated by the masses of pushy tourists at Angkor Thom and Bayon but things improved as the day progressed. Thanks to an unconventionally early lunch break, we were able to do most of our sightseeing while other tourists filed into the restaurants, so visiting Angkor Wat and the 'Tomb Raider temple', Ta Prohm, was very enjoyable indeed.
We left Siem Reap for Phnom Penh the next morning on yet another uncomfortable yet irresistibly cheap bus ride. Once in the modern-day Cambodian capital, we were reunited with Joel and Viren and spent the final night of our South East Asian trip at lakeside bars, preparing ourselves for the journey home and beyond.
We arrived at Siem Reap's bus station just past 4pm and were swarmed by overeager tuk-tuk drivers the instant the doors to our bus swung open. The claustrophobic mess of travellers, tuk-tuk drivers and random touts made it near impossible for us to collect our luggage from the bus, so we resigned ourselves eventually to waiting for the crowd to subside before picking our battered backpacks up and out from the dust.
Our 'bargain copy' of the Lonely Planet Cambodia (purchased on the streets of Bangkok) was less than helpful in navigating the city centre. Fortunately, the tourist mecca of Siem Reap is awash with English-language signage and once we located the vibrant Bar Street, finding accommodation was a breeze.
We chose to spend three nights at the very comfortable Molly Malone's, an Irish themed guesthouse-cum-bar where US$45 per night bought us an air-conditioned room with a hot-water shower, mini-bar, wi-fi access and a beautiful four-poster bed.
Even in the midst of first world comforts, however, Cambodian street food is still Cambodian street food. Jim's stomach was quick to take issue with his penchant for cold, milky fruitshakes, making its dissatisfaction known with a long, painful night in the bathroom.
Thankfully, the issue resolved itself after one day's rest and we were able to take off on a day-long tour of the famed Angkor ruins on our third day in Siem Reap.
A UNESCO Heritage site, Angkor once served as the capital of the ancient and powerful Khmer empire. The site comprises more than one thousand Buddhist and Hindu temples, including Angkor Wat which is widely considered Cambodia's greatest national treasure.
With the help of a nearby tour agency, we hired a tuk-tuk driver and English-speaking tour guide for a total of US$40 for the day. Our 26-year-old guide (whose name eludes me) very enthusiastically guided us from sight to sight and was so eager to share his impressive knowledge of Khmer history that we had to tell him to slow down after visiting our very first temple, Bayon, for fear of being 'templed out'.
We were feeling rather intimidated by the masses of pushy tourists at Angkor Thom and Bayon but things improved as the day progressed. Thanks to an unconventionally early lunch break, we were able to do most of our sightseeing while other tourists filed into the restaurants, so visiting Angkor Wat and the 'Tomb Raider temple', Ta Prohm, was very enjoyable indeed.
We left Siem Reap for Phnom Penh the next morning on yet another uncomfortable yet irresistibly cheap bus ride. Once in the modern-day Cambodian capital, we were reunited with Joel and Viren and spent the final night of our South East Asian trip at lakeside bars, preparing ourselves for the journey home and beyond.
Labels: Cambodia
# posted by liz : 4:38 PM
