Siem Reap, Cambodia

So, we sort of took a little detour when we went to Cambodia. We flew into Phnom Penh (south), but take a 5 hour bus ride north to get to Siem Reap, so that we can see the ancient temple ruins of the Angkor era. We were scammed several times in the process.

My most vivid and scary memory of Cambodia was when we first got off the bus. A herd of 30 - 40 men stampeded towards us, in what seemed to be a mad rush to grab each one of us.

It turns out that they weren't out to kill or abduct us, as was my first impression, but to find a customer to take into town on their motorbike or tuk tuk. The bus stop was at a rural station, and we needed to get into the marketplace.

My modes of transportation expanded with my very first tuktuk ride. It was pretty much a little carriage thing attached to the back of a motorbike. I was afraid that I was gonna fall out of it, the roads were very bumpy and super dusty.

We had a little difficulty finding a guest house, since most of the ones we went to were booked. Which was alright, cuz we ended up staying in one that was slightly more pricier, but definitely nicer. When I say pricey, I still mean only $20USD a night for all three of us. Some places were about $10 - $15 USD.

I must say, that shower was probably the best shower in a long time.

We go off in search of some good Cambodia food for dinner, and try Fish Amok (curry fish dish).
We also bump into a little boy selling Lonely Planet guidebooks to tourists like us, I was impressed by his business skills. I later learn that kids here grow up fast, basically if you can learn to walk, you can sell something. Children in Cambodia area always selling things to tourists, whether it be bracelets, books, postcards, anything.

One little girl was following me for almost 15 minutes trying to persuade me to buy bracelets from her. I find it really sad that they live in so much poverty, no child should have to grow up with so much hardship.

Every child should have an opportunity to be a kid, although this is not the case in so many places. It really makes me feel so fortunate and appreciate my childhood. What I took for granted everyday, is the dream of so many other children in the world.

The fruit shakes of Cambodia are amazing. They are made of real fruits and taste super fresh and yummy. The best one by far was the banana shake I had a the temple club. It was super thick and very banana-ie! We have shakes with breakfast and dinner, and desert. Its always a little journey to search for the perfect shake every night. They are super cheap - even with the super inflated tourist price, only $0.50 USD a shake.

We only ate 2 meals a day, the heat makes you lose your appetite.

The next day, we head to Angkor! The temple ruins are amazing! They are so beautiful, and its hard for me to imagine what it must've been like during the construction of these temples. We go to a few temples, including Angkor Wat (my favourite) , Angkor Thom - Bayon Temple (another favourite), Ta Phrom (jungle temple where Tomb Raider was filmed!), and more.

Each of the temples had something distinct about it. For instance, the Bayon Temple had four faced Buddhas on top of their buildings, and the Ta Phrom temples had big huge trees growing all around them.
We got a 3 days pass, and we went back to watch the sunset, and the sunrise among the ruins. I find myself quite fascinated with the ruins. I love taking pics with the ruins, there is just something mystical about a ruin that still remains after a fallen civilization.

It's like I am stepping back into time. Of course, I took way too many pics of all the temples, too many of sunset, and way too many at sunrise. I'm surprised that I didnt run out of memory!
We take a tuktuk around the temples, and it brings us back to our hostel at the end of the day. The temples close at 6 30 pm everyday, so we have quite a lot of time to go chill before bedtime each day.

As mentioned earlier, chilling time usually consists of a few fruit shakes and exchange of stories and discussion. They will be missed dearly when I go back to Singapore and Canada... Must get myself a blender and make my own shakes in Waterloo!

We make plans to head back to Phnom Penh, and from there take a ferry along the Mekong River to Chau Doc in Vietnam. The Mekong River is one of the largest rivers in Southeast Asia and feeds many countries, including Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam to name a few. My mom actually grew up near where we took the ferry.

Unfortunately, I took a gravel (afraid of being seasick from my last ferry ride in Indonesia), and was sleeping for much of the peaceful and beautiful ride along the river. The sights that I was awake to see were amazing, and so beautiful. There is so much life along this river.