"Cambodia - Siem Reap with Joo" a Cambodia Travel Page by l_joo

Cambodia – travel by land
Kuala Lumpur 2002. A team of 3 budget travelers set out on train to Bangkok. Their main intention was to witness Angkor Wat in Siem Reap. This team certainly succeeded therefore decided to build a page here as a modern internet age travelogues. This is one part of my overland trip from Kuala Lumpur to Dunhuang in China all along overland through places such as Haadyai, Bangkok, Siem Reap, Phnom Penh, Saigon, Nha Trang, Hoi An, Hanoi, Nanning, Gulin, Xi’an, Lanzhou, Golmud and Dunhuang. Most unforgettable were 2000+kms from south to north in Vietnam, 27 hours train from Guilin to Xi’an and the country road to Siem Reap. On the way back via Jiayuguan, Chengdu, Kunming by flight to Bangkok and last again, railway back to Kuala Lumpur.

Ticket story
Arriving at Bangkok’s railway station, get off the train to the bathroom, take a refreshing shower and then quickly settle our lunch. While searching for tickets to Siem Reap, appeared one smart looking guy in uniform, he brought us across the road to an agent called T.A.T. information center. After asking, we came to realize each bus ticket to Siem Reap costed a preposterous 1000 baht. Of course we didn’t buy from them but I can remember that counter guy kept telling us horrifying stories that peak season is very hard to get ticket meanwhile if we don't buy it here, we may not be able to see Siem Reap until next year. He also said it is so dangerous if we bought bus ticket elsewhere because those are untrustworthy where at times they cheated you by dropping you halfway. Also warned us Cambodia is still a country after war without much safety conditions, so bad to so bad. Yeah but we refuse to believe this kind of ticket story.

Khao San Road
Bangkok's Khao San is an extensive village for backpackers worldwide and number 53 city bus is the cheapest way to take you there. We discovered more than ten counters competing fiercely for tickets and so the ticket we were looking for is now merely 200 baht. It was a fully air-con mini van that sends us to the border of Poipet whereas after the border we changed to the 4wd Toyota which is what you see here, the top central picture. Border crossing took nearly 3 hours of long multiple lines of queues where custom personnels had to over and over scrutinize all tourists as though the world is still in the dark ages. However the beautiful rustical country road from Poipet to Siem Reap was extraordinarily exciting. On this road, I can see remaining wartime railway segments while village kids waving hands at us in full welcoming smiles. It is perhaps the most enjoyable moment in Cambodia for a long 14 hours.

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Angkor Arboraceous

Angkor Arboraceous
Angkor Wat is actually a grand arboretum. This huge arboreous embellishment together with the ageing murky surfaces of the construction generates a mystical ancient ambience and it makes me thoughtful plus a feel of bleak. No wonder tourists were completely obsessed. Entrance is not free as they have to constantly provide maintenances otherwise this huge wonder will become a rubbish plant. Visitors to Angkor Wat need to hire a driver by car or bike. I don’t think anybody wants to walk by legs to see it entirely. I’m not sure how big it is but I know it is so big with so many turnings.

Cambodia in general
I’m telling my personal opinion, not universal truth. From what I saw they are still very poor and deprived. Most cars and motorcycles have no number plates yet. Somewhere nearby our guesthouse, we saw kids within age 5 to 8 in group to collect unwanted steels or metals to sell at the roadside. As for landscaping, it is visually wide in tropical green tone along with irrigated paddy fields and tall burly palm trees.

Try the Spider
Somewhere near Phnom Penh, we came across a big black spider seller. I realized what that was only after I search into a website that they are actually selling big black spider as national delicacy. These spider seller came with a tray about one a half feet in diameter, on the tray were big black spiders already well cooked I supposed, in oily shine and very yummy appearance. I regret I didn’t try it but next time for sure.

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Angkor products

Ingenious Angkor
Angkor beer or Angkor cigarettes are just anywhere but I did not try both. Chinese restaurants can be found here in luxurious decoration but as a budget tourist, I only eat at the low-priced roadside hawkers. Tastes are quite analogous to their neighbor Thailand. The best we tried was a roadside noodles, it was served in a bowl with Thai-styled chilly sauces plus other unknown sharp taste liquids together with Soya milk in green color. That breakfast cost less than U$1.00 and it was by a translation from a local woman who can speak Mandarin that finally help us to pay the lady boss.

Favorite Dish: The French-Cambodian toast cost 1000 dong is my favorite. If you are in Cambodia, you can see women or kids carrying a basket, that’s the toast I am talking about.

Guesthouse
The best and still the best, it cost US$6 for all in a beautiful air-con room, huge bed with bathroom attached. The guesthouse owner even provides bike, car, boat, all sorts of travel packages together with in-house restaurant. It is exactly like staying at home and they can speak English, what else I can ask for.