It works!

ok.. so, me gonna continue on the story of cambodia. Hmm.. not sure how i shld document it... shld it be just a summary of the experiences we had or shld it be more like a guide to all others out there who would like some pointers if they wan to go to cambodia??!!??!! *tick*tock*tick*tock

Dav says it shld be based on our experiences. Good... so here goes.

We booked our Air Asia tickets yonks ago (almost one yr ago), when they were giving out 2 millions free tickets. A friend took the opportunity and book all of us (3 ppl) onto the flight to Siem Reap. Although it's free tickets, we still had to pay about RM 140 each for surcharges. So it wasnt really free was it? DAMN!

Anyway, nothing was done in terms of planning until the nite before we flew ... usual lor... I was away until the weekend before we flew and Dav & the other friend was busy with work. Then suddenly our friend couldnt make it for the trip due to work commitment. So it's down to 2 ppl. As david works towards the late nite (the day before our flight), I have to read the lonely planet and list out the places to see / things to do.

Before we even started on the trip I have a feeling we both may have different 'views' on where to stay, how to go about the places and where to eat. It's down to the $$$ and the compromise. We came out with a 'rough' itinerary which looks like this:

Day 1 - arrive in siem reap (sp), walk ard town, visit local markets
Day 2 - full day tour of angkor kingdom
Day 3 - visit tonle sap lake & waterfall artisan d'angkor silk farm & workshop, more temples, chill out at a bar
Day 4 - take boat bus to phnom penh (pp) & visit local night club called Spark
Day 5 - visit royal palace, genocide museum, russian market central market, national museum
Day 6 - visit killing fields, old market russian market, genocide museum, independent monument, chilled out at bar
Day 7 - take bus back to siem reap
Day 8 - depart back to kl
(Additional places that we went to are captured in red bold fonts and those we didnt go/do is strike out)

In siem reap, we mainly move around in tuk-tuk (looks like a trishaw but pulled by a motorbike), while in pp, we mainly walked. you can imagine la.. my skin is quite tan now.. even both my legs got a tan line! (cos me wear quarter length pants).

We walked damn alot (by my standard la...). We covered almost 6km in 2 days in pp. Let me show u:

Those in red is the roads we walked. Those circled in blue are the places of interest we visited. It was a very relaxing trip cos we did wat we wanted and dont hv to follow any strict schedule... most of the days are ended with having a beer in the bar cos its very cheap to drink (average RM 1 per mug).

Ppl are generally quite nice except that we are constantly being 'disturbed' by beggars and tuk-tuk drivers. We have to constantly say 'No thank you' all the time! The worse was when we arrived at pp, a whole bunch of them was already waiting for us even before we get out of the bus. Then we were back in Siem Reap, we were sort of being cheated as well cos normally a ride back to town wld costs USD1. But they were offering 100 riel per ride. Then when we arrived, they asked to become our driver the next day to bring us ard. We were already leaving the next day.. so no chance to become our driver. Then the driver told us to pay USD 1!!! What a scam! Anyway being a tourist we know that they are just looking for money to survive. Already its such a poor country.. no point arguing or debating. Just pay.

In terms of accomodation, it quite funny how we started off stayin in quite a comfortable hotel which costs USD 25 per nite then as we travelled to pp, we decided to stay in guesthouse, which cost USD 10 per nite that is situated on top of a 'dodgy' bar (with no air-cond). By the time we were back in Siem Reap for one nite, we also stayed in guesthouse but this time we have chosen a place which cost only USD 8! I guess by the end of the trip we were tryin to save as must money as possible in view that the food n transportation has already costs us a bomb (everything is in USD)!

Please be patience with the photos. Will announce and post it in Flickr once its done.