As you may or may not know, I have been travelling quite recently and just got back from Cambodia! (If you didn't know that, you should follow me on instagram ;P ) I was there for 3 days from the 29th of August until 31st of August on a holiday trip with my mum and younger sister. This was my 1st time to Cambodia and venturing up north of South East Asia.
Cambodia is rich in its history and architecture from the famous Angkor Wat to the Tonle Sap, the largest lake in the world that supplies water and food to the people of Cambodia. It is truly a place of it's own and I would definitely go again :)
29th August 2015 : Kuala Lumpur > Siem Reap
I took the 6.50 am flight from KL to Siem Reap at KLIA2. I was so excited, anxious and worried about missing my flight the night before, I couldn't get enough sleep. On the airplane I was so sleepy I didn't even wake up when the plane had landed. Thank god I was travelling with my younger sister, so she kept an eye out for me.
After the 2 hour flight journey, we arrived the international airport. We got our documents done and headed out to meet with our guide Yusoff. He speaks various languages such as Malay, Englosh, Thai and of course his native tongue, Khmer.
After meeting with him, we picked mum up from the domestic flight area and headed off to our first visit, the Tonle Sap lake.
The lake is so large that it looks like the ocean and it connects 5 other states around it. There are people living in lake known as the floating village. These people love in boat houses and make a living off the lake through fishing, tourism and supplying crocodile skin to be made into various handbags, purses, shoes and so on. (YES! They rear crocodiles in cages NEXT to their boat houses 😱)
The life the people there live made me feel so humble and at the same time made me grateful for what I have now. Honestly, I wasn't expecting the floating village to be as how it was. I felt really sad seeing how they lived and how the outcome of the Khmer Rouge in 1975-1979 still shows to this day eventhough they are slowly recovering from the civil war and working to create a better future for their people.
On our way back from visiting Tonle Sap, we stopped by their floating market to buy rice to be donated to the poor there. About more than 60 children were at the donation centre having their lunch of rice, bean sprouts and small cubes of sardines, which they shared amongst each other. It was just so hard breaking to see and made me rethink all the times I unintentionally wasted food. I didn't have the heart to take many photos there.
So after we went to Tonle sap lake, we stopped by a lotus flower plantation near the lake. Yusoff had treated us to try some lotus seeds straight out of it's flower (I think it's part of the flower). It was my first time trying it and I was an interesting experience. Sophia enjoyed eating it and finished up all the remaining seeds.
We headed back and went checked into our hotel at The Cycle d'Angkor Boutique Hotel.
The hotel is a nice cozy boutique hotel and is located about 5-10 mins away from the town area. It was a really relaxing and nice place to stay in. We were welcomed with cold towels which was a delight to have after being outdoors along with some cold soothing delicious welcome drinks.
The hotel room costs about RM103 per night (it was on promotion) and another RM103 for an extra bed. So total was RM206 for a night. The room was cozy enough for 3 people and the bathroom is small to enough to fit in the basics. The room smelled like lemon grass and was so soothing that you just wanted to sleep in all day every day.
Yusoff came to pick us up at 1.30pm and we went for lunch together with the driver at Terrasse d'elephants where we had authentic halal Khmer food.
Th price range for the food here costs about $8-$10 USD (they trade mostly in USD...it was kindda painful for us to exchange RM to USD) . We had Khmer beef curry, chicken soup, mixed vegetables and fish amok cooked in coconut. Total price for our lunch was $59 for 5 people.
After lunch, we visited the memorial to the victims of the Khmer Rouge and saw some of the skulls of victims that were brutally murdered. Just a note, when you are there be careful of the children around. There was one young boy who was following us wherever we went (which we didn't mind) but then suddenly tried to grab my sister's hand. So just be mindful of your surroundings.
After that, we went on to the museum and went through the ancient relics of the ancient city of Angkor. People who want to visit the Angkor Wat should visit the museum before so that you can understand more about Angkor wat. Plus, there's no harm in learning something about a country you are visiting. (#yesilikemuseums) haha
After the museum, we went to the market place and tried out the fish spa which was extremely ticklish but made my feet super smooth afterwards and watched a cultural show before dinner.
30th August 2015 : Angkor Wat, Thom Prahm, Angkor Thom
Visiting Angkor Wat should best be done during the sunrise in order to experience the beauty of the ancient city. Apart from that, to also enjoy the quiet peace surrounding the temple. But Alas, being me...I slept in and only woke up at 6.30 am and missed the sunrise. Hahaha
Before entering Angkor Wat, we had to purchase tickets before arriving the temple. The tickets were inclusive with the package Yusoff offered us so we just had to take our photo for the ticket.
Angkor Wat was beautiful and grand. It was built during Suryavarman II's reign and was built in the 12th century. All around the temple, there are various carvings that depict stories about hindhu beliefs and many Asparas decorated along the walls.
After visiting Angkor Wat, we walked on through the forest and met up with our driver to our next destination which is Ta Prohm Temple.
Ta Prohm temple is famous for it's maze like plans, the huge trees growing in between the temples, the diamond and jewels the size of my fist that were mysteriously stolen and also the fact that Angelina Jolie did a scene for the Tomb Raider movie there !
According to Yusoff, Ta Prohm temple was built during Jayavarma VII's reign for his mother. The temple was built by using combination of laterite stones and sand stones and is not as detailed as the Angkor Wat. The temple is smaller than the Angkor Wat and built almost like a maze. During Jayavarma VII's reign, the temple was built for Buddhists, however when Jayavarma VIII ruled, all the statues of buddha were removed.
After going to Thom Prahm temple, we continued on to visit Bayan Temple in Angkor Thom.
After visiting the temples, we had lunch at an indonesian-khmer restaurant and later headed back to the hotel where we rested until 5pm. After that, we went to visit the silk factory, however, because we were late, we did not get to see the silk factory. We then spent some time at the Artisan Angkor and went back to the hotel to enjoy a 2 hour spa session followed by Khmer dinner in Terrasse d'Elephants.
31st August 2015 : Siem Reap > Kuala Lumpur
We left for the airport at 7 am the next day and arrived KL about 11.30 am. My trip was a short one but I had an amazing time and it would be one of those places that I would love to visit again and for a longer time.
Also! I'd like to wish all my Malaysian readers a Happy Independence Day eventhough I'm a few days late. May we always stay united through it all.
I guess thats all for now, I'll be busy running errands this coming week and preparing for the start of my semester next week. Wish me luck!
Xx,
Sarah
