MY TRAVEL DIARY-CAMBODIA DAY1
February 03, 2017
This was insane because I didn't see it coming this way. He told us that he would arranged everything for us. He said, 'Don't worry so much. I already arrange everything. I tell the tuktuk driver to wait for you guys at Siem Reap. He will bring the two of you to round Siem Reap for three days.'
'Okay, You sure ah! If I have anything I will watsapp you.'
'Don't worry. I will always switch on my phone.'
'Aiyo, how ah..if your driver don't know how to speak English?'
'He knows. Don't worry.'
'Okay. How about after we come back from Siem Reap? Will you still be able to host us? To bring us around Phnom Penh.'
'Of course.'
So this was how my crazy Cambodia journey started. I went to Cambodia on the 7th December 2016. Finally I had the courage to visit this mystical country- Cambodia which is also known as the KINGDOM OF WONDER. My friend and I reached Phnom Penh in the afternoon. I was surprised after I took my luggage at the baggage claim area. Why? I didn't expect the Phnom Penh international airport to be that small. It took us less than 10 minutes to walk out from the arrival hall to the main street. Can you imagine how small the airport was? After that, the first thing that I did was not searching for my friend but washroom. After that I purchased a simcard for 4 USD. The sim could be used to call people and most importantly it had unlimited internet access. Surprisingly, the internet was really fast. While waiting for the staff to activate the sim card, my friend had arrived. I felt relieved. What if he didn't turn up? I could't imagine that. So, this trip just taught me that I should always had a backup plan. I was so happy to see him that I forgot to pay the money. I took my phone and turned to talk to my friend. Suddenly, the other people were looking at me. One girl tapped on my shoulder and said, 'Pay.' I was so shocked and embarrassed at the same time.
After that, my friend told the tuktuk driver his home address. We took the tuktuk to go to his house while my friend rode his motorbike back home. Wow! The traffic was so crazy here. It made me feel like I had to learn to cross the road again. I could hardly see traffic lights in this capital city. Only certain roads have traffic lights. Try to imagine KL city without traffic lights? The honking sounds of cars, tuk tuk and motorbike were everywhere. It was a very dusty city too. Everyone wore a face mask except the two of us. It was very easy for them to recognise us as 'tourists' because we didn't wear the face mask.
I reached my friend's house after twenty minutes. Wow! I didn't expect that he stayed at a shop house. Last time I used to think that he stayed at a Kampung House or wooden house. Lol. His house was located at the main road. We asked the tuk tuk driver about the price. He told us 9 dollar. Then I tried to fork out some money and gave him 10 dollar. He told us that he didn't have change. My friend only had big notes. No coins. Then the driver said, 'Miss, tip please. Tip.' Hmm..we just gave him 10dollar, thinking that it would be easier for the two of us to split the money too. I wondered if this was their tactic to con money? Okay.. I should think positively.
I entered my friend's house. Oh. His mother was sitting there and welcome us with a nice smile. Suddenly his father came out too. However, his father's face looked very serious. He told me that his parents couldn't speak English so most of the time my friend and I just laughed awkwardly with them. Lol. His mother mumbled in a language that I couldn't understand and pointed to the sliced fruits. So she wanted us to eat the pamelo. Haha..I shook my head and said no because I had stomach ache this morning. It was kinda rude I know..for not accepting people's offer. I had a 6 hours' journey in a van to Siem Reap later so I had to tell her I couldn't eat that.
After we rested for a while, my Cambodian friend broke a bad news to me. He COULD NOT FOLLOW ME TO SIEMREAP. I was a little bit disappointed at that moment. This was because we already planned the trip before we came here. I thought that he could be our tour guide so that we didn't have to worry much. It's okay. Thinking that this would be my first adventure in a foreign land kinda made me excited and nervous at the same time. My real first time travelling in a country where the locals speak the language that I couldn't understand.
I had to tell you that the 6 hours journey from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap was really scary. I felt so lost and so scared. Most of the places didn't have signals. So, I could't contact my Cambodian friend until I reached Siem Reap. Luckily I was not alone. I had a friend to travel with me. Hmm. The van was very cramped because everyone brought large luggage and backpacks. The road was so dark that I could see nothing from my window. No street lamps at their national highway. Unlike my country's PLUS highway, the road was not tarred. Sounds of vehicle honking were heard along my journey. The people who were in the same van with us were the locals. The van did stop at several places for toilet breaks and for us to eat. However I didn't understand what they were talkingabout and how long the van would stop at each station, so we didn't dare to buy food to eat. We were really hungry and helpless at the same time. I told my friend that we had to make another itinerary once we reached Siem Reap.
It was really a great relieved after the 6 hours' journey from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap. We reached the hostel safely. I will blog about it in my hostel review soon. Everything was fine. After we checked in, we had our dinner at the nearest cafe situated beside our hostel. Then we went to explore Siem Reap night market and pub street. Wow! My jaw dropped when I experienced the atmosphere at the pub street. So this was how the pub street in Cambodia looked like. Fuh! Luckily I was not a party animal. Even though it was our first day here, we already spent a lot on clothing. LOL. We bought lots of pants at the night market. Too hard to resist I tell ya. After that I planned to have a meetup with my Couchsurfing friend at the nightmarket. He told us to meet at a bar which was called temple club. We couldn't find our way to reach there. So I told him to meetup the next day and joined us for temple hopping.
The night market was really close to our hostel. So we walked back to our hostel even though it was pitched dark in the alley. There were some people standing along the dark streets. So my friend and I pretended to look calm and walked back to our hostel. When we reached our room, we were so shocked to see crickets on our bed and some were in the bathroom. We didn't complain because crickets don't bite right? Small matters. It's okay. Lol. Going to sleep with them for three nights. Luckily my friend was not a fussy type and could deal with it. We were too tired to care about small matter like this. We wondered where did the crickets actually came from because our room was 'sealed'. Sealed -What I wanted to say was all the windows were closed and the door was covered with plastic sheet too. The crickets were still there. Then we realised that maybe they came out from the sink. It was really a tiring day for us even though we slept all the way form Phnom Penh to Siem Reap. Our driver told us that he would pick us up 6 a.m. in the morning. Lol. Yes. Very early.....
Day 2
'What? You don't know how to go there?'
'How now?'
....
..
After we rested for a while, my Cambodian friend broke a bad news to me. He COULD NOT FOLLOW ME TO SIEMREAP. I was a little bit disappointed at that moment. This was because we already planned the trip before we came here. I thought that he could be our tour guide so that we didn't have to worry much. It's okay. Thinking that this would be my first adventure in a foreign land kinda made me excited and nervous at the same time. My real first time travelling in a country where the locals speak the language that I couldn't understand.
I had to tell you that the 6 hours journey from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap was really scary. I felt so lost and so scared. Most of the places didn't have signals. So, I could't contact my Cambodian friend until I reached Siem Reap. Luckily I was not alone. I had a friend to travel with me. Hmm. The van was very cramped because everyone brought large luggage and backpacks. The road was so dark that I could see nothing from my window. No street lamps at their national highway. Unlike my country's PLUS highway, the road was not tarred. Sounds of vehicle honking were heard along my journey. The people who were in the same van with us were the locals. The van did stop at several places for toilet breaks and for us to eat. However I didn't understand what they were talkingabout and how long the van would stop at each station, so we didn't dare to buy food to eat. We were really hungry and helpless at the same time. I told my friend that we had to make another itinerary once we reached Siem Reap.
It was really a great relieved after the 6 hours' journey from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap. We reached the hostel safely. I will blog about it in my hostel review soon. Everything was fine. After we checked in, we had our dinner at the nearest cafe situated beside our hostel. Then we went to explore Siem Reap night market and pub street. Wow! My jaw dropped when I experienced the atmosphere at the pub street. So this was how the pub street in Cambodia looked like. Fuh! Luckily I was not a party animal. Even though it was our first day here, we already spent a lot on clothing. LOL. We bought lots of pants at the night market. Too hard to resist I tell ya. After that I planned to have a meetup with my Couchsurfing friend at the nightmarket. He told us to meet at a bar which was called temple club. We couldn't find our way to reach there. So I told him to meetup the next day and joined us for temple hopping.
The night market was really close to our hostel. So we walked back to our hostel even though it was pitched dark in the alley. There were some people standing along the dark streets. So my friend and I pretended to look calm and walked back to our hostel. When we reached our room, we were so shocked to see crickets on our bed and some were in the bathroom. We didn't complain because crickets don't bite right? Small matters. It's okay. Lol. Going to sleep with them for three nights. Luckily my friend was not a fussy type and could deal with it. We were too tired to care about small matter like this. We wondered where did the crickets actually came from because our room was 'sealed'. Sealed -What I wanted to say was all the windows were closed and the door was covered with plastic sheet too. The crickets were still there. Then we realised that maybe they came out from the sink. It was really a tiring day for us even though we slept all the way form Phnom Penh to Siem Reap. Our driver told us that he would pick us up 6 a.m. in the morning. Lol. Yes. Very early.....
Day 2
'What? You don't know how to go there?'
'How now?'
....
..
.
I guess I have to stop here. It's 3:44 a.m. now. and I have to work tomorrow. Lol. Insomnia. Anyway, I didn't edit this post. I just want it to be spontaneous and want it to be raw. Suddenly I feel like I want to write some narrative stories here. Actually I did document all my travel moments in my travel journal but I can't show you. So I only tell you part of the stories here. I wrote a 10 pages diary for this trip but I think you won't be interested to know anyway. It's very dull. Let's see if this blog post can reach 100 views, I will try to blog about my Day 2's adventure.
I guess I have to stop here. It's 3:44 a.m. now. and I have to work tomorrow. Lol. Insomnia. Anyway, I didn't edit this post. I just want it to be spontaneous and want it to be raw. Suddenly I feel like I want to write some narrative stories here. Actually I did document all my travel moments in my travel journal but I can't show you. So I only tell you part of the stories here. I wrote a 10 pages diary for this trip but I think you won't be interested to know anyway. It's very dull. Let's see if this blog post can reach 100 views, I will try to blog about my Day 2's adventure.
Let's hi 5 the world
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