It's been such a long wait, my blog's travel counter started countdown from 60 days ago to today! Reached Changi Airport at 7am, despite a heavy downpour in the morning. Ruby was late and luckily we had done an online check-in for our Silkair flight. Our flight ~ MI 622 departed Singapore for Siem Reap at 8.40am & touched down at Siem Reap's International Airport approx 2hrs later.
When we embarked from our plane, we were surprised that we had to walk the tarmac! We were supposed to follow the Q for the H1N1 scan. As I had never walked the tarmac at an Int'l Airport before, i gotta snapped some pics rite? Since there's still a long Q, I went back to snap pics of the signages & I was warned by the airport authorities to back off! From the outlook, the tarmac can only contain two airplanes @ any one time! At the immigration counter, the webcam will snap ur mugshot, bef get the go ahead. We were greeted by the tuk-tuk driver arranged by our lodging to pick us at the entrance.
Our Tuk-Tuk whisked us along this road to the city & we were pretty not use to the huge amount of dirt & dust landing on our faces. Ruby mentioned that we should had worn face masks, haha! Before long, we reached our guesthouse ~ Ei8ht Rooms, the front gate was franked by 2 resort feel huts. We had to leave our shoes outside the lobby before entering & treat this place as our 'home' for the next 4 days! As our room was not ready yet, the staff handed us a map & told us how to walk to Old Market. Old Market is their main city area where all the happenings take place, that's why we opted for Ei8ht Rooms, which was juz a 3mins walk away. It's tucked away in a small lane which is quiet and yet close enuf to the city centre...
We nagvigated around with map in hand to orientate ourselves. The scorching sun was unbearable and we decided to drop by The Blue Pumpkin (TBP) ~ a branded pastry & ice-cream palour, which had branches at most touristy spots in Siem Reap. I had a Ham & Cheese sandwich + a yummlicious Mixed Berries Yoghurt Ice-Cream! It was a great respite from the sweltering heat outside. We picked up some free & informative brochures at TBP. I recommend visitors to get the updated edition of 'Siem Reap Angkor Visitors Guide' here. The museum is a modern building located on the road leading to the temples. We went in & realised that it's a MUST to deposit your bag at their counter before we could proceed. It was very troublesome as we had to dig out our passports & money etc to transfer into this pouch (wif number tag) provided by the counter's staff. At the ticketing booth, the staff gave us a brief and directions. No photography inside the galleries, but can take pics of artifacts along the corridors, we were told by the lady. However, i was really intrigued by some facts & couldn't resist snapping some shots of the info boards.
The museum walk started wif the briefing hall to watch a short video, followed by this 1,000 Buddhas Exclusive Gallery... then we walked thru Gallery A to G to understand how Khmer civilisation begins and evolved. As we stepped into Gallery D, the lights auto-off & Ruby asked me wat happen? Bef long, we realised it's to make us sit back & relax to watch a video abt Angkor Wat. As the lights lit up, we were impressed by this Angkor Wat 3-D model which was really nice! The museum was so huge, it took us a good 3 hours or so to finish viewing. NOW, i'm really excited to see the Real thing!
Our Tuk-tuk driver was waiting for us at the exit to drive us to the Angkor Archeological Park to buy our next 3-days admission ticket. If you arrive at the ticket booth at 5pm, you can get a free admission to view a sunset and your ticket will kick into effect only the following day. Our itinerary was drafted based on 3 consecutive days visit to the temples! Dun be shocked hor....cos the place is really huge & i mean it!
At 4.30pm, we reached the park's entrance & there were not many people. But as we see the crowd swelling, we quickly went to Q up. The staff were inside but all refuse to open the ticketing booths till their clocks strike 5pm EXACTLY! Ok, bo bian lah...juz pray that we Q at the correct Q. Our counter was abit slower as some counters open 1st to cater to the tour grps. Ruby & I had our mugshots by the webcam & our photos r scanned immediately onto the tix, upon paying USD40 each. This tix is really pricey & we better not lose it! Cos at each temple's entrance, you will be asked to flash your ticket! Our tuk-tuk driver drove us a long route inside & we tot that we r heading to Angkor Wat to catch the sunset, as that was what we had on our itinerary. Suddenly, our driver told us we had arrived & we were blur lo! Asked him where is this place? He told us this is Phnom Bakheng (Bakheng Hill), which is the hotspot for visitors to view sunset and there's nothing to see at Angkor Wat at this time! Oh manz... so we juz blur blur followed the throng of tourists all heading uphills. Omg! The climb up the hills was steep & sandy...how i wish someone can juz 'pulley' me UP! The climb seems to take forever as we had no sense where's the ending point! Wif my backpack & camera, i was 'bathing' in my own sweat & breathless by the time we arrive on the top of the hill.
Aiyo, that's not the end, it's juz the beginning... There were already many ppl sitting at the edges at the temple & I looked up....omg! the steps of the temple were steep & judging at the huge amt of ppl trying to climb up, my 6th sense told me to stay put. Before i could decide & pack away my camera, Ruby was climbing up already. Ok, fine. I juz wander around the temple grounds and enjoy the view from there. As i walked to the sides of the temple & looked up, i saw a gal who missed her footing! Gosh! Luckily, her fren behind her held on to her. A chill went down my back as i imagined that a stampede may happen anytime if someone in front falls & u will be one of the dominoes falling too!
Finally, after much waiting below, I caught sight of ruby and she raved about the nice sunset view up there! The skies was pretty dark by now as we followed the crowd to walk down the hill....We were ferried back to Pub Street for dinner.
It's about 7.30pm SR time (1 hr slower than Sg) & the whole Pub Street had came alive! It was a huge contrast to the daytime! Without much tots, we decided on Khmer Kitchen, which was highly recommended by travellers. The average price for each dish was around USD3. We ordered Amok Fish, Sweet & Sour Pork + an Omelette Espanol and fruit juices. The Khmer dishes are all served wif Jasmine rice. The servings were huge for 2 pax & i think it's enuf to feed 3 - 4 ppl. The Amok is a MUST TRY & am i glad that it turned out to be Not spicy at all thou it appeared to be & the spices 调味 was really good! Among the 3 dishes, this was the best! In Siem Reap, you can opt for chix, pork, beef or fish for most of their Khmer soups or dishes. The Omelette Espanol contains potatoes & onions, but prove too much for us as it's quite oily.
After our sumptuous dinner, we strolled around the city centre and took quite a few nite shots. Ended the day slightly early to re-charge ourselves for the following morn to catch the Sunrise at Angkor Wat.
Red Piano Pub & Restaurant
''Fish can massage & pedicure!'' written on tank
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