Cambodian Trip in Summer 2018
I had a chance to visit Cambodia this summer, when I was having vacation in Vietnam.
The reason for this trip was because my Best Friend Forever (BFF) whom I had known for 13 years, had promised to travel with me since like forever.
After countless delays, finally she was able to arrange this trip with me and 2 other friends.
After some research and procrastination, I was able to book the bus ticket through Sorya, a Cambodian bus company.
There was a 6-hour wait in Phnom Penh before we transited to a night bus to Siem Riep.
We also got some Riel (cambodian currency) at the custom.
Anyways, we boarded the bus at 8:10AM and arrived at Phnom Penh at around 4PM. I was intimidated for a moment because they didn't use Latin alphabet in Cambodia.
We caught a Tuk tuk to the Royal palace. The tuk tuk driver could speak some understandable English.
We spent some short time just hanging outside the Royal Palace. It was late and expensive so we didn't go inside the place. Instead, we just wandered about in the square outside, looking at the river, and chilling.
After resting there a bit, we took another tuk tuk (bargaining allowed) to Wat Phnom temple. Admission was $1 per person and closed at 6:30PM.
The architecture looked quite different from regular Buddhist temples in Vietnam. They definitely followed a different branch of Buddhism.
After watching, praying, and taking photos, we walked over to the Night Market, sat down and had fried seafood patties/balls and sugar cane juice.
The feeling was nice, because we were sitting on a sedge mat.
Eating dinner on a sedge mat
I spent sometime walking around the night market, before we caught another tuk tuk to go back to the bus station to wait for the night bus to Siem Reap.
My friend stationed inside a convenient store, while I explored the area outside, including a shopping mall, having a feel of the locals.
None of the street foods seemed appetizing though lol.
We finally got on the bus. The experience was nice. Another thing I can probably only do when am single.
The AC was fluctuating between hot/cold, but I could still get some sleep and got there at around 5AM.
We checked in our hotel, got breakfast, and was on our way to Kulen mountain which was 1 hour away.
The experience riding the tuk tuk was so nice.
On the tuk tuk
At the big waterfall, I spent some time swimming/bathing. The water was really cool, and the small fish kept biting my skin (if I stood still) like electricity lol.
I enjoyed the waterfall a lot. We then got on our tuk tuk to go have lunch, buy bus tickets, and go back to the hotel.
I appreciated the hotel a lot (Anusha Residence and Spa). It was cheap but clean, comfortable, and spacious.
We rested a bit before visiting Pub Street. Pub Street was really clean and nice. We had dinner which was a 12 types of meat hotpot.
After dinner, we walked along Pub Street, having ice cream, and then towards the Night Market, where I tried the fried tarantula. It tasted like shells of a shrimp. Not much meat inside.
The spider ass tasted like silk worms (nhộng).
We then had $2 foot massage for 30 minutes then went home.
This tour was the main event of this trip. We wanted to focus on the Angkor Wat and the temples. They picked up 2 more Australians before going to Angkor Wat.
Angkor Wat was quite grand. It looked nice from afar, but was quite hard to take a good photo because the temple would look small in the background.
Anyways, we walked inside and climbed up the temple. I learned that the temple was originally a Hindu temple, which was converted into a Buddhist temple.
There was a big wave of Buddhism in Cambodia in the 13th century, that most of the population was converted into Buddhist. Hence, the unique architecture.
We spent a bit too much time taking selfies and photos, that we went straight to lunch after Angkor Wat. The fish noodles for lunch was nice. Other than that was just stir-fried dishes.
Then we visited Ta Prohm, the Tomb Raider temple. It was an abandoned one, but after the movie, they were doing conservation works on the temple.
There were a lot of big trees there, and it was basically a ruin. It was a lot different than the other 2 temples because there weren't any high stairways.
The final temple that we visited was the famous Bayon temple inside Angkor Thom, where there were 54 towers with smiling Budhha faces. We walked up and around the temple, marveling at the smiling Buddha, and took nice photos as well.
After that, the tour stopped at the gate of Angkor Thom, where there are god and devil sides in front of the gate.
I liked and enjoyed the tour a lot. I was also able to drink palm juice and eat palm fruit. They were both tasty and lightly sweet. Palm juice was like coconut just but a little sweeter and fermented.
We got back at the hotel tired, but I still went swimming because they had a really nice pool before leaving for dinner. We went shopping, and had dinner at a street food cart.
I had the Cambodian Phnom Penh noodle (hủ tíu). It was good but not impressive. My friend's fried rice was also good.
We then got back at Pub Street to meet up with the other friend and rode a tuk tuk home together.
There was an 1-hour layover in Phnom Penh, where we just rested at Amazon Cafe.
On the bus back to Saigon, I read about the Khmer Rouge and the Cambodia-Vietnam war. I enjoyed the history a lot more after this Cambodian trip.
It was raining on the way home, a nice closure to the trip.
The reason for this trip was because my Best Friend Forever (BFF) whom I had known for 13 years, had promised to travel with me since like forever.
After countless delays, finally she was able to arrange this trip with me and 2 other friends.
After some research and procrastination, I was able to book the bus ticket through Sorya, a Cambodian bus company.
There was a 6-hour wait in Phnom Penh before we transited to a night bus to Siem Riep.
Day 1:
Mộc Bài custom was a disorganized breeze, but we almost got left behind, so lesson learnt was to always keep an eye on the bus driver and to memorize the bus number.We also got some Riel (cambodian currency) at the custom.
Anyways, we boarded the bus at 8:10AM and arrived at Phnom Penh at around 4PM. I was intimidated for a moment because they didn't use Latin alphabet in Cambodia.
We caught a Tuk tuk to the Royal palace. The tuk tuk driver could speak some understandable English.
We spent some short time just hanging outside the Royal Palace. It was late and expensive so we didn't go inside the place. Instead, we just wandered about in the square outside, looking at the river, and chilling.
Gang arriving at Royal Palace
The square outside Royal Palace
The Royal Palace
The architecture looked quite different from regular Buddhist temples in Vietnam. They definitely followed a different branch of Buddhism.
Wat Phnom temple
Wat Phnom entrance at night
The feeling was nice, because we were sitting on a sedge mat.
Fried fish/crab/shrimp balls
My friend stationed inside a convenient store, while I explored the area outside, including a shopping mall, having a feel of the locals.
None of the street foods seemed appetizing though lol.
We finally got on the bus. The experience was nice. Another thing I can probably only do when am single.
The AC was fluctuating between hot/cold, but I could still get some sleep and got there at around 5AM.
The night bus experience was nice!
Day 2:
We got off the bus, and after negotiating with a tuk tuk driver (we got a friend in the group that was very good at bargaining), we arranged a day trip to Kulen mountain for $20 per person.We checked in our hotel, got breakfast, and was on our way to Kulen mountain which was 1 hour away.
The experience riding the tuk tuk was so nice.
On the tuk tuk towards Kulen mountain
At the gate, we showed our tickets (which cost us another $20 and yes, they use US dollar in Cambodia), and it was another 30 minute motorbike ride to the top of the mountain.
At the Kulen mountain's gate
At the top of the mountain, we had another chance to see the unique Cambodian architecture, which featured naga (snake) at the gate, linga (male productive organ), and yoni (female productive organ).
We saw and prayed at the lying giant Buddha, then I saw the giant linga, the river of a thousand linga/yoni, and the waterfalls.
Lying Buddha
Lying Buddha
Top of Kulen mountain
The Linga
River of thousand lingas
At the big waterfall, I spent some time swimming/bathing. The water was really cool, and the small fish kept biting my skin (if I stood still) like electricity lol.
The small waterfall
Swimming at the big waterfall
I enjoyed the waterfall a lot. We then got on our tuk tuk to go have lunch, buy bus tickets, and go back to the hotel.
I appreciated the hotel a lot (Anusha Residence and Spa). It was cheap but clean, comfortable, and spacious.
1 of our hotel room
After dinner, we walked along Pub Street, having ice cream, and then towards the Night Market, where I tried the fried tarantula. It tasted like shells of a shrimp. Not much meat inside.
The spider ass tasted like silk worms (nhộng).
Pub Street
Pub Street
Me eating tarantula
We then had $2 foot massage for 30 minutes then went home.
Foot massage for $2
Day 3:
We got up early for breakfast, and then the guide from the English speaking tour (which we purchased on TripAdvisor) came to pick us up at past 8AM.This tour was the main event of this trip. We wanted to focus on the Angkor Wat and the temples. They picked up 2 more Australians before going to Angkor Wat.
Angkor Wat was quite grand. It looked nice from afar, but was quite hard to take a good photo because the temple would look small in the background.
The gang
Palm juice - sweet and a little fermented
Angkor means "royal," while Wat means "pagoda"
Anyways, we walked inside and climbed up the temple. I learned that the temple was originally a Hindu temple, which was converted into a Buddhist temple.
There was a big wave of Buddhism in Cambodia in the 13th century, that most of the population was converted into Buddhist. Hence, the unique architecture.
Climbing Angkor Wat
Le me looking at my bright future
The temple was surrounded by forests, which was a strange sight to me, because the area was on flat ground, not mountain.
Looking down from the top of Angkor Wat
As we making our way out, I realized it was better to take photos of Angkor Wat as the background at the exit, rather than the entrance.
Angkor Wat looking from the exit
We spent a bit too much time taking selfies and photos, that we went straight to lunch after Angkor Wat. The fish noodles for lunch was nice. Other than that was just stir-fried dishes.
Lunch: Fish noodles
After lunch we stopped at Pre Rup temple, which was a tomb and not in the tour's schedule, but the tomb was so nice and much more photogenic than Angkor Wat. I enjoyed this tomb a lot, took really nice photos.
At the Pre Rup entrance
Walking up the stairs
The tomb looking down from the top
Tung and friend
Pre Rup tomb
Then we visited Ta Prohm, the Tomb Raider temple. It was an abandoned one, but after the movie, they were doing conservation works on the temple.
There were a lot of big trees there, and it was basically a ruin. It was a lot different than the other 2 temples because there weren't any high stairways.
The ruin and me
One of the popular tree
Our gang enjoying the view
Me and my BFF
Bayon temple
Praying at the Bayon temple entrance
Smiling Buddha
Tung standing next to people cooler than himself
After that, the tour stopped at the gate of Angkor Thom, where there are god and devil sides in front of the gate.
Angkor Thom's gate with god and devil sides
I liked and enjoyed the tour a lot. I was also able to drink palm juice and eat palm fruit. They were both tasty and lightly sweet. Palm juice was like coconut just but a little sweeter and fermented.
We got back at the hotel tired, but I still went swimming because they had a really nice pool before leaving for dinner. We went shopping, and had dinner at a street food cart.
I had the Cambodian Phnom Penh noodle (hủ tíu). It was good but not impressive. My friend's fried rice was also good.
Street cart Phnom Penh noodles were good
We then got back at Pub Street to meet up with the other friend and rode a tuk tuk home together.
Day 4:
We got up early for the bus to go back to Vietnam. They picked us up so early that we didn't really have time for breakfast.There was an 1-hour layover in Phnom Penh, where we just rested at Amazon Cafe.
On the bus back to Saigon, I read about the Khmer Rouge and the Cambodia-Vietnam war. I enjoyed the history a lot more after this Cambodian trip.
It was raining on the way home, a nice closure to the trip.
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