rainbow; found

This has been way long over due :)

My Cambodian Adventure – 5D4N Siem Reap / Phnom Penh.

Day 01 >> Our flight was at 7am. So my girlfriends and I woke up at 3am, took the cab, check-in, had our early breakfast at Old Town Cafe and slept our way until AK846 landed safely in Siem Reap. Then to our shocker – there was 3 Mexican tourists who is on the same flight with us. Oh my gosh – Swine Flu! :) But thank GOD, no outbreak and none of us were infected. It was hot in Cambodia. It was also the low-peak tourist season in Cambodia as well, thus there were not many tourist around. Cambodia is very much like Malaysia – in the 60s; where there are not many commercial developments and the people lifestyle is very simple and less demanding. We checked in into our hotel. Most hotels you stay in, you don’t even think about the actual hotel building and the story behind it, it’s all about the latest & greatest features and fittings. But when you walk around the corridors of all the hotels in Cambodia, it’s hard not to be struck by a strong sense of history and presence. This country has gone through so much. It is very cool. The first place that we visited was a short sight-seeing trip at LES ARTISAN D’ANGKOR; a handicraft center. Lots of potteries, paintings, wood-carvings, stone-carvings, marble-carvings and almost all of their masterpieces theme is very much associated with their religion which is Buddhism.
Then we went up to the Bakeng Hill; the steps to the top of this Wat were very steep – with a 90 degrees angle. So everyone have to climb up the steps by crawling and by using their hands. We view the sunset from the top and the sight was just beautiful.

Day 02 >> After breakfast, we visited the South Gate of Angkor Thom – Bayon, Phimeanakas, Taprohm Temple, Elephant Terrance and Terrance of the Leper King. Actually, all of these are the smaller temples and the most grand of all is the Angkor Wat. Each Wat is unique in its designs. However, as you began to see more, they tend to look the same. Until I can’t even tell the difference. There is a very strong Thai culture in its architecture. So there are many carvings of the Chinese Buddha and Indian’s God in each of its designs. I adore historical characters in buildings. What is very impressive is how the past civilization builds all of these Wats without proper tools and technologies. After lunch, we continue to visit the Chao Say Devoda, Thommanon, Banteay Kdey, Srah Srong and finally the Angkor Wat; one of the seven wonders in the world! Exceptional architectural design, remarkable history :)

Day 03 >> We proceed to Phnom Penh (the capital of Cambodia) early in the morning by coach. It was an 8 hours journey. When we arrive in the afternoon, we visited the Independence Monument, the Victory Monument, the Chaktomuk River (the river was pretty dodgy, it was very old, run down and dirty but it’s a famous river because it meets up with the Mekong River) and finally the Naga Resorts; which is the Cambodia’s biggest international casino; opened by a Malaysian – nope, it doesn’t belong to the Genting Group.

Day 04 >> Our tours begin with the Royal Palace, the Silver Pagoda and the Toul Sleng museum which displays items of the inhuman acts of Pol Pot. My girlfriends and I didn’t enter the museum. Even though it’s not the famous Killing Field where thousands of innocents were killed and buried, my girlfriends who are very superstitious said it was better not to go near these negative energies. So we ended up having coffee instead in a little café. Actually it’s very sad because their own people kill their own people which causes so many unnecessary deaths. And the cruelty is so brutal. What’s more, it took place 20 years back, thus so many of the Cambodians are still carrying the scar and the memory with it. After lunch, we visited Wat Phnom, and then souvenir shopping at the Central Market & Russian Market. It’s really like our very own Central Market.

Day 05 >> Boarded AK275 and reach LCCT at 7pm.

I feel very lucky to be growing up in Malaysia. I think Malaysians are a very lucky lot of people. Everyone have free education, everyone has health facilities access and everyone have jobs as long as they are willing to work. Look at the Cambodians – it’s a poor country yet their trading currencies are in the US Dollar. Their children don’t go to school. When they see us (the tourist), they swarm us like nobody business, begging us to buy their hand-made souvenirs. Cambodia economics – is very much like Indonesia; run by the Chinese. Yes, the Chinese is everywhere conquering the world :)
It was a very good trip; soaking up the ancient historical architecture, civilization and culture. Loads of satisfaction :)