Angkor What?

Last Wednesday, I was on a plane to Siem Reap Cambodia. Lydia had invited me to join her and her mom on this holiday trip. Along with us were Lydia's friend, Kayla and her mom so that makes the five of us.

I didn't know what to expect. Lydia's mom dropped by the store one day to brief me about the flight details and the trip. Her behaviorism is like my mom's so I felt comfortable around her, only my mom's better, duh.

Our flight was early in the morning at around 6.15a.m. so the plan was that I follow Lydia home to go to the airport together after work on the day before our flight. That night we got to KLIA2 at 12a.m. in the morning by express train. We spent most of the night just sitting around and/or napping outside the boarding gate until it opened at around 5a.m.

It's been a long time since I last sat on a plane. If I remember correctly I was 11, alone with my sister we flew from Penang back to KL. Having a fear of heights and falling, I was very nervous around the plane. Lydia and I wanted the seat next to the window but I can't possibly fight a girl, so I let her have it. Thankfully our flight to Cambodia was a smooth flight. Mostly because I was asleep most of the time. The only recollection I have of waking up in the plane was when Lydia woke me up because she had headaches from the amount of pressure building in her head.

Disaster took a quick turn after we got off the plane and checked in through customs. Our taxi to our hotel wasn't around. Lydia's mom called the hotel and after waiting for half an hour, she called again to find out that they couldn't contact the driver and that we had to rent a taxi ourselves.

When we got to the hotel, Lydia and her mom were making a fuss with Sophea, the hotel manager about the transport issue. After much complication (due to the boundaries of language), Sophea offered to treat us to lunch by cooking for us personally. With that, we finally checked into the hotel and we could rest in our rooms. We were divided into two rooms, Lydia, her mom and I in one and Kayla and her mom in the other. The beds in our room was placed side by side, Lydia and her mom didn't want to be directly under the fan so I was put in between the two of them. As we were tired, all of us fell asleep. The difference in time from Malaysia also affected us (me, at least) and we slept until past 2p.m.

We woke up to have our lunch on the top most floor of the hotel which is where the restaurant is located. Our hotel, actually a villa, is small and comfortable. It's not those grand type hotels, rather it's like a little backpackers hotel. Lydia's mom said when she was doing her research for places to stay, this particular villa, Bayon Shadow Villa has got good reputation and the manager, Sophea has a lot of praises. During lunch, Sophea sat with us and talked to us. Lydia's mom told her about our plans for the trip and she offered to arrange transportation for us cheap.

Our first stop, Kompong Khleang and Tonle Sap. We rode a tuk tuk owned by a shy man named Savy to the dock. It took about an hours ride to get there so the elders were getting worried about going back to the villa. Either way, we rented a boat and headed to the floating village. At the floating village, we took a small row boat to go through the Flooded Forest (or so what it's called). After that we continued on out to Tonle Sap lake. When we reached there, we had an hour more until the sun set. The adults were still concerned about the tuk tuk ride back and so as the "kids" we had no choice but to turn back before we could catch the sun set.

When we got back to the villa, Sophea told us that she'll take us to a good restaurant to have dinner, it's a local restaurant so that means it isn't a tourist spot which also means the food will be cheap. It was a hot plate cum steamboat style meal, similar to what we have in Malaysia. There is a difference in the way the food is cooked but Kayla's mom wasn't amused. After dinner, the girls went into this small boutique to check out the clothes while we waited for our tuk tuk. Right after that, we headed to the Night Market, Old Market and Pub Street (they're all in one place). We walked around looking at the things (or souvenirs) sold there. Lydia shared with me her plan to get our colleagues souvenirs and I agreed to it because I also had planned to buy something for them; We decided to share. While looking at a phallic shaped wooden slingshot, a familiar voice called out behind me, "Max?!". I turned around and to my astonishment, shock and whatever, it was Wee. With him were Ronald and their colleagues. I bro hugged the two of them and we exchanged a few words before I excused myself because I didn't want to lose track of the girls and elders. It was a really surprising meeting, to think that I'd meet a friend in a foreign country, it's just astonishing! We went back to the villa without buying anything because we still have a long time until we head back to Malaysia.

That night I slept like a log. Lydia had asked me if I snore, to which I replied saying that I don't know because how could I possibly know when no one has ever told me about. The next morning Lydia said I didn't, did she actually investigate if I snore or not? Uh...

The next morning, I got up late because I lazed around in bed for about two hours after waking up. Lydia did the same. Lydia's mom had already got up and had breakfast (which is provided for free at the villa) and she got us up to move on with the agenda. Our initial plan was to go to Angkor Wat to see the sun set but Sophea advised us to see the sun rise instead and so we pushed that plan to Friday. On this day, we went to see the Artisan silk factory instead.

The factory is located out near the village area so it doesn't have a lot of tourists. Savy came to take us there as per Sophea's arrangement. We need not pay entry fees but we gave tips to the guide (A very common thing in Cambodia is people ask for tips). I don't remember how long it took us to go around the whole complex but it was a very knowledgeable experience. We got to see how silk is cultivated and we got to feel the raw silk as it is being spun from the silk moth's cocoon.

After the silk factory, Savy took us to a restaurant that Sophea had arranged for us. Food in Cambodia is presented differently compared to Malaysia, in Malaysia we order the dishes and rice is separate, but in most restaurants in Cambodia, the dish comes with rice so it's difficult to share when your dish is together with your rice. For the lunch, we invited Savy to join us. He was unwilling but all of us urged him to join us. Of course, we paid for his meal.

After lunch, we went back to the villa and took a nap. A "nap" until into the evening. At night we went to watch the Cambodian traditional dance performance. The stage performance depicting folk tales and dances was accompanied by a buffet dinner in an semi-open air restaurant packed with tourists. I wanted to enjoy the stage shows but Lydia kept bugging me to eat the food we brought to the table, the food wasn't that impressive and I had to eat all the leftovers the girls and the mothers left for me (I had to queue up for about twenty minutes to get barbecued beef and chicken kebabs). After the show was over, we went to the market again. We came across this really nice fruit juice vendor who sells fruit juices that you can mix for one US dollar (Cambodians use US dollars as currency together with their Cambodian riel) but only up to three different types of fruits. The combinations we tried were pretty good.

After walking around the market, we went back to the villa and headed to sleep. Lydia said I snored this night.

We woke up really early in the morning. I woke up when Lydia's mom's alarm went off but I only jumped out of bed when mine went. We got ready and I headed down to the lobby first. The midnight staff had mistaken another group of tourists for our group and gave them our packed breakfast so we had to wait another fifteen minutes for our breakfast to be ready. Savy was already waiting for us, he seemed really sleepy but he kept a smile on his face. The early morning in Siem Reap was amazing, though in the town, I could see the faint lights of the stars in the sky, beyond the bright lights from the satellites. On the way to Angkor Archaeological Park, the sky slowly turned bright. We were definitely missing the break of dawn from Angkor Wat but we made it in time to see the sun rise from behind the great old temple. As we entered the park (after paying for the entry tickets), we came into an opening showing the Angkor Wat moat. Seeing the moat in person really sent me in awe. Only seeing it in pictures and hearing about it in class before, I finally saw the majestic Angkor Wat in front of me. I was truly joyous and excited.

We went into the gates and we went into one of the smaller sections on the temple grounds before going into the main building. As I was admiring the sun rise, Wee called from behind and I ran up to him but just before we collided in a bro hug, Lydia's mom slipped on one of the steps and fell on her back. Lydia and a foreigner quickly ran up to her to help her up. Because the two of them were there already, I only stood by to assist if anything happens (read as: I stood by being useless). After Lydia's mom got up, I reunited with Wee and Ronald and we took a photo together to commemorate our unexpected meeting. Wee and Ronald then quickly went back to join their group and I went to check on Lydia's mom. She hurt her back and scrapped herself a little but otherwise fine. We then had our breakfast on site.

After breakfast, I carried the leftovers and we headed into the main building. The two elders wanted to use the restroom so the three of us headed in. Lydia and Kayla decided to leave me behind to take photos as I slowly admired the wall carvings depicting the Battle of Lanka (if I'm not mistaken). The two mothers came back after some time and we continued our journey into the center of the temple. Along the way, we encountered some monkeys. A small monkey grabbed our leftovers and pulled a box out, eating the bananas. I quickly let it have them and took the remaining with me but soon after, a big monkey grabbed the rest of our leftovers and ate them. Lydia and I planned to clean up after the monkey but it was hanging around and hissed at us when we got close. Lydia wanted to challenge the monkey but I held her back. As we left the monkey to it's business, it grabbed another two people's food. Just up ahead, we queued up in a line to climb up to the peak of Angkor Wat. I was afraid of the height but I had to see the top, I just had to, if I didn't, the trip would be a waste! The mothers didn't want to go up because of how steep the steps were so the three of us went up. As we were going up, Lydia and Kayla were making fun of me. The top was nice, it was cooling and I could take nice pictures up there. Lydia sat down and looked about for a while, I wondered what she was thinking. After taking a few photos, we headed back down and made our way to find out how to get to the other temples. Our target was Ta Prohm and the Elephant Terrace.

After asking for directions twice, we went out of Angkor Wat and met up with Savy. He advised us to follow his route and make Angkor Thom the last one to visit as the roads from Angkor Wat is a one way road. We agreed and headed off on his tuk tuk. Our first stop was Banteay Kdei, Lydia and I ventured deep into the temple while the others waited for us outside. We took a few pictures and went back out while being followed by a Cambodian who acted as a guide to try and earn some money from us. We didn't need him to guide us but he followed anyway, at the end, we escaped by jogging off after we were done.

After a quick stop at a road side toilet, we headed into Ta Prohm. It's most famous for the film, Tomb Raider as some scenes from the film were shot here. There were a lot of tourist groups and it was a little difficult to get around as compared to the other sites because of the narrow walkways. Girls being girls, Lydia said that everything looks the same already at this point.

Our last destination was Angkor Thom, it's a large complex with several temples in it's location. Savy stopped his tuk tuk right in front of the Bayon Temple so we went in after getting a refreshing sugar cane drink. Walking round and round, Lydia and I figured that we could have climbed up the stairs because when we first entered, there was sign that said that we couldn't but it turns out that the reason was that that particular stairs was for tourists to come down from and not go up. We almost got lost in the Bayon Temple but after asking for directions, we made it out and headed for the Elephant Terrace. We weren't sure where the Elephant Terrace was exactly but we came across another large temple. The two mothers were too tired to continue and they decided to head back to the tuk tuk. Lydia, Kayla and I continued on to what we thought was the Elephant Terrace but was actually Baphuon Temple.

Baphuon Temple's stairs are really tall and really steep. Going up wasn't much of a problem, it was going back down. I kept focusing on the trees level to my eyes but Lydia keeps teasing me and trying to make me look down. After getting out of Baphuon Temple, we figured that we were not at the Elephant Terrace. After not making any heads or tales after asking for directions, we decided to head back to the tuk tuk. After asking Savy, he took us to the Elephant Terrace and it turned out that the terrace was literally right next to Baphuon Temple. After seeing the terrace from the tuk tuk, we decided that it was about time to go back and rest.

After taking a nap at the villa, we went to the market again. We shopped for a bit and then headed back to the villa. That night, Sophea took us to a special local restaurant. Apparently the chef is a Cambodian (which is apparently not usual in Cambodia) and the restaurant serves a unique type of tea not served at normal restaurants because of how difficult it is to get the fruit for the tea from Phnom Penh. Sophea doesn't know what the fruit is called in English but we found out later on at a supermarket in a local mall, Lucky Mall which we visited after dinner. I forgot what the fruit is called anyway. After the visit to the supermarket, we walked around the streets and visited a pharmacy before going back to the villa.

Before going to Cambodia, my mom had mentioned that beer is really cheap there and for real, it's dirt cheap. One US dollar for a bottle, I had my eye on their beer since day one. After getting back to the villa, I asked if anyone wanted to grab a beer but no one wanted to, everyone told me to go ahead and I reasoned that it feels lonely to drink alone so Lydia agreed to sit with me while I drink. Kayla wanted to join us but she won't drink because her mom doesn't let her. We went out to the small store next to our villa and I bought two bottles of Angkor beer. We went back to the villa and headed to the restaurant on the top floor. After asking her again, Lydia agreed to have some. The two of us shared the bottles and the three of us chatted a little. I was getting tipsy but not that much, when we went back to our room, Lydia said I was red and that I had a huge smile on my face. I am aware that when I'm tipsy I'm like that. That night I regretted not drinking every other night because Angkor beer is the best beer I've ever tasted. Thinking about it makes me miss Siem Reap.

Friday morning is the last day and the plan Lydia and I had in mind was to take the day easy, no sightseeing, no going around looking at tourist sites. But plans change. We had asked Sophea where we can get souvenirs cheap and she said she'll take us to the warehouse and so that was the plan. After breakfast (after lazing around in bed), we headed out on a different person's tuk tuk. He first took us to a shop lot that sells the same souvenir stuff as the market in bulk. After the girls picked out some shirts, we headed to an actual warehouse. There I got some stuff as souvenirs for my family and friends. We spent quite a long time there because girls being girls, they had to look at every nook and cranny, picking out the best.

After the warehouse, we went for a Cambodian massage. We first had our feet washed and then we were put into a big room where we changed into lose clothing they provided. The massage was an hour long and it was just okay. After the massage, we went to have lunch at a vegetarian restaurant that is famous for it's hot plate noodles. After the meal, we dropped by the Artisan in the area. It's much smaller than the one in the outskirts of town and it's crowded with tourists. This Artisan factory produces sculptures, painting, metal crafts and silk screen prints. We walked around without a guide for a while and then we headed back to the market to make our final purchases. It was a very long and tiresome hunt for getting the cheapest price of this set of key chains Lydia's mom wanted. We spent probably about two hours or so there walking round and round. This was probably the most excruciating shopping trip I've ever experienced.

After a short nap back at the villa, we went out for dinner with Sophea. She took us to a small local restaurant and we had rice like our normal Chinese dinner and draft beer. The restaurant looks like your usual beer restaurant (I guess). The entrance to the restaurant is lined with girls (prostitutes/female escorts) caked with make up sitting on chairs waiting for customers. The six of us went in and got a small table. Sophea asked us what we'd like to try and she ordered the dishes for us. While Lydia, her mom, Sophea and I got the draft beer, Kayla and her mom got soft drinks instead because they didn't want to drink (Kayla's mom didn't want Kayla to drink). We chatted over dinner and had multiple toasts of our drinks. As the eating ended and the drinking started, I slowly got tipsy and Lydia kept laughing at my tipsy expression. We ended up having two servings of draft beer and Lydia's mom was almost drunk, she kept asking the same questions and kept laughing after that. We had decided to walk back to the villa so on the walk back, Lydia's mom kept laughing and laughing. Hearing her laughter made me laugh uncontrollably too, which also made everyone else laugh. At first Lydia held on to her mom and I walked in front but Lydia changed her mind when her mom can't stop herself from laughing. She pass her mom to Kayla's mom and she grabbed my shoulder to make sure I wasn't going the wrong way. This was the first time Lydia saw me tipsy so she doubted me when I said I was fine, only tipsy. As we walked, I thought of ways to prove that I wasn't drunk and when I said I wanted another beer (the Angkor beer!) she got worried and but I manage to get my way and she helped me buy one from the same shop the previous night. When we got back to our room, Lydia convinced me to take a bath first before I drink but she was gonna bath first. So I sat on my bed slowly getting sober. I tried to pack my bag but it wasn't really working out. Lydia's mom and I made some small talk and when Lydia was done, I went in to bath and by the time I was done, I was close to sober but still tipsy. I took my beer and Lydia had a sip before deciding to sleep so I had the rest of the bottle to myself which made me tipsy all over again. After I was done, I hit the sack so fast I didn't realise it.

We woke up early in the morning. After cleaning up, I repacked my bags and headed down to the lobby to wait for the others. We had our breakfast and then Savi and the other guy came to pick us up. The journey to the airport showed us a beautiful morning. As I looked out to the scenery of morning breaking, I felt such bliss. Lydia commented that this morning could have a better sun rise compared to what we saw at Angkor Wat. I agreed because the color of the sky when the sun's rays hit the clouds were very beautiful. At the airport, we said our good byes to Savi and went in. We were early and we couldn't go into the departure hall so we sat down outside and waited. When we finally got in, our flight was like the first one in the morning so we got on our plane and we were soon flying out of Cambodia. I dozed in and out of sleep while Lydia sat quietly by the window looking out. As our plane entered Malaysian airspace, our holiday trip came to an end. Upon checking back into our homeland, I spotted Wee and Ronald collecting their luggage and I caught up with them again. Later I shopped at the duty free shops with the girls and moms. I got a bottle of Bacardi, box of Jack Daniel's whiskey filled chocolate sticks and a packet of assorted Hershey's chocolates (childhood's sake). Kayla and her mom took the train back while Lydia and her mom took a coach to KL Sentral. I had to take a coach to 1Utama because my mom won't pick me up from the airport and my dad was in Penang.

Cambodia was amazing. I feel like going back again to this time, take my time indulging in the history and art Siem Reap has to offer. (Also the beer)