Day 6: Return to Bangkok, Sukhumvit

We left Siem Reap early to catch a direct bus to Bangkok. It was supposedly the only one in town according to many of the travel websites, though many other agencies in town were advertising similar trips. It was a bit pricey and they told us it should take about 6 hours. We enjoyed some of the Western Cambodian countryside before arriving a couple hours later in the border town of Poipet.

Neither of us could remember the last time we did a land border crossing. It was odd walking through the small town, trudging up some stairs to the border office, and waiting in line for over an hour just to climb down another flight of stairs into Thailand. As we waited for the bus to proceed, we chatted with a British man and marveled at the two wheeled carts, piled to the sky with goods, crossing the border with just one or two people pulling them by hand. There was almost a slow-motion accident involving one.

Finally, we were on our way again, for not 4, not 5, but about 6 MORE hours. All in all, we agreed, we would not have done that again. We lost a good part of the day to travel when a bit of money more would have bought us a quick hop by plane.

Tired from the ride, we checked into the Phachara Suites, which is an outstanding modern hotel in a ritzy area of Bangkok known as Sukhumvit. It seemed to be geared towards business travelers with extended stay, as it was essentially an apartment complete with stove and washer/dryer. Hooray Wells Fargo rewards points. We ventured out for some dinner at a Chinese noodle shop in the heart of town. The meal was spicy, but delicious.

Walking through Sukhumvit is like a strange science-fiction version of the future, where every imaginable culture is represented in some small way, crammed into neon-lit streets. A bit what I imagine Hong Kong to look like. A predominant influence was muslim Arabs, some of the women wore a full niqab. Nicole was greeted by a man, saying "Welcome madam" in a sultry voice. We saw a couple of women wearing what we later found out to be called a batula/batoola: a gold face mask covering the nose area as a kind of "veil", similar to this one:

We stumbled onto an area that we had heard about as being the "red light district" of Bangkok known as Soi Cowboy. The bars, bathed in red neon light, were filled with scantily dressed women (and a few ladyboys) beckoning businessmen and tourist-looking single men in to play pool, have a drink, etc... They didn't seem to quite know what to do with Nicole and I, so we just strolled through. These startling contrasts to the women a few streets over decreed by their religion to cover head to toe, were interesting to see.

The night took a turn for the worse as I came down with a case of food poisoning. Damn that cheap, delicious Chinese food. I slumped into bed as Nicole tended to me.

 

- C

Day 5: Angkor Wat

Chris and I awoke at 4:30 am in order to see the sunrise over the majestic ruins of Angkor Wat. We also woke up that early to give us enough time to ride rented bicycles to the ruins. We rented the bikes for two dollars each from a very tired hotel worker who also let us out of the gated-up guest house we were staying at. We rode in the darkness and through the jungles to get to the ruins. While I was initially skeptical, I quickly discoverd that this was best way to go. There is something very viseral and honest about riding bikes. We had to stop half way there to buy the tickets to the ruins. Once purchased, we headed up to Angkor Wat. We entered the Wat in almost total darkness but could plainly see the rising towers and the impressive moat. 

We watched the sky lighten and decided to start looking around. While waiting for the sun to rise I also bought a few silk scarves for some of my friends! 

After Angkor Wat, we decided to bike to Ta Prohm. We got mixed directions and ended up taking the wrong road. It wasn't really a problem as the detour we took led us to this beautiful little village with beautiful scenery. We got to ride past rice paddies, water buffalo, and people working the fields. Chris eventually asked directions and we turned back and found the right place. I'll let the beauty of the ruins speak for themselves. 

After Ta Prohm, we went to forage for food. Unfortunately, Chris' bike got a flat tire. He was able to refill the tire enough to get to a little restaurant off the side of the road. I was feeling adventurous and picked something random off of the menu, which turned out to be a delicious soup. Chris got a noodle dish and we also ordered a coconut to drink. Everything was amazing! 

As we headed out Chris had to refill his tire again, which was a little worrisome. The air lasted only about half way to Angor Thom, the next ruin on our trip. At this point we were about 3km away. He ended up having to walk the bike for a bit. When nearing one of the gates to the ancient city of Angkor Thom a little girl selling post cards said she could help Chris fix his bike. We figured this was doubtful, but decided to follow her. She led us to her family's little hut slightly off of the road. She called out to her grandfather who then proceeded to patch the wheel and fix the hole. It was really cool and interesting. He involved all four of the small children who were very interested in the process and in us. On a side note, the children of Cambodia are ridiculously cute. It was hard not to take them home with us! We were so grateful and tried to give them all the money we had, which was in three currencies. As we were leaving the smallest child, who was around 4, gave me a big grin and said, "good luck to you in your life." We didn't take any photos of this exchange, but it was a really nice memory and a good anecdote to the level of kindness we were shown in Cambodia. 

We then went over to Angkor Thom, which also housed the ruins of Bayon, my favorite of all the ruins. Angkor Thom is a sprawling campus as it used to hold an entire city of royalty, religious leaders, and others who lived in the kingdom. Again, I'll let ruins speak for themselves. 

After we finished climbing around the ruins we started our biking treck back to the guest house. On way out of the gates of Angkor Thom, we sang the Indiana Jones theme song. It was really fun and silly. Almost immediately after, we ran into some elephants quickly followed by monkeys playing on the side of the road. I was beside myself with giddiness. It was just so cool! 

Once we got back into Siem Reap the roads were much more crowed than they were at 5 am. You would think that it would be scary to ride around with the motorbikes and the tuk tuks, but honestly it was really fun. I also felt really connected to the city and to the people while riding in Siem Reap. There is a pulse in the streets that is hard to feel unless you are in it. 

When we got back to the guest house, my legs and my behind were very tired and bruised from riding over 20 miles! We rested for a bit before heading out for dinner and buying some gifts to bring home. Overall, this was one of the most exciting and fun days of my life. I feel so privileged to be able to experience such beauty. I really fell in love with Cambodia and would very much like to come back for an extended period of time. I half thought of quitting grad school and moving to Siem Reap!

- N

Day 4: Bus to Siem Reap

We left Phnom Penh around 8am. The sewage smell emanating from the bathroom of our room expedited our leaving. I am not sure I would stay in this hotel again. The upside was that it was clean, had a nice breakfast, had a good location and was pretty cheap. However, if I were to come back to Phnom Penh I think I would want to stay near the water. It was a little calmer over there.

 We took a little bus from the hotel to the bus depot (the bus tickets to Siem Reap else arranged for us by the hotel) and got on our seven hour treck up north. It was a really interesting ride as we could really see the Cambodian country side. 

Eventually we arrived in Siem Reap. We took a tuk tuk to our guest house (what they call small hotels here). We were getting a lot of pressure from the driver and later from the hotel workers to take their tuk tuks to Angor Wat the next day. We resisted because we wanted to ride bikes there. After we checked in we rested for a little bit, the hotel provided us with fresh fruit shakes, lychees, and bananas. We later saw a lychee tree at the hotel and assumed they came from there. It was all amazing. We then went out to buy bus tickets to Bangkok for Friday. 

We stayed at the Ta Som guest house, which was a pretty basic hotel. It was clean, cheap ($34 for two nights), included breakfast, and was more or less close to town. Walking to the center of town from the hotel took about 12 minutes. If you're down with 'roughing' it a little it's great. Keep in mind we did not have warm water for the shower and we shared our room with little hopping crickets. We enjoyed it!

Here is the tripadvisor link for the guest house:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g297390-d1911328-Reviews-Ta_Som-Siem_Reap_Siem_Reap_Province.html

Siem Reap is noticeably more tourist friendly. It is also a little calmer and more approachable than the chaotic bustle of Phnom Penh. I was not as nervous about the possibility of getting hit by a car or motorcycle. We bought the tickets and then decided to walk to the city center, which was not that far. They have a couple of very touristy streets labeled in lights called "pub street," "night market," and "art center night market." The markets, as one would have guessed, sold touristy goods and wares as well as on the street massage parlors and these tanks with fish who nibble on your feet. Pub street had lots of restaurants and bars. It was very pretty and packed with people. We ate at a place called "Khmer Family Restaurant", which was pretty tasty. After dinner we walked through the markets and then walked back to the hotel. Since we had decided that we were going to get up to see the sun rise at the temples we decided to call it an early night.

- N

Day 2: Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Chris and I arrived in Phnom Penh yesterday afternoon after a busy morning in Bangkok. It was a very short flight over. I make mention of the flight because we keep seeing people we flew in with. I have never been to a place where I can recognize so many other travelers. There was a 20$ Visa fee, which the process of acquiring was chaotic at best. We got fined an extra $4 for not having extra passport photos ready forthe Visa application. Anyways, we took a cab from the airport with another American who is doing an extended trip through Asia and looking for places to "hang out for a while." I thought Bangkok was overwhelming until we got here. There seems, at least initially, that there are no real traffic guidelines. People go every where from every direction. It really felt like the Wild West, but with motorcycles instead of horses. These motos are often packed with people including multitudes of small children. We eventually made it to the hotel, Angkor International. We started to get settled, but there were some issues with our room, mainly the key did not work to lock the door, and they moved us to a nicer room on the 5th floor, which included a nicer view. 

We went out for dinner to a French fusion restaurant called 'Le Wok' which was amazing. My meal, not pictured, had fresh black pepper in it. My whole world has changed since eating fresh pepper corn. It is a multi-tonal sensory experience.  Considering it would have been an almost regularly priced meal in the US it is one the more expensive places here as other meals are around $2-3 an entree. However, it was delicious and an easy transition into Cambodian cuisine. 

(Chris' ginger and honey chicken) 

After dinner we walked by the water canal and found a little bar to get a drink at. My beer was a whopping 1$. Chris had a Singapore Sling.

Around this time we started to get kind of tired and decided to go back to the hotel to sleep. A pretty interesting first night in Phnom Penh! Tomorrow we will go to the National Museum,  Phnom Wat, and most likely the genocide museum.

- N