LIFE...

A Fascinating Place - Part II

I know I know... I should've updated my blog ages ago. It has been almost a month since I wrote something here...or at least write about angkor wat. Well...here I am, writing whatever that is that I have missed out earlier. :)

For those who have read 'A Fascinating Place - Part I', you would have been aware that I have been to Cambodia. Here's Part II of A Fascinating Place. So, I believe I stop at the part where I took a bus to Siem Rep from Phnom Penh. The bus is not as bad as we've expected. It's somewhat like the express bus we have here in Malaysia; it's a 4 seater seat bus, which is air conditioned and has a restroom at the back of the bus. It's a 5 hour ride from Phnom Penh to Siem Rep and it's a pretty interesting ride! It's a 2 lane kinda thing - no fancy dancy highway! The distance between these 2 towns are roughly 300+ km. However, the ride is pretty bumpy as the roads are mainly red soil roads instead of tar roads. The interesting part of the ride is that you get to see how the locals live - in houses which is build very much higher from the ground. Don't really understand why...but it could be to prevent wild animals that might just attack in the middle of the night. Along the way, we crossed many small villages and in fact, in one of those village, the popular cuisine or rather food that they serve is TARANTULA. Can't you believe that? TARANTULA. You know that 8-legged thingy...which is like...REALLY REALLY hairy!?!?! Hmmm...interesting.

Interestingly, corn is one of the main thing they sell in cambodia - along the road and everywhere else. Another thing is a type of food...made out of sugar cane. There's also this one village which specialize in making buddha images. Besides the many stuffs you see the locals selling, another thing is to be able to see how poor some of those local villagers are. Kids running around naked...clothings which are worned out...torn. Sigh...it's sometimes really sad to see ppl from other countries not having the luxury that we have. Anyway, we arrived at Siem Rep at approximately 1.30pm.

Here's the scary part. Before even getting off the bus, you can see from the window the ppl who are asking if you want a 'tut tut' or a ride to the hotel, or guest house, or wherever that is you are going. They just cram themselves around the bus...which is really scary! As the bus pull to a complete stop, the ppl outside just stood there, screaming 'tut tut, tut tut', so forth. Then the door opens, and the police came to block them away from the passengers. Scary! We then got off the bus, took our luggage and searched for the guy from the guest house who were supposed to pick us up. Found him and we walked towards the van. Kids start following you. Suddenly, i felt someone touched my butt. I was like "WHAT THE..." and was about to curse and scream as I turned around but was shocked to find a kid...who's height is up till my waist...and she's...really cute but was generally begging for money. I mean, I have every intention to give that kid some money, but if I give one kid, I need to give the other...10-20 kids who are there. Does not sound too right. So...I ignore them, and got on the van.

Then we went to the guest house, checked in...rest a bit...and decided to go get the pass for Angkor Wat. So, we hired a driver to drive us around for the next 3 and a 1/2 days, got him to drive us to go get the pass. I was pretty amazed to see the amount of tourists at the entrance, buying tickets - mainly ppl from Europe...but we do have ppl from China, Japan, Korea...the states, etc. We wanted to get teh 3 day pass and that required us to have our pictures taken. After taking the picture, paid USD 40 per person for the 3 day pass and went into Angkor Wat to see the sunset. (Ppl with pass for the following day are allowed to go in after 5pm the day before). It's a pretty long walk into the Angkor Wat...But it's BRILLIANT...I mean...you first walked pass this BIG LAKE that surrounds the temple...then you walk further in and you see it. Angkor Wat. It was definitely breath-taking. It was just...AWESOME. You know you see the picture of this place in postcards, or on the web...but it's different when you are there...seeing it with you own eyes. I mean...I was...speechless. :)


After watching the sun set...we went home. You can't tour the temple at night as there are no lightings whatsoever. Thus, they close the place at 6pm. We went to have some dinner and went back to the guest house.

The following day, we begin our trip around the temples in Angkor. I can't really remember all the names of the temples, and the kingdom that we have toured...but it is definitely awesome as everything is made out of stones...carved with brilliant carvings. Of course, we started our day by going back to Angkor Wat. We didn't finish the tour as we have yet to climb up to the top of Angkor Wat and all. The stairs are downright interesting...and scary. It's soooooo narrow...that you have to walk sideways. I was like thinking to myself...what were this ppl thinking when they build this whole thing! I mean, were their legs really THAT SMALL? I kinda had a little phobia for heights...so...my knees were kinda wobbly at one point as I was climbing up, but it was alright.

After we have toured Angkor Wat, we toured some of the temples around for the next 3 days. Toured the place where the Queen stayed (I have to say, she stayed REALLY FAR from where the King stayed. I mean we travelled an hour to go from his kingdom to the place the Queen stayed..and that's on a VAN. How long do you think it would take the King to go to the Queen's place hundreds and hundreds of years ago!? Hmmm...) Anyway, the Queen's place is really interesting (pic as shown below). It's only one storey high (unlike the temples - they have stairs...and stairs and more stairs...) and the doors are really small. I guess the ppl back then aren't that tall. Banged my head into one of them. The main difference between the Queen's place and the other temples is that it's made out of red stone - really nice color.


Look at this tree. I mean, some of the temples are pretty much destroyed by the growth of the tree trunk. Just look at this tree. Look at the trunk. It's HUGE.

We went to climb a hill as well. Took us an hour to get to the top of it. It's really tiring coz the weather is soooo HOT. But it's all worthwhile. It's interesting to see that there are more carvings on stones which is done by the King. What you see in the pic below is one of the many carvings found on the top of the hill. During the raining season, you would be able to see waters running through it...which is really cool. Unfortunately, it's the dry season when we went. So, we just got to see the carvings and not the effect of having water running through it. I thought... interesting... I mean...the King has got nothing to do...but take ONE HOUR to climb up to the top of the hill...to carve. I was like...SHEESH.

On the third day, we got up at 4am...left the guest house at 5am to go catch sunrise. I guess we weren't that lucky coz when we were there, there were lots of clouds. It pretty much covered what we want to see. I climbed THREE TIMES up to Angkor Wat that morning...Up down...Up Down...Up Down...Why you ask? Coz, first time, i saw nothing. Then I went down to pass my mum some stuffs. Then I thought...no...it might be here...so I climbed up again...nothing...That was at 8am. sheesh...so I climbed down when I saw this guy packing up, keeping his tripod and all...then as I reached the bottom, he took everything out again, so I climbed up again...and...this (pic below) is what I saw. It's not exactly nice...but...it's alright I guess.

The following day, we left Siem Rep for the Phnom Penh airport. That pretty much wraps up my whole trip. It was definitely fascinating.

Oh, I had the opportunity to talk to this local guy who is working at the guest house. I asked him several questions.

#1 Why do they drive on the left side of the road...but have cars with the driver's seat on the left...and also cars with the driver's seat on the right? Answer: It was because they do not manufacture their own car. They buy cars from the neighboring countries - technically cars which are cheap in price. Thus, they bought cars from Thailand (who drives on the left side of the road) and cars from Vietnam...etc.

#2 Why do some vehicles do not have registration number plates? Answer: It's coz it's expensive. You buy a car for USD3k...and spends USD2k for tax. That's like...GOSH.

#3 Guess how much does a government employee makes...A MONTH? (i.e. Teachers... Policeman...) Answer: USD20...PER MONTH. That's like...WOW. It's...SOOO LITTLE. But of coz those who make their own business makes more money.

Ppl there are poor. I guess if we want to help and be volunteers...Cambodia can be a good place to go to. Btw, the guest house that I stayed in...were brilliant. (www.earthwalkers.no)

Comments? :) Happy reading.

posted by *chiaoju* @ 8:06 PM