Tri-Country Trip: 1-Day Siem Reap Exploration

(This trip happened last 2013)

Exploring Cambodia, specifically Siem Reap, in the best way that we can would just take us one day. Why? Because that was just the time that we had for this trip so we took advantage of that and made the best out of it.

But this excludes our day tour of Angkor Wat because that deserves a separate post. (Click here)

Here is our tale of the other tour from start to finish.

THE LONG BUS RIDE

From Vietnam, we took the bus and that was a good 15 hours all in all. Whew! Tiring! But quite an experience since I have not done that kind of bus trip before. My longest was just less than 10 hours and that was here in the Philippines. I remember that I slept on and off for a long time. But it was good that I got to wake up to see our transfer - the bus hopping on the barge to bring us to the other side of the river. Then I slept again. 

STREET SCENES

Some street scenes caught from my side of the bus

Nice and clear sunset!

BOU SAVY GUEST HOUSE

We stayed at the Bou Savy Guest House. I did not encounter any problems while exchanging emails with them to talk about our reservation and other arrangement such as our pick-up from the bus terminal and van going to Angkor Wat. They were very pleasant.

One thing though that messed our guest house experience was the power outage that happened in the city due to a truck hitting a main power line somewhere. That affected Bou Savy and they only had one generator so that has to be turned off at times. When we got there, there was no power and we needed to charge our gadgets because the next day was our Angkor Wat tour. I kindly argued with one staff about this and they allowed us to charge our phones in the generator directly. We were relieved! But we had to wait outside so that was bad. So me and my friends just talked it out. That was a good hour or two. When we were ready to hit the sack, we were again reminded of our problem with the lack of electricity because we hqad no light and no aircon. Darn! 

The next day, despite the lack of electricity, we all woke up with lots of energy. We were recharged!

We headed to Angkor Wat to catch the sunrise and we came back to Bou Savy to eat our complimentary breakfast, rest and got back to Angkor to continue the day tour. 

Our breakfast fare! It was more than what we expected!

A random sight that we saw on our way to Angkor Wat. We wanted to explore it but did not get the chance due to time constraints. 

AMAZON ANGKOR - DINNER BUFFET AND CULTURAL SHOW

After our Angkor Wat tour, we headed back to Bou Savy to freshen up. After that, we went here to Amazon Angkor where there was a buffet and cultural show all for US$10 only. We thought that was a steal and it was recommended to us so we went there. 

It was a very big space! And the buffet spread was even bigger. Winner!

This is what I loved the best - their coconut with milk ice cream. Churned right before your eyes, that is if you wait for a few minutes. Sweet and creamy, it was delicious!

A few pointers 

NIGHT MARKET AT PUB STREET

And of course, one should not miss to experience their night life and night market. Pub Street is the place where tourists and locals flock at night.  

Different wares for sale. But loved this shirt with the sense of humor.

Spices and teas were everywhere and I bought a few teas. How I wished I could have bought more spices though because they seem to be really affordable. 

Now this, I said to myself that I will try something exotic when I came here. But sadly, that did not happen. One look at the choices and I squirmed right away especially when I saw the skewered snakes. Yaikz! I could not even bear to take a decent picture at it. Maybe next time I can do it. I just need more courage to do this. 

So here we are, happy travelers!

RELAXATION TIME AT PUB STREET

Next time, I will try this also. Fish spa treatment for the tired feet. 

It was only in Cambodia that I got to experience a US$1 massage. If this was the rate here in Manila, I would have this everyday! This would be a luxury that I can indulge for myself. 

After Siem Reap, we are now off to Thailand! Another long bus trip again. Whew!

What I loved most about the trip to this country was its kind people and how a lot of them can speak in English. Traveling made easy. How I wished I could have visited Phnom Penh but that would be for next time. We saw just a few sights but that was enough for now. Manin reason why we came here was to see the Angkor Wat and we did just that.

Great leg, Cambodia!


~Lovelee~

NEXT:
Watch out for my Thailand (Bangkok) post soon! =)

Check out my other posts of my tri-country trip: 
Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam
Angkor Wat in Cambodia